Effect of seaweed extract on productivity and quality dynamics of onion cv. Sukhsagar

Abstract

A study on the effect of seaweed extract on productivity and quality dynamics of onion cv. Sukhsagar was framed and enlarged during November - March, accompanied by two seasons (2021-2022 and 2022-2023) at Horticultural Research Station, Mondouri, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, under new alluvial plains of West Bengal. The experiment was headed by Randomized Block Design assimilated with 10 treatments of 3 replications viz., (T1- spray with Seaweed Extract (SWE) (15%) @ 1 ml l-1, T2 - spray with SWE (15%) @ 2 ml l-1, T3 - spray with SWE (15%) @ 3 ml l-1, T4 - soil application of Seaweed Granules (SWG) (5%) @ 3 kg ha-1, T5 - soil application of SWG (5%) @ 4 kg ha-1, T6 - soil application of SWG (5%) @ 5 kg ha-1, T7 - spray with SWE (15%) @ 1 ml l-1 + soil application of SWG (5%) @ 3 kg ha-1, T8 - spray with SWE (15%) @ 2 ml l-1 + soil application of SWG (5%) @ 4 kg ha-1, T9 - spray with SWE (15%) @ 3 ml l-1 + soil application of SWG (5%) @ 5 kg ha-1 and T10 - control (spray with distilled water). Among all the treatments, T9 (spray with SWE (15%) @ 3 ml l-1 + soil application of SWG (5%) showed the best response in terms of mean maximum plant height (59.20 cm), leaf length (57.77 cm), neck thickness (3.12 cm), No. of leaves plant-1 (5.20), bulb yield (4.07 kg plot-1), projected bulb yield (16.96 t ha-1), dry matter content (6.85%), total soluble solids (11.58ºBrix), titratable acidity (0.42 mg 100 g-1), ascorbic acid (7.90 mg 100 g-1), total sugars (9.87%), reducing sugar (4.46%), net profit (Rs. 2,03,042 ha-1) and benefit: cost ratio (1.98: 1).