Effect of sulphur on yield and quality of onion (Allium cepa L.) as influenced by applied sulphur levels and sources in inceptisols of Western Maharashtra

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted on onion at All India Coordinated Research Project on Vegetable Crops, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri during rabi season of 2010- 11. The effect of sources and levels of sulphur application in onion on its growth, yield and quality was studied. The treatments consist of two sources (gypsum and elemental sulphur 95) and six levels of sulphur from each sources i.e. 0, 15, 30, 45, 60 and 75 kg S ha-1). The experiment was conducted in factorial randomized block design with three replications. The observations on growth yield and quality character was recorded and data was analyzed. The results indicated that there was substantial increase in all the characters studied. The polar and equatorial diameter and average weight of bulb was influenced by sources and levels of sulphur application. The efficacy of gypsum and elemental sulphur in increasing total bulb yield was found to be at par. Response to fertilizer sulphur applied at 15 kg S ha-1 is substantial. By studying the sulphur use efficiency and apparent sulphur recovery percentage, the maximum yield obtained at 45 kg S ha-1. The pyuvic acid, sulphur content in bulb and S uptake was increase with increasing levels of sulphur. The total storage loss was also improved by increasing levels of sulphur. The sulphur application was beneficial for increasing the yield and quality of onion cv. N-2-4-1 in rabi season on inceptisols under Western Maharashtra conditions.