Effect of nitrogen and potassium on growth parameters of banana
Banana (Musa spp.) is a vigorously growing, monocotyledonous herbaceous plant. Though Bangladesh is more suitable for production of banana but its productivity is very low due to a lack of improve variety, sustainable production & protection technology, soil fertility and fertilizer management. Fertilizers i.e. nitrogen and potassium are one of the most important elements that can play vital role to increase productivity of banana. Hence, the present research investigation was conducted at the Horticulture Farm of Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during the period from November, 2016 to December, 2017 to evaluate the effect of nitrogen & potassium fertilizers on growth and yield and also find out the best combination of N & K fertilizers for economic production of banana. Four levels of Nitrogen (N1=300g Urea/plant, N2=400g Urea/plant, N3=500g Urea/plant and N4=600g Urea/plant) and four potassium (K1=250g MOP/plant, K2=350g MOP/plant, K3=450g MOP/plant, K4=550g MOP/plant) were studied in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The results revealed that the single application of N3=500g Urea/plant, K3=450g MOP/plant and their combination (N3×K3=500g urea/plant×450g MOP/plant) showed more significant increase in morpho-physiological characteristics namely pseudo-stem height (m), pseudo-stem girth (cm), number of functional leaves, total number of leaves per plant, minimum days to bunch maturity & crop duration (days) and increase in yield contributing characters viz. total number of fingers per bunch, total number of hands per bunch, bunch weight (kg/plant), yield (t/ha) and benefit cost ratio in this study. The application of these two fertilizers as single or their interaction would be the most appropriate level for getting the superior growth and yield performance of banana.