Leaf characters of betelvine (Piper betle L.) as influenced nitrogen application

Abstract

A study was undertaken on physical and some qualitative characters of leaves in betelvine (cv. Simurali Deshi) after application of 200 kg N/ha through five organic manures, i.e., cowdung manure, neem cake, mustard oil cake, vermicompost and poultry manure alongwith inorganic sources of nitrogen (urea) in five different combinations (100:0, 60:40, 50:50, 40:60 and 0:100) for two consecutive seasons. The result showed that maximum leaf length (14.65 cm), leaf breadth (10.45 cm) and leaf area (129.00 sq.cm) were found at 50:50 combination of total N when mustard oil cake was used as an organic source alongwith inorganic N, whereas, those parameters were the lowest when betelvine was grown with organic manures only (100:0). Fresh weight of 100 leaves was recorded highest when the crop was grown with cowdung manure at 40:60 combination with inorganic N fertilizer (urea) . Chlorophyll b (0.57 mg/g tissue) content in leaf was found highest when the crop was grown with neem cake only (100:0), while chlorophyll a content did not vary significantly with source and combination. Maximum ascorbic acid content in leaves (2.75 mg/100 g) was found when only cowdung manure was used (100:0) as nitrogen source and lowest (2.02 mg/100 g leaves) with urea. β-carotene content was recorded highest (7.26 mg/100 g leaf) with mustard oil cake only as nitrogen source and lowest (6.82 mg/100 g leaves) with 100% inorganic nitrogen.