17. Response of Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) cultivars to Nitrogen levels
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Abstract
Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for both vegetative and reproductive growth of plants. Above and below the optimum level vegetative as well as the reproductive growth negatively affected therefore the experiment was designed to evaluate the response of brinjal cultivars to various levels (0, 70, 100, and 130 kg ha-1) of nitrogen in the year of 2014. All the treatments were randomly assigned with split plot arrangement with three replicates. Nitrogen levels were considered as main plot treatments and brinjal cultivars (Shamli, Black Long, Purple Long) as subplot treatments. Both cultivars and nitrogen levels showed significant difference among growth parameters. Plant height, days to flowering, days to fruiting, number of leaves plant-1, number of fruits plant-1, fruit weight, total yield and survival percentage were significantly increased by nitrogen levels. Maximum plant height (138.22 cm), number of leaves plant-1(434.44), days to fruiting (64),days to flowering (39),fruit weight (74.50 g), number of fruits plant-1 (16.37), total yield (13.72 t ha-1) and survival percentage (98.50%) were observed in plots received nitrogen at 130 kg ha-1, however, control plots were recorded with the lowest survival percentage. Among cultivars, maximum plant height (120.83cm),days to flowering (38), days to fruiting (54), number of leaves plant-1 (349.17), fruit weight (72.42g), total fruits plant-1 (15.37), total yield (13.26 t ha-1) and survival percentage (95.38%), were recorded in cultivar Purple Long, while minimum values for these parameters were recorded in cultivar Black long. It is concluded from the results that cultivar Purple Long with 130kg N ha-1 showed better results regarding growth and yield; hence it is recommended to cultivate mentioned cultivar under the agro climatic condition of Peshawar for optimum growth and yield.
Keywords: Solanum melongena L.; Nitrogen dose; Brinjal cultivars; Growth; Production