Effect of Water Regimes, Land Configurations and Mulching on Growth, Yield and Quality of Onion (Allium cepa L.)
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Date
2023-09-25
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Agriculture University, Jodhpur
Abstract
The present experiment entitled “Effect of Water Regimes, Land
Configurations and Mulching on Growth, Yield and Quality of Onion (Allium cepa
L.)” was conducted at Instructional farm, College of Agriculture, Jodhpur during rabi
season of 2020-2021 and 2021-2022. The experiment had 24 treatments in Split-Split
Plot Design including three factors i.e., A) one main factor: water regime having three
levels (I1 - 1.0 IW/CPE, I2 - 0.8 IW/CPE and I3 - 0.6 IW/CPE) and two sub factors B)
land configuration having two levels (B1 - flat bed and B2 - raised bed) and C)
mulching having four levels (M1 - no mulch, M2 - black mulch, M3 - silver-black
mulch and M4 - white-black mulch).
The 0.8 IW/CPE water regime substantially enhanced growth, yield and
quality attributes of onion viz., plant height (50.26 cm), leaf length (45.01 cm), leaf
diameter (18.93 mm), neck length (5.25 cm), number of leaves per plant (13.32), neck
diameter (21.28 mm), time taken to maturity (114.77 days), bolting (1.68%), leaf
chlorophyll content (19.25 µg/100g), leaf N content (173.68 mg/100g), leaf P content
(42.09 mg/100g), leaf K content (224.54 mg/100g), leaf S content (0.44%), weight of
fresh bulb (80.75 g), weight of cured bulb (72.15 g), polar diameter of bulb (5.32 cm),
equatorial diameter of bulb (5.99 cm), number of bulb scales (11.49), thickness of
bulb scale (2.58 mm), bulb yield (33.37 t/ha), dry matter content (17.35%), double
bulb (1.90%), sulphur content (0.49%), allyl propyl disulphide content (6.92 µmol/g),
weight loss (6.00%, 14.71% and 34.52% at 30, 60, 90 DOS, respectively) and bulb
rotting (2.49% and 5.42% at 60 and 90 DOS, respectively) over 0.6 IW/CPE on the
basis of pooled analysis. Additionally, significantly higher net returns (` 3,51,684 per
ha) and B:C ratio (3.36) were also recorded with 0.8 IW/CPE. This treatment
remained at par with 1.0 IW/CPE. However the maximum water use efficiency (67.98
kg/ha-mm) was recorded with 0.6 IW/CPE.
The raised bed land configuration significantly improved growth, yield
and quality attributes of onion viz., plant height (51.03 cm), leaf length (45.71 cm),
leaf diameter (19.28 mm), neck length (5.32 cm), number of leaves per
plant (13.49), neck diameter (22.04 mm), time taken to maturity (115.30 days),
bolting (1.74%), leaf chlorophyll content (19.68 µg/100g), leaf N content (175.46
mg/100g), leaf P content (42.73 mg/100g), leaf K content (226.78 mg/100g), leaf S
content (0.44%), weight of fresh bulb (82.04 g), weight of cured bulb (74.40 g), polar
diameter of bulb (5.41 cm), equatorial diameter of bulb (6.13 cm), number of bulb
scales (11.67), thickness of bulb scale (2.58 mm), bulb yield (34.14 t/ha), dry matter
content (17.59%), double bulb (2.03%), sulphur content (0.49%), allyl propyl
disulphide content (6.96 µmol/g), net returns (` 3,62,804 per ha), B:C ratio (3.43) and
water use efficiency (63.31 kg/ha-mm) over the flat bed land configuration on pooled
basis.
The application of black mulch considerably enhanced the growth, yield and
quality attributes viz., plant height (52.50 cm), leaf length (46.99 cm), leaf diameter
(19.68 mm), neck length (5.51 cm), number of leaves per plant (13.79), neck diameter
(22.15 mm), time taken to maturity (116.36 days), bolting (1.86%), leaf chlorophyll
content (19.80 µg/100g), leaf N content (177.78 mg/100g), leaf P content (43.17
mg/100g), leaf K content (229.56 mg/100g), leaf S content (0.44%) weight of fresh
bulb (82.64 g), weight of cured bulb (75.58 g), polar diameter of bulb (5.44 cm),
equatorial diameter of bulb (6.29 cm), number of bulb scales (11.75), thickness of
bulb scale (2.66 mm), bulb yield (34.47 t/ha), dry matter content (17.94%), double
bulb (2.08%), sulphur content (0.49%), allyl propyl disulphide content (7.00 µmol/g),
weight loss (6.08%, 15.12% and 35.48% at 30, 60, 90 DOS, respectively) and bulb
rotting (2.58% and 5.59% at 60 and 90 DOS, respectively) over white-mulch and no
mulch on the basis of pooled data, but remained at par with silver-black mulch.
Moreover, significantly enhanced net returns (` 3,67,291 per ha), B:C ratio (3.45) and
water use efficiency (63.91 kg/ha-mm) were also recorded with black mulch.
The most profound interaction effect with the maximum neck diameter (24.89
mm), weight of fresh bulb (94.26 g), weight of cured bulb (85.23 g), polar diameter of
bulb (6.24 cm), number of bulb scales (12.52), bulb yield (39.25 t/ha), net returns
(` 4,38,927 per ha) and B: C ratio (3.93) was found with I1×B2 on pooled basis.
Similarly, the most improved weight of fresh bulb (96.13 g), polar diameter (6.29
cm), bulb yield (39.99 t/ha), net returns (` 4,49,581 per ha) and B:C ratio (3.99) were
observed with I1×M2 (being at par with I1×M3). The maximum weight of fresh bulb
(90.35 g), weight of cured bulb (81.58 g), bulb yield (37.79 t/ha), net returns
(` 416746 per ha), B:C ratio (3.77) and water use efficiency (69.37 kg/ha-mm) were
observed in B2×M2 (being at par with B2×M3). The maximum weight of fresh bulb
(110.83 g), bulb yield (46.59 t/ha) and net returns (` 5,48,071 per ha) were recorded
under I1×B2×M2.
Thus, based on pooled data analysis, it may be concluded that the application
of 0.8 IW/CPE, raised bed land configuration and black mulch may be recommended
for rabi onion cultivation under Agro-Climatic Zone IA (Arid Western Plains Zone)
for higher yield of onion.
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Citation
Jat, Asha 2023. Effect of Water Regimes, Land Configurations and Mulching on Growth, Yield and Quality of Onion (Allium cepa L.).Ph.D. Thesis, College of Agriculture, Agriculture University, Jodhpur