Abstract:
Betel (Piper betle L.) is one of the commercially valuable export crops in Sri Lanka. There
is a lack of scientific evidence regarding the comparative effectiveness of different
commercially available fertilizers on betel growth under local field conditions. Therefore,
this study was carried out to evaluate the growth performance of betel vines subjected to
five fertilizer treatments. There are Jiypeong, Cocoly, POLY4, Baurs and the Department
of Export Agriculture-recommended mixture. The experiment was laid out in a Completely
Randomized Design (CRD) at the Intercropping and Betel Research Station, Dampelessa,
with eleven replicates per treatment. Plant height, number of kanda leaves, number of
pidunu leaves, total number of leaves and number of side branches were recorded at threeweek
intervals. Results indicated that there was a significant variation among the
treatments for all parameters except for number of pidunu leaves. Cocoly consistently
produced the highest growth responses throughout the study. At the final data collection,
Cocoly had the highest plant height (163.53 +2.70 cm), kanda leaves (31.91 + 2.18), total
number of leaves (36.27 r2.31) and side branches (I.27 t 0.59) reflecting its strong ability
to stimulate vigorous vine and leaf development. POLY4 ranked second in overall
performance and was especially important for increasing plant height, while Jiypeong
fertilizer resulted in moderate improvements for most of the parameters. On the other hand,
the DEA-recommended mixture and Baurs fertrhzer produced the lowest growth responses
in plant height, leaf production and branching. These findings cleariy show that the type of
fertrlizer used has significantly affected the vegetative performance of the betel vines. In
summary, the study concludes that Cocoly and POLY4 fertllizers are the most effective in
ensuring strong and healthy growth of P. betle under Sri Lankan agro-ecological
conditions.
