PERFORMANCE OF SEAWEED ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF RED CABBAGE BY REDUCING PHOSPHORUS FERTILIZER

Abstract

The experiment was carried out at the Horticulture Farm of Sher -e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period from October 2021 to March 2022. The experiment consisted of two factors. Factor A: Three seaweed treatment viz. S 0 (control; water), S 1 (seaweed extract 2 ml/L) and S 2 (seaweed extract 4 ml/L) and Factor B: Four phosphorus treatment viz. P 0 (control; 100% P), P 1 (90% P), P 2 (80% P) and P 3 (70% P). The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. Regarding combined effect of seaweed and inorganic fertilizer application, most of the studied parameters including growth, yield and yield contributing parameters were significantly influenced. In case of different levels of seaweed the highest (37.73 t ha -1 ) was found from the treatment S 2 (seaweed extract 4 ml/L) followed by S 1 (seaweed extract 2 ml/L) whereas the lowest marketable cabbage yield (36.82 t ha ) was obtained from the treatment S 0 (control; water). For different levels of phosphorus the highest marketable cabbage yield (39.38 t ha -1 ) was observed from the treatment P 2 (80% P) followed by P 1 (90% P) whereas the lowest marketable cabbage yield (31.44 t ha ) was achieved from the treatment P 3 (70% P). For the combined effect the highest yield of cabbage (42.20 t ha -1 ) was obtained from S 2 P 2 followed by S 1 P 1 and the lowest result (30.73 t ha -1 ) was found from the treatment combination of S 0 P 3 . In terms of economic analysis, the highest gross return (Tk. 506400.00), net return (Tk. 273700.00) and BCR (2.18) was obtained from S 2 P 2 followed by S 1 P 1 whereas the lowest gross return (Tk. 368760.00), net return (Tk. 140838.00) and BCR (1.62) was obtained from S 0 . So, it can be summarized that S 2 P 2 has

given the maximum output in terms of benefit cost ratio (BCR) and this treatment combination was considered as the best compared to other treatment combinations.