Effect of different levels of nitrogen and potassium on growth and flowering behaviour of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.)

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out during rabi 2018-2019, with 4 levels of nitrogen (60 kg ha-1, 80 kg ha-1, 100 kg ha-1 and 120 kg ha-1) and 3 levels of potassium (40 kg ha-1, 60 kg ha-1 and 80 kg ha-1) in Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD), with 3 replications and 12 treatment combinations. An application of nitrogen at N4 i.e. 120 kg N ha-1 was found to exhibit significantly superior performance in respect of growth parameters. While, earliness in terms of flowering exhibited by the treatment N1 (60 kg N ha-1). In respect of influence of potassium levels, K2 (60 kg K ha-1) was found significantly superior for plant height (181.93 cm), number of primary branches per plant (10.86), number of secondary branches per plant (23.81), early flowering (66.80 days) and days required for 50% flowering (86.08) at 120 DAS. The interaction effect of N4 x K2 (N4-120 N kg ha-1 and K2-60 K kg ha-1) found superior for growth parameters.