EFFECT OF ZINC AND BORON ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF TOMATO IN SOILLESS CULTURE

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of zinc and boron on growth and yield of tomato in soilless culture from October 2021 to September 2022 in the Hortticulture Farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University. The experiment consisted of two factors: Factor A: Four Zn levels viz. Zn 0 ii = 0 ppm zinc, Zn 1 = 1.0 ppm zinc, Zn 2 = 2.0 ppm zinc, Zn 3 = 0 ppm boron, B 1 = 3.0 ppm zinc and Factor B: Four B levels viz. B 0 =1.0 ppm boron, B 2 = 2.0 ppm boron, B 3 = 3.0 ppm boron. The experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. BARI tomato 4 was used as plant materials. Different zinc and boron levels influenced significantly on most of the recorded parameters. The treatment Zn 2 (2.0 ppm zinc) showed the highest number of fruits plant -1 (33.70), fruit weight plant

(4.08 kg) and fruit yield (32.17 t ha - 1

). Regarding boron treatment, B 2 (2.0 ppm boron) showed the highest number of fruits plant -1 (33.96), fruit weight plant (4.09 kg) and fruit yield (32.34 t ha -1 ). In terms of treatment combination of zinc and boron, the highest number of branches plant -1 (6.25), number of fruits plant -1 (34.90), average fruit weight (61.32g), average fruit volume (86.67 cc), fruit weight plant (4.30 kg) and fruit yield (35.95 t ha -1 ) were recorded from Zn 2 B 2 (2.0 ppm zinc + 2.0 ppm boron) whereas the lowest was recorded from Zn 0 B 0 (0 ppm zinc + 0 ppm boron). The highest °Brix content (5.83), ascorbic acid content (18.46mg/100g FW) and titratable acidity (1.05%) were recorded from the treatment combinations of Zn 3 and Zn 2 B 2 , respectively whereas the lowest ˚Brix content (4.40), ascorbic acid content (11.40mg/100g FW) and titratable acidity (0.70%) were recorded from Zn 1 and Zn 3 B 3 , respectively. Again, the treatment combination of Zn 2 B 2 (2.0 ppm zinc + 2.0 ppm boron) gave the maximum fruit yield (35.95 t ha -1 ) and BCR (2.41) compared to other treatment combinations. So, the treatment combination of Zn 2 (2.0 ppm zinc + 2.0 ppm boron) can be considered as the best compared to the rest of the treatment combinations regarding achievement of tomato yield in soilless culture.