STANDARDIZATION OF NUTRIENT REQUIREMENT FOR GROWTH, YIELD AND QUALITY OF BIRD OF PARADISE (Strelitzia reginae L.) UNDER EASTERN DRY ZONE OF KARNATAKA
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Date
2016-08
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University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot (COLLEGE OF HORTICULTURE, UHS CAMPUS, GKVK POST, BENGALURU)
Abstract
An experiment was conducted on “Standardization of nutrient requirement for growth, yield and quality of bird of paradise (Strelitzia reginae L.) under Eastern dry zone of Karnataka” in the Department of Floriculture, Regional Horticultural Research and Extension Centre, College of Horticulture, UHS campus, GKVK, Bengaluru during the year 2015-16. The experiment was laid out in RCBD design comprising of three levels of NPK (37.5:15:37.5 g, 50:20:50 g and 62.5:25:62.5 g NPK/plant/year) with combination of micronutrients [ZnSO4 (0.5%) and Boron (0.25%)] along with basal dose of FYM at 5 kg/plant. Results reveal that, application of 62.5:25:62.5 g NPK/plant/year along with foliar application of ZnSO4 (0.5%) and Boron (0.25%) increased the plant height (102.43 cm), number of leaves (44.03), plant spread (107.58 cm2), leaf length (41.19 cm), leaf width (14.78 cm) and number of suckers per plant (7.36). Same nutrient level improved flower quality parameters viz., flower spathe length (19.98 cm), stalk thickness (21.62 mm), number of florets per spathe (4.72), stalk length (96.23 cm) and highest number of grade-I flowers (67.62 %). Highest cut flower yield per plant (9.02) and cut flower yield per hectare (0.40 lakh cut flowers) has been recorded from the same treatment. Significantly highest cumulative water uptake (41.14 g), fresh weight (141.10 g), vase life (14.61 days), minimum cumulative transpiration loss (16.72 g) of flowers, highest soil nutrient status (N, P, K, Zn and B), leaf nutrient content (N, P, K, Zn and B) and benefit cost ratio (2.81) were also recorded in the same nutrient level.