Abstract:
An experiment was conducted at the Horticulture Farm, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural
University and Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period from October 2017 to February
2018. Broccoli was selected for experimental crop. The experiment consisted of two
factors. Factor A: four levels nutrients i.e. N
0
-No nutrients (Control), N
1
-Organic
manure (Vermicompost (5t/ha) +
Cowdung (7t/ha) +MOC (3t/ha)), N
2
-Inorganic
fertilizer (N
120
P
100
K
140
S
20
B
1.5
Kg/ha), N
3
-Organic + Inorganic (1/2+1/2) and Factor B:
Four levels of mulch materials i.e M
0
-No Mulch (Control), M
1
-Black polythene, M
2
-
Water hyacinth, M
3
- Ash. This experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete
Blocked Design with three replications. Nutrients and mulch materials influenced
significantly on most of the parameters. For nutrients N
3
performed best in diameter of
curd (20.12 cm), weight of primary curd (447.82 g) and yield 15.25
t/ha and minimum
in N
0
treatment. For mulch M
1
performed best curd (16.77 cm), weight of main curd
(417.32 g) and yield 15.86 t/ha and minimum in M
0.
In combined effect, the highest
yield (16.77 t/ha) was obtained from N
3
M
1
and the lowest (7.63 t/ha) in N
0
M
0
treatment
combination. So organic and inorganic fertilizer with black polythene mulch
combinedly performed the best for the growth and curd formation of broccoli. The
highest Benefit Cost Ratio 2.46 was noted from the combination of N
3
M
1
treatment combination and the lowest 1.72 from N
0
M
0.
So, the combination of
organic and inorganic fertilizer with black polythene mulching can be used for
commercial broccoli production.
