Effect of Different Doses of Boron on Growth and Yield of Off-Season Cauliflower (Brassica Oleracea Var. Botrytis) in Arghakhanchi, Nepal

Abstract

The research was conducted at Beltari Sandhikharka-10, Arghakhanchi district to study about the effect of various doses of boron on growth and yield attributing characters of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) during off-season from February to June in 2020. Five treatments; B0 (control/no application), B1: 2kg/ha, B2: 4kg/ha, B3: 6kg/ha, B4: 8kg/ha which are the different doses of boron application were laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 4 replications. The growth parameters like plant height, number of leaves per plant leaf length and leaf breadth of largest leaf were recorded multiple times with 15 days interval. Days to curd initiation and Days from curd initiation to harvest were recorded by regular field observation. The yield parameters; curd weight with leaves, Marketable curd weight, average curd yield, incidence of hollowing were recorded during harvest. The economics from application of boron doses in cauliflower production was obtained in terms of cost of cultivation, gross returns, net returns, and benefit cost ratio. The result showed that the growth and yield attributing characters of cauliflower were significantly affected by application of boron in which the value of these parameters was found significantly higher in B1 followed by other treatments. The average curd yield of cauliflower in B1 was found to be 12.39 mt/ha which was 48.92% higher than that of B0 with curd yield 8.32 mt/ha. Similarly, the net return was found significantly the highest in B1 and the lowest in B0. The result showed that application of boron in the range of 2-4 kg/ha is preferred to control and higher doses in respect of both productivity and economics.