Attaining higher biomass and steviol glycosides yields of Stevia rebaudiana through adjustment of plant population and nitrogen rate
2021
Mahajan, Mitali | Anuradha, | Pal, Probir Kumar
Stevia rebaudiana is being cultivated in many parts of the world for its industrial uses as a low-caloric natural sweetener. However, the effects of plant population and nitrogen (N) levels and their interactions on biomass yield and steviol glycosides accumulation are not properly known in the mild-temperate conditions. Therefore, an experiment was laid out with ten treatment combinations having two plant densities (50,000 and 100,000 plants ha⁻¹) and five N levels (0 to 160 kg ha⁻¹). The overall dry leaf yield of stevia ranged from 1.74 to 3.35 Mg ha⁻¹, while total steviol glycosides (SGs) concentration of the stevia leaf varied from 7.6 to 9.3%. The dense population (100,000 plants ha⁻¹) registered about 64.9 and 71.8% higher dry leaf yields compared with thin population (50,000 plants ha⁻¹) during 2014 and 2015, respectively. Irrespective of plant density, N at 120 kg ha⁻¹ recorded significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher dry leaf yields (3.35 and 2.83 Mg ha⁻¹) compared with control during both the experimental years. However, substantially higher apparent N-recovery and agronomic N-efficiency were registered with lower doses (40−80 kg ha⁻¹) of N. The total SGs yield (g plant⁻¹) was not reduced with dense plantation. Similarly, the significantly higher total SGs yield was recorded with the application of N at 120 kg ha⁻¹. The response curve suggests that the dense plantation and N up to 143 kg ha⁻¹ can be practiced to increase dry leaf yield of stevia without sacrificing the production of total SGs under mild temperate conditions.
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