Abstract

Author:
Tatia Biswas, M. Ashraful Islam, Tamanna Haque

Doi: 10.26480/sfna.01.2020.42.47

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Sustainable production of horticultural crops demand judicious application of integrated nutrient management and biostimulant like moringa leaf extract (MLE) which provides different macro and micronutrient including phytohormones. Two factors experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 3 replications to observe fertilizers and moringa leaf extract (MLE) effects on growth and yield of tomato. Fertilizer were F0 (control), F1 (vermicompost), F2 (inorganic fertilizer), F3 (2/3 F1 + 1/3 F2). Foliar application of MLE were M0 (control), M1, M2 and M3 where MLE sprayed at one, two- and three-weeks interval after transplanting, respectively. In case of fertilizers, F3 gave the highest growth, 54.65%, 13.67% and 12.65% higher yield of tomato compared to sole application of vermicompost (F1), inorganic fertilizer (F2) and control (F0), respectively. In case of MLE, the highest growth and yield was found from M1; and the yield was 42.38 % higher compared to control. Among the treatments combination, the highest growth and yield like plant height (59.90 cm), flowers/plant (57.08), fruits/plant (25.67), fruit diameter (5.00 cm), fruit length (6.83 cm), individual fruit weight (67.65g), yield (1.52 kg/plant and 57.00 t/ha) was found from F3M1 and the lowest was found from F0M0. Our results suggested that about 75% less amount of inorganic fertilizer with judiciously incorporated vermicompost and exogenous application of MLE at one week interval could be used to improve the quality and productivity of tomato; and this can sustain the sustainable horticulture technology as environmentally friendly.