Effect of fertigation and foliar spray of nutrients on soil fertility and yield of bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria L)

The field experiment was conducted during Kharif, 2020-21 at Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola (Maharashtra) to study the effect of fertigation and foliar spray of nutrients on soil fertility and yield of bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria L). The experiment was conducted in a factorial randomized block design with three replications. The two factors i.e., fertigation levels and foliar spray levels were evaluated against soil fertility and yield of bottle gourd. The results indicate, that the foliar spray of nutrients did not influence significantly the soil pH, EC, while with fertigation levels, significantly lowest pH was observed with S1 (200:100:100 kg ha-1 N, P2O5, K2O) while EC was not significant. The organic carbon content and major nutrient i.e., available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were increased by 11, 25, 22 and 5% with fertigation level of S1 (200:100:100 kg ha-1 N, P2O5, K2O) over S3 (100:50:50 kg ha-1 N, P2O5, K2O), and by 21, 7, 15 and 5% with foliar spray level of F3 (Two foliar spray of ZnSO4 @ 0.25% + FeSO4 @ 0.25%) over F0 (water spray). The micronutrient contents particularly Fe, Mn, and Zn were significantly increased by 32, 11, and 14% with foliar spray levels of S1 (200:100:100 kg ha-1 N, P2O5, K2O) over S3 (100:50:50 kg ha-1 N, P2O5, K2O) and by 52, 18, and 62% with foliar spray level of F3 (Two foliar sprays of ZnSO4 @ 0.25% + FeSO4 @ 0.25%) over F0 (water spray). The yield of bottle gourd was significantly higher with F3 (Two foliar sprays of ZnSO4 @ 0.25% + FeSO4 @ 0.25%) in combination with S1 (200:100:100 kg ha-1 N, P2O5, K2O) and S2 (150:75:75 kg ha-1 N, P2O5, K2O).