Vol. 10, Special Issue 5 (2021)

Author(s):
Anand M, A Sankari, B Anita, PR Kamalkumaran and M Velmurugan

Abstract:
An experiment was conducted at Horticultural Research Station, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, The Nilgiris to standardize the nutrient management in Bird of Paradise (Sterlitizareginae) during the year 2015-2018. The experiment was conducted in Randomised Block Design with comprises of nine treatments replicated thrice. Uniform sized suckers were planted in the spacing 1.25 x 1.25 m under open conditions. In each replication five plants from each treatment were used as tester for recording observations on characters like plant height (cm), number of leaves (Nos), leaf length (cm), leaf width (cm), spike length (cm), spike diameter(cm), length of the spike head (cm) and number of flowers /year/plant The data revealed that the highest plant height was recorded in treatment T₈ (87.10 cm) followed by treatment T₄ (84.00 cm), whereas the lowest plant height was recorded in treatment T₂ (57.80 cm). The number of leaves ranged from 4.10 to 8.75 nos. The treatment T8 recorded maximum leaf length (45.00 cm) followed by treatment T₃ (40.50 cm) and minimum leaf length was observed in T₁ (28.00 cm) and maximum leaf width (14.00 cm) was observed in the treatment T₂. However, treatment T₈ (91.65 cm) recorded maximum spike length, spike diameter (5.55 cm) and length of the spike head (22.35 cm).The number of flowers per plant per year ranged from 11.05 to 16.50. The maximum number of flowers per plant per year (16.50 Nos) was recorded in the treatment T₈ followed by T₅ (15.25 Nos) and the treatment T₆ (14.75 Nos) whereas, the lowest number of flowers per plant per year was noticed in T₁₀ (11.05 Nos).The highest net return was obtained in the T₈ (1:3.50) followed by T₅ (1: 3.40). It could be concluded from the present investigation that T₈ : 37.5 g N₂: 20g P₃ :37.5 g K2 have performed better in terms of vegetative and yield characters for Bird of Paradise under Nilgiris condition.