EFFECT OF DIFFERENT FERTILIZER PACKAGES ON THE PERFORMANCE OF JHUM CROPS

Abstract

The experiment was conducted at Hill Agricultural Research Station, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Khagrachari, Bangladesh during Kharif season May, 2014 to January, 2015 to study the effects of different fertilizer on the performance of jhum crops. Jhum rice (Locally called 20 number), marpha, maize, sweet gourd, sesame, turmeric and arhar were used as the test crop in this experiment. The experiment was laid out in Latin Square Design (LSD), where the experimental area was divided into four blocks representing the replications to reduce soil heterogenetic effects. The treatments consisted of 4(four) levels of NPK fertilizers i.e. Ti: no fertilizer (Control), T2: 40 kg N + 25 kg P2O5 + 30 kg K2O ha-1, T3: 80 kg N + 50 kg P2O5 + 60 kg K2O ha-1 and T4: 120 kg N + 75 kg P2O5 + 90 kg K2O ha-1. The yield parameters and yields were significantly affected by fertilizer. Yield contributing characters and yields of jhum rice were significantly affected by different levels of NPK fertilizer. The highest plant height of jhum rice (132.8 cm), effective tillers hill-1 (14.38), panicle length (30.80 cm), highest number of filled grain per panicle (132.7), 1000 grain weight (25.17 gm), straw yield (4.18 ton/ha) and grain yield (3.34 ton/ha) were found from T4 treatment receiving 120 kg N + 75 kg P2O5 + 90 kg K2O ha-1 and for all cases lowest results were found in T1 treatment receiving no fertilizer (control). NPK fertilizer plays a significant role on the yield of marpha, maize, sesame, sweet gourd, turmeric and arhar. The highest yield of marpha (984.8 kg ha-1), maize (951.3 kg ha-1), sweet gourd (1418.0 kg ha-1), sesame (331.3 kg ha-1), turmeric (680.2 kg ha-1) and arhar (349.9 kg ha-1) were found in T4 treatment receiving 120 kg N + 75 kg P2O5 + 90 kg K2O ha-1 and for all cases lowest results were found in T1 treatment receiving no fertilizer.