Economics of cucumber grown in open field condition with different fertigation levels and foliar spray of boron in Cv. Himangi

Abstract

The effect of fertigation and foliar application of boron on yield, uptake of nutrients by cucumber Cv. Himangi was studied during two consecutive years 2018-19 and 2019-20. An experiment was carried out in open field conditions with five fertigation levels viz., 100% RDF through soil, 120%, 100%, 80% and 60% RDF through fertigation in ten equal splits at 10 days interval along with three levels of foliar application of boron viz. 0.0, 0.1, and 0.2 percent concentration at 30, 45 and 60 DAS to determine suitable fertigation and foliar spray of boron dose for cucumber cultivation. The experiment was consisting of fifteen treatment combinations of recommended doses of water soluble fertilizers, comprising of five levels of fertigation. The results indicated that, yield, nutrient uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium under study were significantly influenced by various fertigation and boron levels. On the basis of pooled data, it was observed that, among various treatment combinations, minimum male: female sex ratio (1:4), maximum average weight of fruit (239.88 g), yield per vine (2.44 kg), yield (228.37 q/ha), uptake of nitrogen by shoot, (13.03 kg/ha), (81.62 kg/ha) by fruit and (94.01 kg/ha) by whole cucumber vine. Maximum B:C ratio was observed in treatment combination (2.99) F2M2 i.e. 120% RDF through fertigation along with foliar application of boron at concentration of 0.2% boron and minimum F1M0 (1.29) treatment combination i.e. 100% RDF through soil application with no foliar spray of boron.