Effects of varieties and organic manures on growth and yield of cauliflower

An experiment was conducted at the Landscaping section of the Department of Horticulture, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during the period from October 2018 to March 2019 to investigate the effects of varieties and organic manures on growth and yield of cauliflower. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with 3 replications. The experiment consisted of two varieties viz. BARI Fulkopi-1 (RUPA) and BARI Fulkopi-2 and five organic manures treatments viz. T0 = Control (no manure), T1 = Cowdung @ 20 t/ha, T2 = Mustard oilcake (MOC) @ 0.5 t/ha, T3 = Poultry manure @15 t/ha, T4 = Cowdung+MOC+Poultry manure @ 4 t/ha+ 0.25 t/ha+2 t/ha. The results of the experiment showed that the variety and organic manures had significant influence on almost all the parameters studied. BARI Fulkopi-2 produced the higher yield with increased plant height, number of leaves per plant, stem length, curd diameter compared to BARI Fulkopi-1 (RUPA). The results further revealed that the application of T4 (Cowdung+MOC+Poultry manure@ 4t/ha+0.25t/ha+2t/ha) increased plant height, number of leaves per plant, stem length, curd diameter and curd yield compared to control treatment (T0). The highest curd yield (24.01 t/ha) was recorded in T4 (Cowdung+MOC+Poultry manure @ 4 t/ha+0.25 t/ha+2 t/ha) and the lowest curd yield (13.99 t/ha) was found in T0 (control). The effect of organic manures on yield were in order of T4>T3>T2>T1>T0. Among the treatment combinations V2T4 gave the highest plant heights (47.26 cm), number of leaves per plant (11.22), pure curd yield (24.99 t/ha) where-as the lowest plant height (23.52 cm), number of leaves per plant (7.37), pure curd yield (13.3 t/ha) were obtained from V1T0. Therefore, the combined application of Cowdung+MOC+Poultry manure @ 4 t/ha+0.25 t/ha+2 t/ha) along with BARI Fulkopi-2 was found to be better in respect of growth and yield of cauliflower. [Fundam Appl Agric 2021; 6(3.000): 257-264]