Abstract
AbstractThe control of plant spacing is an important agronomic practice which influences the growth, yield and quality of red onion bulbs. Accordingly, an experiment was conducted to investigate the best plant spacing measures for optimum growth and yield of selected red onion varieties in Jaffna district of Sri Lanka. The empirical study was carried out in a randomized complete block design with four replicates. Three different plant spacing measures were taken as treatments, namely T1: 5 cm × 5 cm, T2: 7.5 cm × 7.5 cm and T3: 10 cm × 10 cm. Parameters on growth characters such as plant height and number of leaves per plant were measured at 3-weeks intervals from planting. Furthermore, the bulb length, diameter, average weight and total bulb yield were recorded at the time of harvesting. The analysis revealed that plant spacing had a significant (P < 0.05) effect on the growth and yield parameters of red onions with varying levels of plant spacing. It could be concluded that the widest spacing (10 cm × 10 cm) in T3 produced significantly (P < 0.05) higher values in plant height, number of leaves, bulb length, diameter and average weight. The values of this character were found to be decreased with the narrow plant spacing (5 cm × 5 cm) in T1. On the other hand, the highest total yield was recorded in T1 with the higher plant density compared to the yield produced with lesser plant density in T3. In T3 (10 cm × 10 cm), the quality of the bulb is better than T1 (5 cm × 5 cm). As a result, the marketability is high for the bulbs. Meanwhile higher yield is generated in T1 when compared to T3 due to the high volume of bulbs produced. However, the marketability is less than for T3 with low-quality bulbs. Therefore, the study recommends wider spacing for red onion cultivation in Jaffna district as it is the ideal choice for the farmers based on consumer behavior.KeywordsGrowthPlant spacingRed onionQualityYield
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