ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF ZINC AND COPPER ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF TOMATO

A pot experiment was carried out at the net house of Soil Science Department of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka during the period from October, 2016 to March, 2017 to study the effect of Zn and Cu on the growth and yield of tomato. There were six doses of fertilizer in experiment, viz., T0= Control, T1= Recommended dose of fertilizer (N160P50K100S20) kg/ha, T2=75% NPKS from inorganic fertilizer and 25% NPKS from cowdung, T3= Recommended dose of fertilizer with Zn and Cu (N160P50K100S20+Zn4+Cu4) kg/ha, T4= Recommended dose of fertilizer with Cu (N160P50K100S20 +Cu4) kg/ha, T5= Recommended dose of fertilizer with Zn (N160P50K100S20+Zn4) kg/ha were used to conduct this experiment. The experiment was laid out in Randomized complete Block Design (RCBD) having one factors and three replications. Data were taken on growth, yield contributing characters, yield and the collected data were statistically analyzed for evaluation of the treatment effects. All the plant parameters were influenced significantly by the application Zn and Cu with other chemical fertilizers. The tallest plant, maximum number of leaves per plant, number of branches per plant, maximum number of flowers cluster per plant number of flowers per plant were produced by recommended dose of fertilizer with Zn and Cu (N160P50K100S20+Zn4+Cu4) kg/ha. The higher number of fruits per plant was observed in T3 treatment. The Zinc and Copper of tomato significantly influenced on the yield of fruits per plant. The maximum yield of fruits per plant (347.60 g) was obtained from T3 treatment and the minimum yield of fruits per plant (183.73 g) was obtained from control treatment.