Banana pseudostem enriched sap a: substitute for KNO3 foliar spray in rainfed cotton

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate five foliar spray treatments viz., water only, 3 per cent KNO3 and 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 per cent concentration of banana pseudostem enriched sap on two Bt cotton hybrids GH-6 and GH 8. The results revealed that hybrid GH-6 attained maximum vegetative growth, however, hybrid GH-8 performed better with respect to seed cotton yield and monetary returns per ha by recording more number of picked bolls per plant. Foliar application of 1.5 per cent banana pseudostem enriched sap established its superiority by promoting the vegetative growth and recording 25.8 per cent higher seed cotton yield (2872.8 kg ha-1) than water spray with retaining more number of picked bolls per plant, which was followed by 3 per cent KNO3 foliar spray (2737.6 kg ha-1). Similarly, 1.5 per cent banana pseudostem enriched sap spray generated 36.8 and 8.2 per cent additional net monetary returns than water and 3 per cent KNO3 foliar sprays, respectively, with highest B:C ratio (3.54).