EFFECT OF ORGANIC MANURES AND BIOFORTIFICATION OF SELENIUM ON PHYSIOLOGICAL AND FLOWERING PARAMETERS OF CUCUMBER (CUCUMIS SATIVUS L.)

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out to study the “Effect of organic manures and biofortification of selenium on physiological and flowering parameters of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). The study was conducted during two seasons viz., Season I (FebruaryMay 2019) and Season II (July-October 2019). The experiment was carried out following the principles of randomized block design with fifteen treatments which were replicated thrice. The organic manures used in the experiment were farmyard manure (25 t ha-1), enriched manure (1 t ha-1) along with consortium of biofertilizers (2 kg ha-1). The selenium in the form of sodium selenate (Na2 SeO4 ) was used at varying concentrations (5, 10 and 20 µg L-1) as soil and foliar application. The physiological parameters viz.,chlorophyll content index and dry matter production per plant were recorded the highest in which EM @ 1 t ha -1 + CBF @ 2 kg ha -1 + Se (20 µg L -1) as foliar was applied. The flowering parameters viz., days to first male flower appearance, node number of first male flower, number of male flowers per vinewere found to be minimum in the treatment that received FYM @ 25 t ha-1 + CBF @ 2 kg ha-1 + Se (20 µg L-1) as foliar application. The days to first female flower appearance, node number of first female flower, number of female flowers per vine, fruit set percentage andsex ratio were observed to be superior in the treatment that received EM @ 1 t ha-1 + CBF @ 2 kg ha-1 + Se (20 µg L-1) as foliar application in both the seasons respectively.