45
Osman et al. (2019) and Haleema et al. (2018) also found supported result with the present study.
4.2 Yield contributing parameters
46
exhibited that the treatment combination Zn2B1 exposed the highest number of flower clusters plant-1 (7.17) that was significantly similar to the treatment combination of Zn1B1, Zn1B2, Zn2B2 and Zn0B1. Reversely, the lowest number of flower clusters plant-1 (5.70) was recorded from the treatment combination of Zn0B0 that was significantly same to Zn1B0 and Zn2B0. The result obtained from the present study was similar with the findings of Patil et al. (2010), Ali et al. (2015) and Rizwan et al. (2015).
4.2.2 Number of flowers plant-1 Effect of Zn
Number of flowers plant-1 of tomato affected significantly due to application of different levels of zinc (Table 4 and Appendix VII). The highest number of flowers plant-1 (28.83) was recorded from the treatment Zn1 (2 kg Zn ha-1) that was significantly differed to other treatments followed by Zn2 (4 kg Zn ha-1) whereas the lowest number of flowers plant-1 (24.49) was recorded from the control treatment Zn0 (0 kg Zn ha-1). Ullah et al. (2015) also found that among different levels of Zn, 0.4% showed significant increased in number of flowers per plant which supported the present study.
Effect of B
Application of different levels of boron gave significant effect on number of flowers plant-1 of tomato (Table 4 and Appendix VII). The highest number of flowers plant-1 (29.82) was recorded from the treatment B1 (1.5 kg B ha-1) which was followed by B2 (3 kg B ha-1) whereas the lowest number of flowers plant-1 (22.70) was recorded from the control treatment B0 (0 kg B ha-1).
Sturiao et al. (2020) and Sanjida et al. (2020) also recorded similar result with the present study and they reported that boron had significant effect on number of flowers per plant.
47
Table 4. Yield contributing parameters of tomato as influenced by zinc and boron
Treatment
Yield contributing parameters No. of flower
clusters plant-1
No. of flowers plant-1
No. of fruits cluster-1
No. of fruits plant-1
% fruit dry matter Zn0B0 5.70 c 21.13 f 3.01 d 17.03 f 7.81 e Zn0B1 6.72 ab 27.13 c 3.09 cd 20.80 cd 9.96 b Zn0B2 6.31 b 25.20 d 3.20 bc 20.20 d 9.75 b Zn1B0 5.46 c 23.17 e 3.34 ab 18.20 ef 8.480 d Zn1B1 7.07 a 32.53 a 3.51 a 24.80 a 11.10 a Zn1B2 6.97 a 30.80 ab 3.49 a 24.27 a 10.93 a Zn2B0 5.81 c 23.80 de 3.37 ab 19.60 de 9.09 c Zn2B1 7.17 a 29.80 b 3.30 b 23.60 ab 10.81 a Zn2B2 6.93 a 27.90 c 3.20 bc 22.10 bc 10.61 a LSD0.05 0.489 1.754 0.182 1.855 0.602
CV(%) 7.37 5.69 6.57 9.06 6.46
In a column means having similar letter(s) are statistically identical and those having dissimilar letter(s) differ significantly as per 0.05 level of probability
Zn0 = 0 kg Zn ha-1, Zn1 = 2 kg Zn ha-1, Zn2 = 4 kg Zn ha-1 B0 = 0 kg B ha-1, B1 = 1.5 kg B ha-1, B2 = 3 kg B ha-1
Combined effect of Zn and B
Number of flowers plant-1 of tomato influenced significantly due to different combination of zinc and boron (Table 4 and Appendix VII). The highest number of flowers plant-1 (32.53) was recorded from the treatment combination of Zn1B1 that was significantly similar to Zn1B2 whereas the lowest number of flowers plant-1 (21.13) was recorded from the treatment combination of Zn0B0 that was significantly differed to other treatment combinations. Ullah et al.
(2015) and Patil et al. (2010) also reported supported result with the present study and observed that zinc, boron and their interaction significantly increased the number of flowers plant-1.
48
4.2.3 Number of fruits cluster-1 Effect of Zn
Significant variation was found on number of fruits cluster-1 of tomato by the application of different zinc levels (Table 4 and Appendix VII). Results exhibited that the highest number of fruits cluster-1 (3.45) was recorded from the treatment Zn1 (2 kg Zn ha-1) that was significantly differed to other treatments followed by Zn2 (4 kg Zn ha-1) whereas the lowest number of fruits cluster-1 (3.10) was recorded from the control treatment Zn0 (0 kg Zn ha-1).
Similar result was also observed by Mallick et al. (2020).
Effect of B
Non-significant variation was recorded on number of fruits cluster-1 of tomato as influenced by the application of different levels of boron (Table 4 and Appendix VII). However, the highest number of fruits cluster-1 (3.30) was recorded from the treatment B1 (1.5 kg B ha-1) whereas the lowest number of fruits cluster-1 (3.24) was recorded from the control treatment B0 (0 kg B ha-1).
The result obtained from the present study was similar with the findings of Sanjida et al. (2020).
Combined effect of Zn and B
Number of fruits cluster-1 of tomato varied significantly among the different combination of zinc and boron (Table 4 and Appendix VII). The highest number of fruits cluster-1 (3.51) was recorded from the treatment combination of Zn1B1 that was significantly similar to the treatment combination of Zn1B2, Zn1B0 and Zn2B0. Again, the lowest number of fruits cluster-1 (3.01) was recorded from the treatment combination of Zn0B0 which was statistically similar to Zn0B1. Supported result was also observed by Ali et al. (2015) and Rizwan et al. (2015).
49
4.2.4 Number of fruits plant-1 Effect of Zn
Number of fruits plant-1 of tomato showed significant influence due to application of different zinc levels (Table 4 and Appendix VII). Results revealed that the treatment Zn1 (2 kg Zn ha-1) exposed the highest number of fruits plant-1 (22.42) which was statistically identical to the treatment Zn2 (4 kg Zn ha-1) but the control treatment Zn0 (0 kg Zn ha-1) registered the lowest number of fruits plant-1 (19.34). Mallick et al. (2020) found that application of different doses of Zn increased number of fruits plant-1 of tomato. Similar result was also observed by Gopal and Sarangthem (2018), Harris and Mathuma (2015) and Saravaiya et al. (2014).
Effect of B
Different levels of boron application gave significant difference on number of fruits plant-1 of tomato (Table 4 and Appendix VII). Results showed that the highest number of fruits plant-1 (23.07) was recorded from the treatment B1 (1.5 kg B ha-1) and it was not significantly differed to the treatment B2 (3 kg B ha-1) whereas control treatment B0 (0 kg B ha-1) gave the lowest number of fruits plant-1 (18.28). Gopal and Sarangtham (2021) reported that soil application of boron at 2.0 kg B/ha showed highest number of fruits plant-1 which supported the present study. Similar result was also observed by Sanjida et al. (2020) and Yadav et al. (2006).
Combined effect of Zn and B
Different treatment combination of zinc and boron showed significant variation on number of fruits plant-1 of tomato (Table 4 and Appendix VII). It was observed that the treatment combination Zn1B1 gave the highest number of fruits plant-1 (24.80) and this was statistically similar to the combination of Zn1B2 and Zn2B1 whereas the lowest number of fruits plant-1 (17.03) was recorded from the treatment combination of Zn0B0 that was significantly similar
50
to Zn1B0. Similar result was also observed by Osman et al. (2019) and Haleema et al. (2018).
4.2.5 Dry matter content of fruit (%) Effect of Zn
Fruit dry matter content of tomato affected significantly due to application of different levels of zinc (Table 4 and Appendix VII). Results revealed that the treatment Zn1 (2 kg Zn ha-1) showed the highest percent dry matter content of tomato (10.17%) and this treatment was significantly same to Zn2 (4 kg Zn ha-
1) but the control treatment Zn0 (0 kg Zn ha-1) registered the lowest percent dry matter content (9.18%). Similar result was also observed by Harris and Mathuma (2015), Saravaiya et al. (2014) and Gurmani et al. (2012) and they reported that application of zinc on tomato had significant effect on dry matter production.
Effect of B
Application of different levels of boron gave significant variation on percent dry matter content of tomato (Table 4 and Appendix VII). The highest percent dry matter content (10.62%) was recorded from the treatment B1 (1.5 kg B ha-1) and significantly same result was also observed by B2 (3 kg B ha-1). On the other hand, the lowest percent dry matter content (8.46%) was achieved by the control treatment B0 (0 kg B ha-1). Supported results with the present study were also observed by Sturiao et al. (2020) and El-Hameed et al. (2014).
Combined effect of Zn and B
Percent dry matter content of tomato influenced significantly due to different combination of zinc and boron (Table 4 and Appendix VII). The treatment combination of Zn1B1 gave the highest percent dry matter content (11.10%) and this was significantly same to the treatment combination of Zn1B2, Zn2B1 and Zn2B2. Again, the treatment combination of Zn0B0 showed the lowest percent dry matter content (7.81%) that was significantly differed to other treatment
51
combinations. The result obtained from the present study was similar with the findings of Salam et al. (2011).