EFFECT OF TRANSPLANTING DATE AND ORGANIC MANURE ON GROWTH, YIELD AND ESSENTIAL OIL CONTENT OF MINT (Mentha piperita L.)

Abstract

The present experiment was conducted at the Horticultural farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka during the period from November 2017 to April 2018 to evaluate the effect of transplanting date and organic manure on growth, yield and essential oil content of mint. The experiment consisted of two factors: Factor A: Transplanting date (4 levels) as; T 1 : Transplanting at 15 November, T 2 : Transplanting at 30 November, T 3 : Transplanting at 15 December; T 4: Transplanting at 30 December; and Factor B: Organic manure (3 levels) as; M 0 : 0 kg/ha manure (control), M 1 : Vermicompost @ 3 t/ha, M 2 : Biofertilizer

@370 kg/ha. The two factor experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Transplanting date and organic manures significantly influenced on different growth and yield parameter of mint. In case of transplanting date, the highest herbage yield (6.79 t/ha), oil content (5.71%) and oil yield (33.93 L/ha) were found from T 3 and the lowest herbage yield (4.99 t/ha), oil content (4.26%) and oil yield (18.33 L/ha) from T 1 . Considering the organic manure application, M 2 produced the highest herbage yield (7.34 t/ha), oil content (5.81%) and oil yield (33.89 L/ha) and the lowest herbage (3.76 t/ha), oil content (4.20%) and oil yield (17.69 L/ha) was from M 0 . Regarding the interaction effect, the highest herbage yield (8.88 t/ha), oil content (6.55%) and oil yield (45.06 L/ha) were obtained from treatment combination T 3 and the lowest herbage yield (3.42 t/ha), oil content (3.46%) and oil yield (13.71 L/ha) from T 1 M 0 . The highest net return (BDT 1,105,679/ha) and benefit cost ratio (5.89) were obtained from the treatment combination T 3 M 2 and the lowest (BDT 307,970/ha) net return and benefit cost ratio (2.50) were obtained from T 1 M 0 . So, the transplanting at 15 December with bio-fertilizer @ 370 kg/ha can be used for herbage and essential oil production for mint. M 2