Interactive Effects of Variety, Phosphorus–Sulphur Fertilization, and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi on Growth and Yield of Mustard (Brassica Spp)
Abstract
Mustard (Brassica juncea L.), a crucial crop of global nutrition and industry, has become one of the most important crops for agricultural and renewable energy. In this study, we evaluated the influence of mustard variety, levels of fertilizer and AMF inoculation on growth and yield components to maximize mustard productivity. The study was conducted at the BINA substation in Bangladesh to evaluate the impact of these factors on important yield-contributing parameters. Thus, two mustard varieties (BARI sarisha-17 and Binasarisha-9) were evaluated with three fertilizer treatments and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculation under field condition. The results showed that BARI sarisha-17 exhibited better vegetative growth, while Binasarisha-9 outperformed BARI sarisha-17 in terms of seed yield indicating higher harvest index. Fifty percent of fertilizer increased plant height and seed weight while both AMF inoculation treatments improved pod length, number of seeds per pod and seed quality. Importantly, the highest seed yield of 1.71 t ha⁻¹ was obtained from the Binasarisha-9 × F50 × I1 cross combination, reflecting that application of specific agronomic practices can enhance mustard productivity. This work offers valuable guidelines for optimizing mustard cultivation through variety, nutrients and microbial treatments towards the enrich of crop output of diverse agronomic environments.