RESEARCH ARTICLE
Effect of Plant Spacing and Np Fertilizer Levels on Growth, Seed Yield and Quality of Onion (Allium cepa L.) at Shewa Robit, Northern Ethiopia
Getachew Amare1, *, Wassu Mohammed2, Tamado Tana2
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2020Volume: 14
First Page: 12
Last Page: 22
Publisher ID: TOBIOTJ-14-12
DOI: 10.2174/1874070702014010012
Article History:
Received Date: 06/09/2019Revision Received Date: 27/11/2019
Acceptance Date: 01/01/2020
Electronic publication date: 13/02/2020
Collection year: 2020
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode). This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background:
The shortage of quality seed is the major limiting factor of onion production in the study area. Inappropriate use of NP fertilizers and plant spacing is the major source of the problem.
Objective:
The experiment was conducted to determine optimum plant spacing and NP fertilizer for high yield and quality seed production of onion.
Methods:
The treatments were composed of plant spacing 10×20×40 cm, 20×30×50 cm, 10×40 cm, 10×50 cm, 10x30 cm and NP fertilizer levels 86.25 P2O5 & 85.5 N kg ha-1, 115 P2O5 & 114 N kg ha-1, 143.6 P2O5 & 142.5 N kg ha-1, 69 P2O5 & 142 N kg ha-1 and control in a 5 x 5 factorial arrangement of RCBD with three replications.
Results:
The highest seed yield per hectare (879.4 kg) and per plot (663.6 g) was obtained from 115 P2O5 & 114 N kg ha-1 fertilizers and plant spacing 10×30cm gives the highest seed yield per plot (561.7g) and per hectare (748.9 kg). The highest germination percentage was obtained by the interaction effect of 10×30 cm and 143.6 P2O5 & 142.5 N kg ha-1. Whereas, highest seed vigor index I and II were obtained from the interaction of 115 P2O5 &114 N kg ha-1 and 20×30×50 cm spacing.
Conclusion:
Plant spacing of 10×30 cm followed by 20×30×50 cm and 115 P2O5 &114 N kg ha-1 fertilizers could be recommended for high yield and quality onion seed production in the study area.
