EFFECTS OF IRRIGATION AND FERTILIZER ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF BEETROOT (Beta vulgaris)

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at the research field of horticulture farm of HSTU, Dinajpur Sadar, from November 2023 to March 2024, to evaluate the effects of irrigation and fertilizer on the growth and yield of beetroot (Beta vulgaris). The experiment was designed as a two-factor Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Treatments included three irrigation levels (two, four, and six irrigations) and four types of fertilizers: F1 (only recommended doses of chemical fertilizer, F2 (F1+10 ton/ha cowdung), F3 (F1+10 ton/ha vermicompost), and F4 (F1+ 5 ton/ha cowdung and 5 ton/ha vermicompost). Results revealed that both irrigation and fertilizer significantly influenced growth parameters. Maximum plant height (28.90 cm), number of leaves (8.33), leaf area (149.5 cm2), root length (7.12 cm), root diameter (4.98 cm), single root weight (165.25 g), marketable root weight (141 g), yield per plot (1175 g) was found in treatment I3. Among the irrigation levels, six irrigations yielded the best results, producing the highest growth and yield. Fertilizer treatments F4 (F1 + 5 ton cowdung + 5 ton vermicompost) also showed notable differences leading to the highest root yield. Maximum plant height (27.62 cm), number of leaf (8), maximum leaf area (139.78 cm2), root length (6.64 cm), root diameter (4.89 cm), single root weight (143.44 g), marketable root weight (129.89 g), yield per plot (1086 g), yield per ha (10.867 ton) were found in the F4 treatment. The interaction between irrigation and fertilizer further highlighted significant variations, with the maximum plant height (34.33 cm) number of leaf (10.33), leaf area (149 cm2), root length (8.93 cm), root diameter (6.63 cm), single root weight (240 g), marketable root weight (200 g), yield per plot (1750 g), highest yield per ha (17.5 t/ha) achieved in the treatment I3F4 (six irrigations with recommended doses of chemical fertilizer, 5 ton/ha cowdung, and 5 ton/ha vermicompost. Overall, the study concluded that adopting six irrigations along with recommended doses of chemical fertilizer, 5 ton/ha cowdung, and 5 ton/ha vermicompost is optimal for maximizing beetroot growth and yield under the experimental conditions.