PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENT OF ONION (ALLIUM CEPA L.) UNDER AGRO- CLIMATIC CONDITIONS OF MANSEHRA, PAKISTAN

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of various levels of NPK fertilizers on the yield  and yield contributing factors of onion.Treatments includes namely T₁(00-00-00),T₂(25-25-12.5),T₃(50-50-25),T₄(75-75-37.5)and T₅(100-100-50) NPK kg/ha. All P and K fertilizer was applied as basal dose while Nitrogen was applied in split doses.  The variety used in the study was Swat-1. Data revealed that at harvest maximum plant height of 53.8cm, No. of leaves/plant (7), No. of roots/plant (95), No. of bulb/plot ( 221), fresh weight/bulb (127.7g), bulb size (6.4 cm),  and yield of 24.92 tons/ha were recorded in treatment T₅ provided 100-100-50 NPK kg/ha followed by plant height of 52.2cm, No. of leaves/plant (6), No. of roots/plant (83),  No. of bulb/plot(156) , fresh weight/bulb 118g , bulb size 5.7cm,  and 23.87 tons/ha yield   in treatment receiving 75-57-37.5NPK kg/ha. The minimum plant height of 46.3 cm, No. of leaves/plant (5), No. of roots/plant (55), No. of bulb/plot (114), fresh weight/ bulb (103.5 g) bulb size (5.05cm) and yield of 17.80 tons/ha was recorded in control plot  (without NPK). Results indicates that NPK @100-100-50 kg/ha proved to be the optimal dose of fertilizer to get maximum yield of onion.