Interaction Effect of Nitrogen and Phosphorus on Curd Yield and Seed Production of Cauliflower

Abstract

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the interaction effect of nitrogen and phosphorus on curd yield and seed production of cauliflower. Study Design: The experiment was laid out at a randomized complete block design with three replications. Place and Duration of Study: Research farm of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, from September 2016 to March 2017. Methodology: The experiment consisted of two factors comprising three levels of nitrogen (270, 220,170 kg ha-1) and three levels of phosphorus (160,130,100 kg ha-1) with control of each nutrient. There were 10 treatment combinations resulting in 30 unit plots where each plot had two rows of 6 plants. Nitrogen and Phosphorus fertilizer were applied as per treatment in the form of Urea and TSP as a top dressing in two equal splits at the time of transplanting and 15 days after transplanting. Results: All the characters related to growth and yield of cauliflower showed significant variation by nitrogen and phosphorus levels at different days after transplanting. Among the different treatment combinations, N270P160 produced maximum plant height (50 cm), leaf area (700 cm2), plant weight (1003 g), curd diameter (18.3 cm), marketable curd weight (601 g) and marketable curd yield (18.5 t) at harvesting compared to control where nitrogen and phosphorus were not used. Moreover, the largest number of leaves (21.3) and curd weight (346 g) was observed by treatment combinations N220P160 at harvesting. For seed production, the highest number of siliqua plant -1 (1461), 1000 seed weight (4 g), seed yield plant-1 (41.1 g) seed yield ha-1 (1.5 t) and germination (97.7%)was also found from N270P160while the maximum number of seeds siliqua-1(20.5) was revealed by N220P160 compared to control treatment. Considering a different point of view, treatment combinations N270P160 can be marked more convenient for cauliflower production than others. Conclusion: It is concluded that the combinations of nitrogen (270 kg ha-1) and phosphorus (160 kg ha-1) would be appropriate for curd yield and seed production of cauliflower.