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Abstract
A pot culture experiment was conducted in a net-house of Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Mymensingh from January to June 2007 to study the effect of organic and inorganic fertilizers on the nutrient contents and their uptake by Stevia rebaudiana (Bert.) grown in four types of soil. The soils were saline, acid, calcareous and non-calcareous in nature and they were collected from Khulna, Tangail, Natore and Mymensingh districts, respectively. There were four fertilizer treatments viz., 2 organic fertilizers (poultry manure and cowdung) and 1 inorganic fertilizer and a control were used. The rate of poultry manure and cowdung was 5 t ha-1 and the fertilizer nutrients viz., N, P, K and S were applied at the rate of 120, 24, 80 and 20 kg ha-1, respectively. The experiment was laid out following completely randomized design with 16 treatments and three replications. The concentration and uptake of various nutrients (N, P, K, S, Ca & Mg) in stevia leaves varied with different types of soil. Generally the highest values were recorded with the plants grown in non-calcareous soil and lowest in saline soil. Concerning fertilizer treatments, the chemical fertilizer produced the highest contents of nutrients, however an identical result was obtained in cowdung treatment in most of the nutrients whereas the nutrients uptake were highest in plants treated with cowdung. Overall results suggest that stevia can be successfully grown in non-calcareous soil treated with chemical fertilizers or cowdung at the recommended rate.