EFFECT OF ORGANIC (COMPOST) AND INORGANIC FERTILIZERS ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF POTATO

Abstract

The experiment was conducted at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka-1207 during the period from November 2021 to February 2022 to examine the effect of organic (compost) and inorganic fertilizers on growth and yield of potato. The experiment consisted of seven treatments viz. T 1 (100% RCF of NPKZnS; N 150 P 40 K

+ 0 t ha -1 compost), T 2 (75% RCF of NPKZnS + 2 t ha -1 compost), T (75% RCF of NPKZnS + 4 t ha -1 compost), T 4 (75% RCF of NPKZnS + 8 t ha -1 150 3 Zn 4 S compost), T (50% RCF of NPKZnS + 2 t ha -1 compost), T 6 (50% RCF of NPKZnS + 4 t ha compost) and T 7 (50% RCF of NPKZnS + 8 t ha -1 compost). The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Significant variation among the treatments was found for most of the parameter due to different levels of organic (compost) and inorganic fertilizers. The treatment T (75% RCF of NPKZnS + 8 t ha -1 compost) exposed the minimum days to first emergence (15.67 days) and final emergence (17.00 days) while the maximum plant height (81.20 cm), number of leaves plant -1 (78.24), number of stem plant -1 -1 4 (7.20), number of tuber plant (7.92), weight of tuber plant -1 (277.50 g), tuber weight plot -1 20 kg ha -1 (14.43 kg) and tuber yield ha

(28.86 t) followed by T 3 (75% RCF of NPKZnS + 4 t ha -1 compost) whereas the treatment T 5 (50% RCF of NPKZnS + 2 t ha -1 compost) performed the lowest results regarding these parameters. Regarding the grading of potato, T (75% RCF of NPKZnS + 8 t ha -1 4 compost) treatment also showed the highest percentage of 28-45 mm grade tuber (45.24%) followed by T 3 (75% RCF of NPKZnS + 4 t ha -1 compost) (43.80%) treatment whereas the minimum percentage (35.90%) was recorded from the treatment T (50% RCF of NPKZnS + 2 t ha -1 compost). In case of post harvest soil, different treatments showed non-significant variation on pH, organic matter and organic carbon content but available P and S of post harvest soil affected significantly. The treatment T (75% RCF of NPKZnS + 8 t ha -1 compost) showed the highest P (23.42 ppm) and S (28.47 ppm) content of post harvest soil whereas the lowest P and S content (18.80 and 23.85 ppm, respectively) was obtained from the treatment T 5 4 (50% RCF of NPKZnS + 2 t ha

compost). So, this treatment T 4 (75% RCF of NPKZnS + 8 t ha -1 compost) can be considered as the best treatment for potato production compared to other treatments.