Studies on nutrient management on growth and yield of bottle gourd Lagenaria siceraria (L.) var. Pusa Naveen

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at Research Farm of Mewar University, Chittorgarh (Rajasthan) during Summer season, 2025 on loamy sand soil, which consisted nine treatments viz., control T0: Control, T1: FYM @ 20 ton/ha, T2: FYM @ 10 ton + NPK 25:15:25kg/ha (50% RDF), T3: Vermicompost @ 5 ton/ha, T4: Vermicompost @ 2.5 ton +NPK 25:15:25 kg/ha (50% RDF), T5: Poultry manure@ 5 ton/ha, T6: Poultry manure @ 2.5 ton+ NPK 25:15:25 kg/ha (50% RDF), T7: Neem cake 0.5 ton/ha and T8: Neem cake 0.25 ton + NPK 25:15:25 kg/ha (50% RDF) randomized block design (RBD). The bottle gourd variety “Pusa Naveen” was used for experiment.Results clearly showed that growth parameters viz., vine length (cm), appearance of 1st female flowers, maximum yield parameters viz. fruit length, fruit weight, number of fruits/plant and total yield significantly higher recorded under T6: Poultry manure @ 2.5 ton + NPK 25:15:25 kg/ha (50% RDF) over control and remained at par with T4: Vermicompost @ 2.5 ton +NPK 25:15:25 kg/ha (50% RDF).