Response of irrigation scheduling and nitrogen levels on growth and yield contributing parameters of radish (Raphanus sativus L.) under mid hills of Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

An on-farm study of irrigation scheduling and nitrogen level on radish was conducted near Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India. It using a randomized block design (factorial) with 4 irrigation schedules i.e. I0, 4 cm irrigation at IW/CPE ratio (I1: 0.8), (I2:1.0), (I3:1.2) and three N levels i.e. N0, (N1:75 per cent of RD) and (N2:100 percent of RD). Results revealed that treatment combination N2I3 was recorded with maximum number of leaves (27.3 and 25.0), leaf length (32.53 cm and 29.44 cm), root length (22.21 cm and 32.91 cm), root diameter (4.58 cm and 5.28 cm), net root weight (156.2 g and 209.1 g), gross root weight (204.6 g and 341.3 g) and yield (309.0 quintals/ha and 288.1 quintals/ha during 2016-17 and 2017-18, respectively over the N0I0. The highest B:C ratio (3.61:1) was worked out under N2I3 which was rated as the most profitable combination followed by N2I2 (3.39:1). It can be concluded that among different irrigation schedules,I3 and I2 schedules were found to be equally good for maintaining optimum soil moisture content as compared to I1 and I0. Among different N levels, N2 was found to be best which might influence the growth and yield of radish (Raphanus sativus L.).