Authors: A.K.M. Ruhul Amin* , Md. Abdullahil Baque and Tanjila Afrose
Corresponding author: Email: ruhulsau@yahoo.com
Abstract
An experiment was conducted in the experimental field of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka- 1207 during the period from 24 November, 2019 to 10 March, 2020 to evaluate the effect of different levels of nitrogen and Sulphur, and to select the suitable combination of nitrogen and Sulphur for achieving maximum yield and oil content of sunflower. The experiment comprised of two factors with varying levels of nitrogen and Sulphur such as Nitrogen (N1 = 80 kg N ha-1, N2 = 100 kg N ha-1, N3 = 120 kg N ha-1 and N4 = 140 kg N ha-1) and Sulphur (S1 = 20 kg S ha-1, S2 = 30 kg S ha-1 and S3 = 40 kg S ha-1). The experiment was laid out in a split plot design with three replications. Data were collected on different aspects of yield attributes, yield and oil content of sunflower. Results revealed that higher doses of nitrogen (N4 and N3) gave the highest grain yield (1.82 and 1.76 t ha-1, respectively) which may be attributed to the maximum head diameter (16.38 and 15.56cm, respectively), seeds head-1 (374.11 and 366.17, respectively) and 1000- seed weight (59.74 and 59.34 g, respectively) in these two nitrogen doses. Out of 3 doses of Sulphur, the highest dose (S3) produced the highest seed yield (1.81 t ha-1). This treatment also showed highest leaf area index (1.0950), SPAD value (49.12), seeds head-1 (3366.03) and 1000- seed weight (58.59g). However, N2 and S3 treatment showed highest oil content (in percentage). Regarding the interaction of nitrogen and Sulphur doses, the interaction of highest nitrogen dose (N4) × highest Sulphur dose (S3) (N4 × S3) was maximum seed yielder (2.08 t ha-1) among the other interactions which was attributed to higher head diameter (16.99 cm), seeds head-1 (382.31) and 1000- seed weight (60.36 g) in this interaction treatment. On the other hand, N2 × S3 interaction gave maximum oil content in terms of percentage.
Keywords: Sunflower, Growth, Yield and Oil content.
