EFFECT OF DA TE OF SOWING ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF THREE VARIETIES OF RADISH (Raphanus sativus L.)

Abstract

The present experiment was conducted at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, during the period from November 2004 to January 2005 to study the effect of date of sowing on growth and yield of three varieties of radish. Seeds of three cultivars of radish namely Tasakisan, SAU Line-I and Red Bombay were sown on three different dates viz. November 1, November 15, December 1. Sowing date Showed significant effects on the growth and yield of radish. Maximum number of leaves and leaf length were produced by plant sown on November 1, Similarly root diameter (width), root fresh weight, yield per plot and yield per hectare were obtained from November 1 sowing. All these parameters showed decreasing trend as sowing date was delayed. In the experiment, November 1 sowing gave the highest yields of (81.82 t/ha) compared to the lowest yield of 68.75 t/ha by December 1 sowing V2 (SAU Line-I). There was no significant variation among the varieties. Combined effect of sowing date and varieties showed that sowing on November 1, all cultivars performed well in respect of yield and yield components. November 1 showed the best sowing date of radish and SAU Line -1 gave the highest yield but the benefit cost ratio (10.52) was the highest in Tasakisan. Late sowing produced Radish of poor quality, as they were hard in texture and poor in overall acceptability.