Abstract:
The experiment was carried out at the Horticulture Farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural
University, Dhaka, Bangladesh during November 2020 to April 2021 to study the effect
of mulching and maleic hydrazide on growth, yield and quality of muskmelon. The
experiment co
nsisted of two factors. Factor A: Three mulching practices viz., M
0
= No
mulch (control), M
b
= Black polythene mulch, M
w
= Clear polythene mulch and Factor B:
Three maleic hydrazide (MH) solutions viz., G
0
= Control (no maleic hydrazide), G
1
= 50
ppm MH and G
2
= 100 p
pm MH. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete
Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Data were recorded on growth, yield and
quality of muskmelon and significant variation were observed for most of the studied
characters. Under this investigation, it was revealed that the maximum percentage of
female flowers per plant (21.49), individual fruit weight (1074.40 g), fruit yield (41.00 t
ha
-1
) with total soluble solids (10.93 °brix) and vitamin C contents (22.15 mg/100 g) were
o
btained from the treatment combination M
b
G
2
(Black polythene mulch +100 ppm
maleic hydrazide). On the other hand, the minimum percentage of female flowers per
plant (8.44), individual fruit weight (702.00 g), fruit yield (11.60 t ha
-1
) with total soluble
solids (8.55 °brix) and vitamin C contents (17.81 mg/100 g) were recorded fr
om control
treatment combination (M
0
G
0
). So, the treatment combination M
b
G
2
(Black polythene
mulch + 100 ppm maleic hydrazide) was more suitable than the other treatment
combinations for the production of muskmelon.
Description:
A Thesis
Submitted to the Faculty of Agriculture,
Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka,
In partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE (MS)
IN
HORTICULTURE