Abstract:
This study was conducted to evaluate the effect
of Yaramila complex fertilizer on the growth and yield of
cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). The experiment was laid
out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with six
treatments (T1-T6) in nine replications. The Yaramila complex
fertilizer (12:11:18 NPK + 3MgO + 8S) was applied at different
rates as basal (0-4 g per plant) and top dressing (4-8 g per plant),
whereas treatments were T1 (0,4), T2 (0,8), T3 (2,4), T4 (2,8),
T5 (4,4) and T6 (4,8). The results revealed that the application
of Yaramila fertilizer had a significant influence on the vine
length, number of leaves, the total number of fruits, and fresh
weight of fruits per plant, as well as the dry weight of crop
residue among the treatments. At 5% significant level, the vine
length in T4 (2 g basal and 8 g top dressing) (37.12 cm) was
significantly longer than that (27.75 cm) in T5 (4 g basal and 4
g top dressing), which had a shorter vine length compared to
other treatments at 4th WAP. The number of leaves was high
(7.3) in T6 (4 g basal and 8 g top dressing), whereas the number
of leaves was low (4.9) in T2 (0 g basal and 8 g top dressing) at
2
nd WAP. Yaramila fertilizer application significantly (P=0.0001)
influenced the total number of harvested fruits per plant. There
were no remarkable differences in fruit diameter and fruit
length between the treatments at P=0.05. Fruit length ranged
from 14.06 cm (T1 as a control: 0 g basal and 4 g top dressing)
to 17.33 cm (T4: 2 g basal and 8 g top dressing). There was
a significant difference (P=0.0012) in harvested fruit weight
per plant among the treatments. The highest mean value of
cumulative fruit yield was obtained in T5 (14,968.89 kg/ha), and
the least value was observed in T3 (7,857.78 kg/ha). Yaramila
fertilizer 4 g per plant as basal application and 4 g per plant as
a top dressing (2 g at 2 weeks and 2 g at 4 weeks) [T5 treatment]
could be used in cucumber cultivation to obtain high fruit yield.
