Responses of nutrient combinations on yield and yield attributing characters of garlic (Allium sativum L.) and soil properties in Chitwan, Nepal

A field experiment was conducted on Garlic (Allium sativum L.) to study the responses of different nutrients sources on growth parameters, yield, soil properties and economic return. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD) in Agriculture and Forestry University farm during the year 2018-2019. There were 5 treatments viz. T1 (140:140:70 kg NPK + 20t FYM ha-1), T2 (140:140:70 kg NPK + 5.5t Vermicompost ha-1), T3 (140:140:70 kg NPK + 20 lit Azotobacter + PSB + KMB ha-1), T4 (20t FYM + 20 lit Azotobacter + PSB + KMB ha-1) and T5 (140:140:70 kg NPK + 20t FYM +20 lit Azotobacter + PSB+KMB + 5.5t Vermicompost ha-1) each with four replications. Among the treatments, plants supplied with T1 recorded maximum plant height (54.37cm) which was statistically similar to T5 (54.28cm) and T4 (49.04cm). However, the maximum number of leaves was recorded with T5 (6.83) followed by T1 (5.97) and T4 (5.91). Likewise, the highest bulb yield was found in T5 (118.7q/ha) which was statistically similar to T3 (110q/ha) and the lowest yield was obtained with T4 (87.4q/ha). However, the highest net return and Benefit-Cost Ratio was recorded on T2($14311.58 ha-1, 2.91) followed by T1 (13316.51 ha-1, 2.89) and T3 (13854.241 ha-1, 1.99), while the lowest net return and Benefit-Cost Ratio was recorded on T4 ($8883.19, 1.16).The maximum uptake of Nitrogen (149.305kg/ha), Phosphorus (40.73 kg/ha) and Potassium (152.3 kg/ha) was found to be on T5 while the least uptake was recorded in T3(139.6 kg/ha), T4(29.19 kg/ha) and T4 (132.5kg/ha). Thus, vermicompost in combination with chemical fertilizers is good source of nutrient for the highest profitability among different combinations of nutrient.