J. Expt. Biosci.

4(2):39-42, July 2013 ISSN 2223-9626 (Online), ISSN 2077-3358 (Print)

INFLUENCE OF NITROGEN ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF TURNIP

A.A. Sadia1, A.F. Ona1, T. Taufique1, H. Mehraj1 and A.F.M. Jamal Uddin1*
*Corresponding author: Email: jamal4@yahoo.com

Abstract

The study was conducted in the Farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
during the period from November 2009 to January 2010 to study the effect of nitrogen on growth and
yield of turnip. The experiment consisted of four different levels of nitrogen (N0: 0 kg N ha-1 (control);
N1: 40 kg N ha-1; N2: 70 kg N/ha and N3: 100 kg N ha-1) with 3 replications. Data on different growth
parameter and yield showed statistically significant differences among different treatment. Results
showed that at 20, 30, 40, 50 DAS and at harvest, the tallest plant (11.9 cm, 22.6 cm, 34.8 cm, 58.4 cm
and 60.8 cm, respectively) was recorded from N2 whereas the shortest plant (10.1 cm, 18.5 cm, 27.3
cm, 48.6 cm and 51.3 cm, respectively) was recorded from N0. The highest diameter of root (3.7 cm)
and highest yield per hectare (25.8 tons) were recorded from N3 and, the lowest diameter (2.9 cm) and
lowest yield (18.8 ton) were recorded from N0.

Keywords: Turnip, Brassica spp., Nitrogen, and Yield

Introduction
Turnip (Brassica rapa) belongs to the family Cruciferae which is a herbaceous biennial and winter vegetable crop. It is
native to central and southern Europe and has now spread all over the world. It is a newly introduced modified root
crop in our country. Turnip has considerable nutritive value compared to other cole crops that we commonly use in our
daily diet. The fleshy root and young leaves are the main edible portion. Turnip thrives well in a fertile, clay loam soil
because it requires considerable amounts of nutrients to sustain rapid growth in short time. A large amount of fertilizer
is required for the growth and development of vegetable crops (Opena et al., 1988). A shortage of fertilizer during
early growth stage lead to the plant becoming stunted (Tindall, 1983).
Generally, a large amount of nitrogen is required for the production of vegetable (Opena et al., 1988). Nitrogen
progressively increases the marketable yield (Obreza and Vavrina, 1993) but an adequate supply of nitrogen is
essential for vegetative growth, and desirable yield (Yoshizawa et al., 1981). Excessive application of nitrogen on the
other hand is not only uneconomical and also induces physiological disorders. Considering the circumstances, the
present investigation was undertaken to investigate the effect of nitrogen fertilizer on the growth, development and
yield of turnip.
Materials and Methods
The study was conducted in the Farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period
from November 2009 to January 2010. The soil of the experimental area belongs to the Modhupur Tract (UNDP,
1988). The analytical data of the soil sample collected from the experimental area were determined in the SRDI, Soil
Testing Laboratory, Khamarbari, Dhaka. The seed of a Purple top white globe Holland turnip variety was used in
this experiment. Four levels of nitrogen viz; N0: 0 kg N ha-1 (control), N1: 40 kg N ha-1, N2: 70 kg N ha-1and N3: 100 kg
N ha-1 were studied in Randomized Completely Block Design with three replications. The experimental plot was
partitioned into the unit plots in accordance with the experimental design. The size of the unit plot was 3.0 m 1.0 m.
The total amount of cowdung (10 ton ha-1), TSP (100 kg ha-1) and MP (100 kg ha-1) was applied as basal dose at the
time of land preparation. Seeds were sown in mid November and the total amount of urea as per treatment was applied
in three installments at 10, 30 and 50 day after seed sowing.
Light over-head irrigation was provided with a watering can to the plots immediately after germination of seedlings.
Irrigation also provided at 20 and 40 days after sowing. Weeding was done three times at 10. 30 and 50 days after
sowing followed by irrigation in the plots considering the optimum time for removal weed. Malathion (2 ml -L) was
sprayed fortnightly as routine work from seedling emergence to the end of harvest. Data were measured in respect of
the plant growth characters and yield of turnip. Data on plant height, number of leaves plant-1 and length of leaf were
counted at 20, 30, 40, 50 days after sowing (DAS) and at harvest at 15 January 2010. All other parameters were
recorded at harvest. The data obtained for different characters were statistically analyzed. The significance of the

1
Department of Horticulture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh.

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Sadia et al.

difference among the treatment means were estimated by the Duncans Multiple Range Test (DMRT) at 5% level of
probability (Gomez and Gomez, 1984).

Results and Discussion

Application of different levels of nitrogen showed statistically significant differences in terms of plant height of turnip
at 20, 30, 40, 50 DAS and at harvest. At 20, 30, 40, 50 DAS and at harvest, the tallest plant (11.9, 22.6, 34.8, 58.4 and
60.8 cm, respectively) was recorded from N2 which was statistically similar to those of N3 (11.4, 21.7, 32.8, 56.7 and
59.0 cm, respectively) and closely followed by those of N1 (11.8, 21.9, 32.3, 56.3 and 57.7 cm, respectively). At 20,
30, 40, 50 DAS and at harvest, the shortest plant (10.1, 18.5, 27.3, 48.6 and 51.3 cm, respectively) was recorded from
N0 (Fig. 1). Singh et al. (2007) reported that 80 kg N ha-1 gave maximum plant height (61.4 cm) of turnip. But Ali et
al. (2006) recorded highest plant height (63.2 cm) when applied 150 kg N ha-1.
At 20, 30, 40, 50 DAS and at harvest, the maximum number of leaves per plant (3.7, 5.4, 11.6, 15.6 and 19.6,
respectively) was recorded from N3 which was statistically similar (3.7, 5.3, 11.5, 15.2 and 19.5, respectively) with N2
and followed by the leaf number as was showed by N1 (3.3, 4.5, 10.9, 14.7 and 17.9, respectively). At the same DAS
and at harvest the minimum number of leaves per plant (2.9, 3.9, 9.8, 12.4 and 14.8, respectively) was measured from
N0 (Fig. 2).

70.0 25.0

N0
a N0 b
N1
60.0
N1 N2
20.0
N2 N3
50.0
N3
Number of leave /plant
Plant height (cm)

15.0
40.0

30.0
10.0

20.0
5.0
10.0

0.0 0.0
20 DAS 30 DAS 40 DAS 50 DAS Harvest 20 DAS 30 DAS 40 DAS 50 DAS Harvest
Day s after Sowing (DAS) Day s after Sowing (DAS)

Fig. 1. Influence of different nitrogen levels on a) plant height and b) number of leaves per plant of turnip

Length of turnip leaf varied significantly due to application of different level of nitrogen at 20, 30, 40, 50 DAS and at
harvest. The highest length of leaf (7.3, 17.5, 29.8, 42.9 and 43.7 cm, respectively) was recorded from N3 which was
statistically similar to the values as was shown by N2 (7.2, 17.4, 29.1, 42.2 and 43.7 cm, respectively) and was
followed by N1 showing 6.5, 16.1, 23.2, 35.4 and 43.0 cm, respectively at 20, 30, 40, 50 DAS and at harvest. On the
other hand, at the same DAS and harvest the lowest length of leaf (5.3, 14.0, 20.3, 31.3 and 36.2 cm,respectively) was
recorded from N0 (Fig. 3). Singh et al. (2007) reported that 80 kg N ha-1 gave maximum leaf length (45.00 cm) of
turnip.
Fresh weight of leaves at harvest of turnip differed significantly due to the application of different levels of nitrogen.
The highest fresh weight of leaves per plant (126.9 g) was recorded from N 2 which was statistically similar (126.6 g)
with N3 and closely followed by N1 (119.9 g), while, the lowest fresh weight of leaf (112.2 g) was recorded from N 0
(Table 1).

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J. Expt. Biosci. 4(2):39-42, July 2013 ISSN 2223-9626 (Online), ISSN 2077-3358 (Print)

50.0 N0
N1

40.0 N2
N3

Length of leaf (cm)

30.0

20.0

10.0

0.0
20 DAS 30 DAS 40 DAS 50 DAS Harvest
Day s after Sowing (DAS)

Fig. 3. Influence of different levels of nitrogen on leaf length of turnip

Table 1. Influence of nitrogen on fresh and dry weight of leaves and modified root of turnip

Treatment Fresh weight Fresh weight Total fresh Dry matter Dry matter
of leaves per of modified weight content of content of
plant (g) root (g) plant-1 (g) leaves (%) modified root
(%)
N0 112.2 c 202.3 b 314.6 c 9.1 c 11.3 c
N1 119.9 b 217.1 b 337.0 b 10.7 b 13.1 b
N2 126.9 a 269.4 a 396.4 a 11.5 a 13.5 a
N3 126.6 a 278.2 a 404.8 a 10.9 b 13.2 b
LSD(0.05) 3.9 18.2 9.8 0.2 0.2
CV(%) 8.9 9.1 5.8 12.5 13.7
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

The highest fresh weight of modified root per plant (278.2 g) was recorded from N3 which was statistically comparable
with N2 (269.5 g) while, the lowest fresh weight of modified root was recorded from N 0 (202.3 g) which was
statistically similar to that (217.1 g) of N1 (Table 1). The highest total fresh weight per plant (404.8 g) was recorded
from N3 which was statistically similar with that (396.4 g) of N2 which again was closely followed by N1 (337.0 g), the
lowest total fresh weight per plant 314.6 g was recorded from N 0. Highest dry matter (DM) content of leaves (11.5%)
was recorded from N2 which was closely followed by N3 (10.9%) and N1 (10.7%) and the lowest (9.1%) was recorded
from N0 (Table 1). Jacobs et al. (2004) reported significant increases in DM where 100 kg N ha-1 was applied. The
highest dry matter content of modified root (13.5%) was recorded from N 2 which was followed by N3 (13.2%) and N1
(13.1%), whereas, the lowest (11.3%) was recorded from N0. The minimum days to attaining in good size modified
root (61 days) was recorded from N2 which was followed by N3 and N1 (62 days) while, the maximum (64 days) was
recorded from N0 (Table 2).
The longest root was recorded from N2 (11.8 cm). The second highest (11.0 cm) and third highest (10.8 cm) root
lengths were found in N3 and N1 respectively. Again, the shortest root (9.1 cm) was recorded from N 0 (Table 2).
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Sadia et al.

The highest diameter of root was recorded from N3 (3.7 cm) which was statistically similar with N2 (3.7 cm) and
followed by N1 (3.3 cm). On the other hand, the lowest diameter (2.9 cm) was recorded from N0 (Table 2). Singh et al.
(2007) reported that 80 kg N ha-1 gave maximum root diameter (2.9 cm).
Different levels of nitrogen showed statistically significant differences in yield per plot of turnip. The highest yield per
plot was recorded from N3 (7.7 kg) which was statistically similar with N2 (7.6 kg) and closely followed by N1 (6.4 kg)
whereas, the lowest yield per plot (5.7 kg) was recorded from N0 (Table 2).
Yield per hectare of turnip showed statistically significant differences due to different levels of nitrogen. The highest
yield per hectare was recorded from N3 (25.7 ton) which was statistically at per (25.4 ton) with N 2 and that of the
second highest (21.4 ton) by N1. However, the lowest yield per hectare (18.8 ton) was recorded from N0 (Table 2).
Singh et al. (2007) reported that 80 kg N ha-1 gave maximum yield (21.3 t ha-1).

Table 2. Influence of nitrogen on days to attaining in good size modified root, root length and diameter and
yield of turnip

Days to attaining the Root length Root diameter Yield per Yield (t /ha-1)
marketable size of (cm) (cm) plot (kg)
Treatment
modified root

N0 64.0 a 9.1 c 2.9 c 5.7 c 18.8 c

N1 62.0 b 10.8 b 3.3 b 6.4 b 21.4 b
N2 61.0 c 11.8 b 3.7 a 7.6 a 25.4 a
N3 62.0 b 11.0 b 3.7 a 7.7 a 25.7 a
LSD(0.05) 0.40 0.40 0.20 0.30 1.20
CV(%) 7.3 4.6 5.4 4.2 6.3
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

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