GROWTH AND YIELD RESPONSE OF SEEDLESS AND KAGOJI LEMON CULTIVARSTO DIFFERENT AGRONOMIC MANAGEMENT PRACTICES UNDERSYLHET CONDITIONS OF BANGLADESH

Abstract

The experiment was conducted at the Citrus Germplasm Centre, Sylhet Agricultural University, from December 2020 to November 2021 to identify suitable agronomic management practices for improving growth, yield, and profitability of two lemon varieties under the agro-ecological conditions of Sylhet. The experiment included two lemon cultivars, Seedless and Kagoji, and four agronomic management practices: poultry manure, chemical fertilizer, mulching, and a control (no management). Four replications of a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) were used in the experiment and 5% level of significance (P ≤ 0.05) was used to examine the data. The findings showed that the plants with the highest fruit yield was Seedless lemon due to its highest fruit weight, fruit length and fruit breadth while the highest total number of fruit/plants were recorded in Kagoji lemon. Considering the effect of agronomic management practices, poultry manure performed better and had the highest yield contributing characteristics of the seedlings viz. number of leaves/plant (543.88), number of fruit/plant (189.96), number of flower/plant (345.63) and fruit breadth (4.52 cm). The interaction effect among the cultivars and agronomic management practices indicated that, Seedless lemon with poultry manure and chemical fertilizer produced statistically similar result in terms of yield and other attributes. But the highest yield (19.29 kg/plant) was recorded in Seedless lemon with poultry manure. The result suggested that Seedless lemon along with poultry manure can be the best combination for optimizing lemon production in the agro-ecological conditions of the Sylhet region. The findings also demonstrate the potential of poultry manure as a sustainable and eco-friendly source of nutrients that can lessen reliance on chemical fertilizers while preserving high production and raising lemon cultivation profitability.