Effect of Different Doses of Phosphorus and Potassium on Growth, Yield and Post-harvest Quality of Broccoli at Rampur, Chitwan

A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of different doses of phosphorus and potassium on the growth, yield, and postharvest quality of broccoli at Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal from October 2023 to February 2024. The experiment was laid out in a two-factorial RCBD, including twelve treatments replicated thrice. The first factor consisted of different doses of phosphorus (i.e. 60, 80, 100 kg/ha, and 120 kg/ha) and the second factor contained three doses of potassium (i.e. 50, 70, and 90 kg/ha). Significantly taller plant (78.66 cm) was obtained with phosphorus @ 120 kg/ha. Likewise, higher economic yield of 10.04 mt/ha was obtained with phosphorus @ 120 kg/ha which was statistically similar with phosphorus @ 100 kg/ha. Significantly lower physiological loss in weight of 6.66% was observed at two days after harvest with phosphorus @ 60 kg/ha. Significantly higher vitamin C content (83.39 mg/100g) was obtained with phosphorus @ 120 kg/ha which was statistically similar with phosphorus @ 100 kg/ha. The higher head yield of 10.20 mt/ha was produced with potassium at 90 kg/ha. Higher vitamin C content of 84.64 mg/100 g, TSS of 9.23 ⁰ Brix was obtained with potassium @ 90 kg/ha. Significantly lower physiological loss in weight of 11.83% was observed at three days after harvest with potassium @ 50 kg/ha. Thus, it is suggested that the production of Calabrese broccoli can be improved by application of phosphorus @ 100 kg/ha and potassium @ 90 kg/ha at Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal.