Effect of fertigation and foliar spray of nutrients on soil fertility and yield of bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria L)

Abstract

The field experiment was conducted during Kharif, 2020-21 at Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola (Maharashtra) to study the effect of fertigation and foliar spray of nutrients on soil fertility and yield of bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria L). The experiment was conducted in a factorial randomized block design with three replications. The two factors i.e., fertigation levels and foliar spray levels were evaluated against soil fertility and yield of bottle gourd. The results indicate, that the foliar spray of nutrients did not influence significantly the soil pH, EC, while with fertigation levels, significantly lowest pH was observed with S1 (200:100:100 kg ha^-1 N, P₂O₅, K₂O) while EC was not significant. The organic carbon content and major nutrient i.e., available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were increased by 11, 25, 22 and 5% with fertigation level of S₁ (200:100:100 kg ha^-1 N, P₂O₅, K₂O) over S₃ (100:50:50 kg ha^-1 N, P₂O₅, K₂O), and by 21, 7, 15 and 5% with foliar spray level of F₃ (Two foliar spray of ZnSO₄ @ 0.25% + FeSO4 @ 0.25%) over F₀ (water spray). The micronutrient contents particularly Fe, Mn, and Zn were significantly increased by 32, 11, and 14% with foliar spray levels of S₁ (200:100:100 kg ha^-1 N, P₂O₅, K₂O) over S₃ (100:50:50 kg ha^-1 N, P₂O₅, K₂O) and by 52, 18, and 62% with foliar spray level of F₃ (Two foliar sprays of ZnSO₄ @ 0.25% + FeSO₄ @ 0.25%) over F₀ (water spray).