Effect of potash and sulphur on yield and quality parameters under different planting methods in onion

A field experiment was carried out to examine the effect of potash and sulphur on yield and quality parameters under different planting methods in onion (Allium cepa L.) during Rabi 2014 and 2015. The experiment consists of 8 treatment combinations viz. 2 planting methods (bed and flat), 4 treatments of fertilizer viz. S1-N100 P50 K0 S0 (control), S2 - N100 P50 K50 S0, S3 - N100 P50 K0S40, S4 - N100 P50 K50 S40. The experiment was laid in factorial randomized block design and replicated thrice. Uniform dose of farm Yard manure (50 t ha-1) was applied to all the treatments. Data on plant height (cm), leaves /plant (No.), neck thickness (mm), fresh bulb weight (g), fresh bulb yield (q ha-1), total soluble solids (T.S.S), sprouting (%),rotting (%) and physiological weight loss (%) at 30 and 90 days after of harvest were recorded . It has been observed that planting methods and fertilizer treatments showed significant difference at 5% level of significance for plant height (cm), neck thickness (mm), fresh bulb weight (g), fresh bulb yield (q ha-1),total soluble solids (T.S.S), sprouting(%), rotting(%) and physiological weight loss (%) at 30 days after harvest. However their interaction was significant for Neck thickness (mm), fresh bulb yield (q ha-1) and rotting (%).It was found that application of potash and sulphur with recommended dose of Nitrogen and phosphorus gave better results in relation to yield as well as quality characters. The results revealed that application of potash and sulphur with recommended dose of nitrogen and phosphorus (S4 - N100 P50 K50 S40 ) gave better results in relation to yield (339.6 q ha-1) as well as quality characters like sprouting (2.38 %) and rooting (12.18 %) and physiological weight loss at 30 and 90 days of harvest(10.22 and 20.50 % respectively)