EFFECT OF FOLIAR APPLICATION OF CHITOSAN ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF WHEAT

Abstract

The experiment was conducted in Agronomy Research Field, Department of Agronomy, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur-5200, Bangladesh from December 2022 - April 2023 to assess the effect of chitosan on the growth, yield attributes and yield of wheat. The experiment consisted of two factors where one factor was varieties namely V1 (BWMRI Gom 2), V2 (BWMRI Gom 3) and V3 (BARI Gom 32), and another three treatments e.g., T1 (25 ppm chitosan/L water), T2 (50 ppm chitosan/L water), T3 (75 ppm chitosan/L water). The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) what about application of chemical fertilizer?The results revealed plant height, number of tillers plant-1, number of leaves plant-1, spike length, fresh weight plant-1, dry weight plant-1, 1000 seeds weight, grain yield, straw yield, biological yield and harvest index were influenced by foliar application of chitosan. The BWMRI Gom 3 was found to significantly superior than BWMRI Gom 2 and BARI Gom 32 in terms of 1000 seeds weight (46.74 g), grain yield (5.5 t ha-1), biological yield (9.5 t ha-1) and harvest index (43.74 %). T2 (50 ppm chitosan/L water) showed best performance than the other treatment combinations in most of the parameters specially in 1000 seed weight (11.52 g) and grain yield (3.5 t ha 1), biological yield (11.52 t ha-1), harvest index (47.33 %). Interaction result showed that BWMRI Gom 3 along with T2 (50 ppm chitosan/L water) possed the highest grain yield 4.5 t ha-1. Finally, it can be concluded that BWMRI Gom 3 may be foliar spray with chitosan @ 50 ppm for getting better growth and maximum yield of wheat.