International Research Journal of Plant Science (ISSN: 2141-5447) Vol. 2(7) pp. 209-214, July, 2011
Available online http://www.interesjournals.org/IRJPS
Copyright © 2011 International Research Journals
Full length Research Paper
Effect of N levels and sowing methods on the growth
and yield of swiss chard cv. kalam selection
Ijaz Ali1 and Asghar Ali2
1
Scientific Officer, Land Resources research Institute (LRRI), National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), Park Road,
Islamabad-45500, Pakistan
2
Agriculture Officer, Agriculture Extension, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa.
Accepted 21 March, 2011
Effect of sowing methods and N applications on growth and yield of Swiss chard cv. Kalam selection
was studied. Three sowing methods (plain sowing, single side ridge sowing and double side ridge
sowing) and six N levels (0, 20, 50, 80, 110, and 140 kg N ha-1) were included. Both different N levels and
sowing methods expressed no effect in number of days taken to germination but negative effect of N
was observed in the case of number of days taken to edible maturity and a shorter period for edible
maturity was recorded in plain sowing. Leaf fresh yield and growth vigor like plant height, number of
leaves per plant and leaf area were significantly affected by N levels and sowing methods while seed
yield was only significantly affected by N levels. Leaf fresh yield and growth vigor per plant was highest
in single side ridge sowing but due to more number of plants in the double side ridge sowing resulted
in high total fresh and seed yield. The results revealed that Swiss chard should be grown on double
side ridge with sufficient amount of N to obtain a higher fresh yield.
INTRODUCTION
Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris L. var. circla mog) is a
member of the chenopodiaceae (goosefoot or pigweed)
family. It is also known as leaf beet, seakale beet, silver
beet, spinach beet, or simply chard. Chard is very old
vegetable that originated in the Mediterranean basin. The
ancient Greeks (350 B.C.) recognized the red chard, the
white (call sicula), and the black (so named for its intense
green color). The wild forms grow on the Canary Islands.
It is a foliage beet, which has been developed for its
large fleshy leafstalks and broad crispy leaf blades. Like
the beet, chard is herbaceous biennial, botanically very
similar to the table beet except that it does not form an
enlarged hypocotyle. The plant develops a compressed
cluster of stalks similar to celery, forming distinctive
enlarged petioles with heavily savoyed leaves. The
leaves are prepared for the table like spinach, while the
leafstalks and midribs are often used and served like
asparagus. It is a unique specie valued both for its
cooked greens and its cooked petioles, but is primarily
grown in home gardens rather than commercially in North
America (Nonnecke, 1989). Chard is a very important
crop from
*Corresponding author Email: ijaznarc@gmail.com
nutritional point of view. Platt (1962) reported that
hundred grams of Swiss chard contains water (92 mL),
energy level (21 cal), protein (2 g), fat (0.2 g),
carbohydrates (3 g), fiber (0.4 g), calcium (132 mg),
phosphorus (34 g), iron (0.7 mg), carotene equivalent
(600 mg), thiamine (0.08 mg), riboflavin (0.2 mg), niacin
(0.5 mg), and ascorbic acid (50 mg).
Swiss chard is grown throughout all gardening areas of
the United States and Canada and can be easily adapted
in our sub-tropical conditions because it is one of the best
potherbs for summer use and withstands hot weather by
no bolting. It does not respond to high temperature, which
causes bolting in beet, spinach and lettuce. However, the
temperature requirements for germination are similar to
those for red beets and spinach. The pH requirements
are towards neutral (pH 6.5-7.5). Due to the large leaf
surface, chard should be provided with supplementary
water between periods of rainfall to prevent serious water
stress.
Chard has not yet achieved the status of large scale
commercial production aimed at maximum yield and
quality. And that is why it is difficult to generalize fertilizer
recommendations and cultural practices like sowing,
watering hoeing etc. for it. For the time being due to the
210 Int. Res. J. Plant Sci.
The data on days to germination, days to edible maturity, leaf
area (cm2), number of leaves per plant, plant height (cm), leaf
fresh yield (ton ha-1) and seed yield (kg ha-1) were collected and
statistically analyzed using ANOVA model through computer
software MSTATC for each observation. Mean values of
parameters were separated according to least significant
difference (LSD) test.
interaction was non-significant. Days taken to edible
maturity has also shown a strong negative correlation
(Table-2) with leaf area (-0.90), number of leaves/plant (0.97), plant height (-0.98), fresh yield (-0.75) and seed
yield (-0.37). These observations were strongly supported
by Tripathi et al. (1992) who reported a negative
correlation between days to maturity and other traits.
The data in Table-3 revealed that maximum number of
days (85) taken to edible maturity were recorded at
control (0 kg N ha-1), which was statistically similar to 20
kg N ha-1 while minimum number of days taken to edible
maturity was observed at highest N level (140kg N ha-1).
Since the maturity of leafy vegetables only accounts for
the vegetative growth and nitrogen, which is an essential
part of chlorophyll, protein and many enzymes take active
part in vegetative production of the plant; therefore, at
higher N levels early maturity was recorded. Similar
results were found by Zia-ur-Rehman (1999) in the study
of nitrogen effect on salad vegetable lettuce (Lactuca
sativa L.).
Plants grown on double side ridge sowing took
maximum number of days (80) to edible maturity, which
was statistically similar to plain sowing and minimum
number of days were recorded for single side ridge
sowing (Table-3). Early plant maturity in the single side
ridge sowing might be because that the ridge sowing
provides better environment for root growth, nutrient
uptake and moisture availability as compared to plain
sowing. Plants sown on double side ridge matured late
because of more number of plants, which were applied
with the same amount of N as single side ridge and
where the nitrogen demand of plants were not met
adequately as in case of single side ridge sowing.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Leaf area
Days to germination
Table-1 indicated that the N levels, sowing methods and
their interaction had a significant effect on leaf area (cm2).
Coefficient of correlation “r” values (Table-2) indicated a
strong positive relation for leaf area with number of
leaves per plant (0.93), plant height (0.95), fresh yield
(0.72) and seed yield (0.41). The results presented in
Table-3 showed broader leaves on plants provided with
140 kg N ha-1 (282.12 cm2) while minimum leaf area was
found at control. These results are in agreement with
Dorobantu et al. (1989) who reported an increase in leaf
area of potato with increase in N levels. Plants sown on
single side ridge possessed maximum leaf area (258.55
2
cm ) and plants on double side ridge got minimum leaf
area. The interaction of N levels and sowing methods
showed that the highest leaf area was observed when the
-1
plant received 140 kg N ha and sown on single side
ridge; however, it was statistically similar to leaf area
obtained with 110 kg N ha-1 and single side ridge sowing.
The higher N supply showed maximum leaf area because
of higher N availability while
close resemblance of chard with table beets and spinach,
its fertilizer requirements and other cultural practices
would be assumed similar to them. The main objective of
this project was to see the effect of different fertilizers and
sowing methods on growth and yield of Swiss chard.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Experimental trial was conducted during 2005 and 2006 at the
farmer field in the village of Mundoori, Kohat District. The
experiment was laid out in two factorial RCB design, replicated
four times. A plot size of 3m x 6m was used. All agronomic
practices of the locality for vegetable like spinach were followed.
-1
A uniform fertilizer dose of 60 kg ha of P2O5 (triple supper
-1
phosphate), 30 kg ha of K2O (potassium sulfate) and all the N
levels (urea) were applied at the time of sowing by banding
method. Different sowing methods were kept in main plot and
various N levels in subplots. N levels and sowing methods were
as follows:
Nitrogen levels
N0 : Control
N2 : 50 kg N ha-1
N4 : 110 kg N ha-1
Sowing methods
S1 : Plain
S3 : Double side ridge
-1
N1 : 20 kg N ha
N3 : 80 kg N ha-1
N5 : 140 kg N ha-1
S2 : Single side ridge
Data regarding number of days taken to germination as
influenced by different levels of N and sowing methods
showed that the number of days taken to germination
was not affected either by N levels or sowing methods.
The germination of the crop took 9 days irrespective of N
levels and sowing methods in each treatment. It might be
due to the food reserved in seeds for germination and the
seeds do not absorb nutrients from soil. Similar results
were found by Zia-ur-Rehman (1999) while studying the
response of lettuce to various levels of nitrogen on days
taken to germination.
Days to edible maturity
Results of analysis of variance (Table-1) revealed that all
the N levels and sowing methods had significantly
affected days taken to edible maturity. However, their
Ali and Ali 211
Table-1. Results of analysis of variance for various traits at different N levels and sowing methods.
Source
variance
Replication
N level (N)
Sowing
Method (S)
Interaction
(NXS)
Error
of
3
5
F-value
Days
to
edible
maturity
0.28
98.75**
2
0.60
957.23**
Number
of leaves
per plant
0.48
117.18**
Plant
height
(cm)
0.31
213.03**
Fresh
yield
-1
(ton ha )
0.16
568.55**
0.31
3.68**
9.95**
498.89**
12.52**
33.51**
248.75**
2.20
10
0.12
21.91**
0.23
1.34**
1.39
0.28
51
--
--
--
--
--
--
d. f.
Leaf area
(cm 2)
Seed yield
(kg ha-1)
**Significant at 1% level of probability.
Table 2. Coefficient of correlation values (r) among different traits.
S. No.
1
2
3
4
5
Traits
Days
to
edible
maturity
Leaf area
(cm2)
Number of
leaves per
plant
Plant
height
(cm)
Fresh
yield
(ton ha-1)
1
2
3
4
5
6
Days to
edible
maturity
Leaf area
(cm 2)
Number
of leaves
per plant
Plant
height
(cm)
Fresh
yield
(ton ha-1)
Seed
yield
(kg ha-1)
--
-0.90**
-0.97**
-0.98**
-0.75**
-0.37**
--
--
0.93**
0.95**
0.72**
0.41**
--
--
--
0.98**
0.78**
0.37**
--
--
--
--
0.77**
0.33**
--
--
--
--
--
0.57**
**Significant at 1% level of probability.
maximum leaf area at single ridge sowing might be due
to the better environment for root growth, nutrient uptake
and moisture availability as compared to plain sowing.
The same amount of nitrogen was more adequate
because of less number of plants as compared to double
side ridge sowing.
Number of leaves per plant
It has been observed that N levels and sowing methods
had significantly affected number of leaves per plant
whereas their interaction was non-significant (Table-1). A
positive correlation for number of leaves per plant with
plant height (0.98), fresh yield (0.78) and seed yield
(0.37) was observed (Table-2). The data in Table-3
revealed that more number of leaves per plant was
produced with the application of higher N level (140 kg N
ha-1). Maximum number of leaves might be due to regular
supply of N which enhanced vegetative growth, while
deficiency of N resulted in poor growth. Similar results
were found by Vas and Riemond (1992) who observed
that nitrogen promoted total number of leaves in potato.
More number of leaves per plant was observed in
plants sown on single side ridge which was followed by
plain and double ridge sowing (Table-3). These
differences might be due to providing better environment
for root growth, nutrient uptake moisture availability and
space by ridge sowing as compared to plain sowing.
While comparing ridge sowings, competition for nutrients
was more on double side ridge sowing because of more
number of plants as compared to single side ridge
212 Int. Res. J. Plant Sci.
Table-3. Mean values for various traits as affected by different N levels and sowing methods in Swiss chard.
Treatments
Days to
edible
maturity
Leaf area
2
(cm )
Nitrogen (N) levels
N0 (Control)
84.92a
182.77f
N1 (20 kg N ha-1)
83.33a
204.27e
N2 (50 kg N ha-1)
80.75b
227.33d
-1
N3 (80 kg N ha )
77.42c
254.34c
-1
N4 (110 kg N ha )
74.25d
269.77b
-1
N5 (140 kg N ha )
70.33e
282.12a
LSD value
1.59
3.56
Sowing methods (S)
S1 (plain sowing)
78.42b
231.88b
S2 (single side ridge)
77.29b
258.55a
S3 (double side ridge)
79.79a
219.88c
LSD value
1.13
2.52
Nitrogen levels (N) X Sowing methods (S)
N0 x S1
84.75
183.31i
N0 x S2
84.00
184.31hi
N0 x S3
86.00
180.70i
N1 x S1
83.5
197.38hi
N1 x S2
82.00
224.86fg
N1 x S3
84.50
190.56hi
N2 x S1
80.75
225.24fg
N2 x S2
79.75
249.27cde
N2 x S3
81.75
207.48gh
N3 x S1
77.25
249.48cde
N3 x S2
76.50
285.60ab
N3 x S3
78.50
227.93efg
N4 x S1
74.00
263.35bcd
N4 x S2
72.75
300.13a
N4 x S3
76.00
245.84def
N5 x S1
70.25
272.49bc
N5 x S2
68.75
307.09a
N5 x S3
72.00
266.77bcd
LSD value
NS
8.20
Number
of leaves
per plant
Plant
height
(cm)
Fresh
yield
-1
(ton ha )
Seed
yield
-1
(kg ha )
11.40f
12.95e
15.22d
17.19c
19.45b
21.91a
1.04
21.58f
24.12e
28.27d
32.28c
37.49b
41.59a
1.52
30.57f
39.78e
46.98d
54.72c
60.44b
66.13a
0.95
312.50c
336.89bc
354.17abc
371.76ab
393.98a
401.85a
27.31
16.23b
17.32a
15.51c
0.73
31.05b
33.01a
28.60c
1.07
44.50c
48.19b
56.63a
0.67
340.52
375.39
369.69
NS
11.34
11.81
11.04
12.84
13.83
12.18
15.13
15.98
14.55
17.03
18.38
16.16
19.30
20.68
18.36
21.74
23.22
20.76
NS
21.55j
22.35ij
20.85j
24.15ij
25.35i
22.85ij
28.98gh
30.32fg
25.50hi
32.00fg
35.32def
29.50g
37.50cde
40.50bc
34.45ef
42.12ab
44.20a
38.45cd
3.50
26.11
30.04
35.56
35.13
37.96
46.28
42.33
44.22
54.37
49.48
52.39
62.33
54.63
59.39
67.33
59.37
65.11
73.87
NS
312.96
323.15
301.39
317.13
339.35
354.17
342.59
365.74
354.17
344.91
387.96
382.41
369.44
420.37
392.13
356.02
415.74
433.80
NS
Note: Means followed by different alphabets within each column differ significantly at 1% level of probability.
NS: Non-significant.
sowing.
Plant height
N levels, sowing methods and their interaction had
significant effect on plant height (Table-1). Plant height
had a positive correlation (Table-2) with fresh yield (0.77)
and seed yield (0.33). Data in Table-3 indicated that the
-1
application of highest N dose (140 kg N ha ) produced
taller plants of 41.59 cm. These results are in agreement
with Khan and Suryanarayana (1978) and Aman et al.
(2002) who reported that 100-150 kg N ha-1 produced the
taller plants. Taller plants were produced in plots where
plants were sown on single side ridges followed by plain
and double side ridge sowings. The combined effect of N
levels and sowing methods showed that the tallest plants
were observed at 140 kg N ha-1 and on single side ridges
while the shortest plants were recorded in control plots
and when planted on double side ridges. Maximum plant
height at higher N levels and single side ridge sowing
might be due to more nitrogen availability and less
competition for nutrients on single side ridges due to less
number of plants as compared to double side ridge
sowing; while comparing with plane sowing, ridge sowing
provides better environment for root growth, moisture
availability and sunlight capturing.
Fresh yield
-1
Fresh yield (ton ha ) showed significant differences due
to different N levels and sowing methods; however their
Ali and Ali 213
interaction was non significant (Table-1). The coefficient
of correlation “r” values (Table-2) showed a positive
correlation with seed yield (0.57). Data regarding fresh
yield (Table-3) revealed that highest level of N (140 kg N
ha-1) produced maximum fresh yield of 66.13 ton ha-1
while lowest fresh yield (30.57 ton ha-1) was observed in
control plots. The increase in yield may be due to high
availability of nitrogen. At lower doses the nutrient was
not available to plants in sufficient quantities that
suppressed the growth. The same findings regarding
fresh yield as influenced by N levels have been obtained
by Mrkovic et al. (1988) who reported that spinach yield
increased with increasing N level up to 150 kg N ha-1.
Same trend of increase in yield of different leafy
vegetables was observed by Weier and Scharrpf (1989),
Boon et al. (1986) and Sharma and Kansal (1984).
-1
Highest fresh yield ha was recorded on double side
ridges followed by single side ridge and plain sowings
(Table-3). The yield per plot was higher for double side
ridges because of more number of plants; the yield ha-1
was also increased as compared to single side ridge
sowing, while as compared to plain sowing, ridge sowing
provided conditions suitable to root growth and moisture
conservation along with suitable friendly environment for
other agricultural practices like hoeing, watering etc.
Seed yield
Seed yield (kg ha-1) was significantly affected by different
levels of N but not by the sowing methods and their
interaction with N levels (Table-1). Similarly, coefficient of
correlation values (r) indicated a positive correlation of
seed yield with all other traits except days taken to edible
maturity, which was negatively correlated to all traits
(Table-2). The data presented in Table-3 showed that
maximum seed yield (401.85 kg ha-1) was observed at
140 kg N ha-1, which was statistically similar to the seed
-1
yield recorded at110 kg N ha . The lowest seed yield
was observed in control plots. Higher seed yield at
highest N level might be due to nitrogen availability,
which regularizes other nutrients like phosphorus and
potassium, and plays a significant role in vegetative
growth and seed production. The seed yield recorded at
-1
maximum N level (140 kg N ha ) was much lower than
-1
the seed yield (600 kg ha ) observed by Khan and Mirsa
(1998) in India. The lower yield was probably due to the
bad weather conditions experienced in the last days of
growth stage and also may be due to the fact that much
of the nitrogen effects may exhaust during repeated
harvest of leaves from the plants.
The effect of sowing methods on seed yield was nonsignificant (Table-3). This non-significant effect of sowing
methods on seed yield might be probably due to the fact
that much of the nitrogen effect might have exhausted
during the repeated pickings of leaves from the plants.
However, maximum seed yield was observed on single
side ridges followed by double side ridge and plain
sowing. These differences might be due to the fact that
ridge sowing provided good conditions for plant growth as
compared to plain sowing and double side ridges, though
had more number of plants per unit area as compared to
the single side ridges. But these plants were weaker and
thus resulted in the less seed yield.
CONCLUSION
The results of this study revealed that nitrogen was found
as high influencing factor for increasing fresh yield and
other growth factors. Nitrogen at the rate of 140 kg N ha-1
applied as sole dose at sowing time resulted in significant
higher fresh yield, seed yield and growth factors of Swiss
chard as compared to the other lower levels of nitrogen.
Whereas in the sowing methods, double side ridge
sowing was found the most suitable sowing method for
higher fresh yield because more number of plants can be
grown on double side ridge sowing as compared to single
side ridge and plain sowings.
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