Similar to other crops, balanced fertilization is one of the key elements of growing broccoli with a good yield. The study was carried out at the Horticulture Farm of the Department of Horticulture, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh to study the impact of different levels cowdung (C) and micronutrients (M) on the growth and yield of broccoli. The two-factor experiment consisted of three levels of cowdung viz., C0 (no cowdung), C1 (cowdung @ 7 t/ha), C2 (cowdung @ 10 t/ha) and three different doses of micronutrients viz., M0 (no micronutrients), M1 (B @ 1 kg/ha + Zn @ 2 kg/ha), M2 (B @ 1.5 kg/ha + Zn @ 2.5 kg/ha). The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design with three replications. Results revealed that significant variations recorded for most of the parameters studied due to the application of cowdung and micronutrients. At 60 DAT, the highest plant height (58.79 cm) with maximum number of leaves (19.48) was observed in C2 treatment. In case of micronutrients all these characters maximized in M2 treatment and minimized in M0 treatment. At 60 DAT, plant height (61.90 cm) and number of leaves per plant (20.55) were recorded highest in the combination of C2M2 and lowest in C0M0 treatment combination. The highest yield (10.99 t/ha) was found when cowdung applied @ 10 t/ha and the lowest yield (7.44 t/ha) was found from the control treatment. Micronutrients (B and Zn) had also significant influence on yield. The highest yield (10.32 t/ha) was found from the application of micronutrients (1.5kg B/ha + 2.5 kg Zn/ha) and the lowest yield (8.21 t/ha) was found from the control treatment. The combined effects of cowdung and micronutrients were statistically significant. The combination of cowdung 10 t/ha and micronutrients (B @1.5 kg/ha + Zn @ 2.5 kg/ha) gave the highest yield (12.20 t/ha) and the lowest yield (7.00t/ha) was received from no cowdung and no micronutrients. The results of the experiment recommended that cowdung 10 t/ha and micronutrients (B @1.5 kg/ha + Zn @ 2.5 kg/ha) could be recommended for increasing broccoli yield.
Key words: Cowdung, boron, zinc, yield, broccoli
|
