Effect of Nano Fertilizer on Growth, Quality and Yield of Bottle Gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) var. Sarita under Prayagraj Agro Climatic Conditions

Abstract

An experiment was conducted on bottle gourd to study the effect of nano-fertilizer viz., NPK (19:19:19) in open field conditions of Prayagraj during 2022 for various parameters such as growth, earliness, yield and fruit quality. A F1 hybrid variety was used in this experiment named “SARITA” from the local market of Prayagraj. Total eight treatments were used which includes one RDF (recommended dose of conventional fertilizer) and seven concentrations of nano- fertilizer as foliar spray. For the vegetative characters, T7 (9g nano-NPK/L) was found significantly superior as maximum vine length (328.33cm at 60 DAT) and maximum number of primary branches(12.89 at 60DAT) were recorded, and the earliest flower initiation was also observed in T7 (26.33 days for male and 30 days for female flower after transplanting). Among the fruit characters viz., fruit length and average fruit weight were found superior by T6 (7.5g nano-NPK/L) i.e. 44.34cm & 1003g respectively , and for the yield parameters i.e., yield/vine and yield/ha was also maximum in T6 i.e. 12.55 & 251.75q respectively. Also for the quality parameters T6 shows best results in TSS (4.51), ascorbic acid content (10.03mg/100g) and moisture percentage (95.90%), where as T1 shows highest dry matter content (7.38%). The Benefit cost ratio was also found to be highest in T6 i.e. 3.26. Based on these observations, it could be suggested that T7 (9g nano-NPK/L) was the best treatment combination for overall vegetative characters and T6 (7.5g nano-NPK/L) shows the best results for yield & quality of fruits hence, more profitable. This study aims to investigate the advantages of using modern nano fertilizers and the economics involved.