RESPONSE OF IRRIGATION LEVEL AND BORON SPLITTING AS FOLIAR APPLICATION ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF LENTIL

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted for evaluating the effect of irrigation and boron splitting as foliar spray on growth and yield of lentil at the research field of the Department of Agronomy, Sher-e- Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka from November, 2018 to March, 2019. The experiment consisted of three levels of irrigation viz., I 0 : Control, I 1 : one irrigation at 25 days after sowing (DAS), I : two irrigations at 25 DAS and 40 DAS and boron was applied by four levels viz., B 2 0 :

Control, B : 80% recommended dose as basal + rest 20% as foliar spray (FS) at pre flowering (PF), B : 60% RD as basal + rest 40% as FS at PF, B : 40% RD as basal + rest 60% as FS at PF. The experiment was full set up in a split-plot design with three replications. Data recorded on the basis of plant length, leaves plant 3 -1 , branches plant -1 1 , dry weight plant , pods plant -1 , seeds pod -1 , 1000-seed weight, pod length, seed yield, stover yield and biological yield were found statistically variable with treatments. In case of irrigation result revealed that the highest dry weight plant -1 (4.44 g), 1000-seed weight (24.26 g) and seed yield (570.56 kg ha -1 ) were obtained from I (Irrigations at 25 and 40 DAS). On the other hand, the highest dry weight plant -1 2 (4.40 g), 1000-seed weight (22.87g) and seed yield (598.81 kg ha -1 ) were recorded from B (40% RD as basal + rest 60% as FS at PF). Result also showed that most of the treatment combinations gave the statistical similar results in case of seed yield where numerically the highest seed yield (638.23 kg ha -1 ) was recorded in I 2 B 3 3 . Numerically the highest stover yield (751.26 kg ha ) and biological yield (1389.4 kg ha -1 ) was recorded from I 2 B combinations. The combined use of irrigation and boron was preferable than their individual application. It may be concluded that I 0 B 3 3 combinations may be suitable for lentil cultivation if the crop received at least 12.8 mm rainfall during its maximum vegetative stage. Key words: Boron, irrigation, yield characteristics, lentil, foliar application, splitting etc.