Effect of different spacing and fertilizer levels on growth parameter and quality parameters of beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.)

A field experiment was carried out at Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, V.N.M.K.V., Parbhani. The field experiment was carried out in Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) with three replication during the Rabi season, 2017. Treatment consisted of three levels of spacing S1 (15cm ×15cm), S2 (20cm×15cm) and S3 (30cm×15cm) and three levels of fertilizers F1 (100% RDF), F2 (125% RDF)and F3 (150% RDF). The experiment was conducted in Factorial Randomized Block design with nine treatment combinations, replicated thrice. Variety “Ruby Queen” was selected for the study. Growth characters such as number of leaves per plant at harvest (15.64) were observed maximum with the treatments S3 (30cm×15cm) and F3 (150% RDF) with (15.88). The quality characters like TSS (11.63%), total sugar (8.50%), anthocyanin content (33.02 mg/100g) and iron content (1.14 mg/100g) were observed maximum with the treatment S3 (30cm×15cm) and quality characters like TSS (11.62%), total sugar (8.45%), anthocyanin content (35.77 mg/100g) and iron content (1.18 mg/100g) were observed maximum with the treatment F1 (100% RDF). The maximum physiological loss in weight (%) at 11th days (51.89%) was observed in the treatment S1 (15cm×15cm) and at 11th days (54.00%) was observed in the treatment F1 (100% RDF).