GROWTH, YIELD AND QUALITY SEED PRODUCTION OF ONION RESPONSE TO MULCHING AND VARIETIES

Onion (Allium cepa L.) belonging to the family Alliaceae, is one of the most important spice and vegetable crops in the world. In Bangladesh, onion is grown in winter when rainfall is scarce and plants face deficiency of water. The farmers cannot irrigate the land due to shortage of irrigation facilities or acute financial problem. In this situation soil moisture conservation through mulching may ensure sufficient supply to the growing crop. Mulches have various effects on plant growth and yield. There were significant variation exists on bulb, seed yield and seed quality performance among the genotypes. The experiment was conducted to study the effect of mulching and variety on growth, yield and seed production of onion. Two factors: Factor (A) four mulching treatments, no mulch, natural mulch, rice straw mulch and black polythene mulch; Factor (B) five onion variety Taherpuri, BARI piaz-2, Jhitka, BARI piaz- 4 and BARI piaz-1were used in the study. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design with twenty treatment combinations and three replications. In the experiment it was revealed that black polythene mulch showed highest results on almost all plant, seed yield (1653.79kg/ha) and seed quality characters and lowest result in control treatment. The performance of the mulches was found in order of no mulch < natural mulch < rice straw mulch < black polythene mulch. In case of variety BARI piaz- 4 showed highest results almost on all vegetative, reproductive, seed yield (1476.04 kg/ha) and seed quality characters and lowest result in parameters and lowest result in Jhitka variety. The performance of the onion varieties was found in order of Jhitka