Effect of trichoderma and compost manure on the growth and yield of onion

Abstract

Abstract An experiment was conducted at the Agriculture Research Institute Mingora, Swat, Pakistan. The experiment was designed in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) having three replications. The experiment consisted of two factors. i.e Trichoderma harzianum (0, 20 and 40 kg ha-1) and compost manure (0, 500, 1000 kg ha-1) that were applied as a single dose. The mean data showed that compost manure and Trichoderma significantly affected all growth parameters. Plants treated with 1000 kg ha-1 compost manure had maximum plant height (63.46 cm), number of leaves plant-1 (11.88), leaf length (39.62 cm), leaf width (1.05 cm), bulb diameter (6.88 cm), bulb neck height (5.6 cm) and yield (32.88 tones ha-1), but the parameters; plant height, number of leaves plant-1, leaf length and leaf width were statistically similar to the plots treated with compost @ 500 kg ha-1. Trichoderma @ 40 kg ha-1 showed maximum leaf length (39.56 cm), leaf width (1.09 cm), bulb weight (87.39 g), bulb diameter (7.06 cm) and yield (34.44 tones ha-1) . Plant height, number of leaves and bulb neck height were statistically similar to the plots which were treated with 20 kg ha-1Trichoderma. Whereas the lowest plant height (61.37 cm), number of leaves per plant (9.88), leaf length (37.21cm), leaf width (0.86 cm),bulb diameter (5.9 cm), bulb weight (77.14 g) and yield (27.22 tones ha-1) were recorded in untreated plots. It is concluded from the results that compost manure is a best soil amendment should be used @ 1000 kg ha-1 and Trichoderma @ 40 kg ha-1 for better growth and maximum onion production. Keywords: Trichoderma; compost; onion http://dx.doi.org/10.19045/bspab.2018.700192