Manures and chitosan oligosaccharides application enhanced growth, productivity and economic return of cauliflower

Introduction

Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea) is an economically important and one of the most popular winter vegetable crops grown in Bangladesh (Akter et al., 2011) [1] . Among the vegetables, cauliflower is widely appreciated and significant vegetable globally, as well as in Bangladesh due to its delicious taste, high nutrient content, beneficial antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties. It contains notable number of vitamins including riboflavin, thiamine, nicotinic acid and significant amount of proteins and minerals like calcium and magnesium. One hundred gram of cauliflower edible part (Curd) contains 89% moisture, 2.3 g protein and 50 mg vitamin C. Cauliflower curds are abundant in phenolic compounds, minerals, vitamin A and glucosinolates, which may help reduce the risk of cancer (Shams and Farag 2019) [28] . The curd is formed by the shortened flower parts which are fleshy and closely crowded. It may be cooked alone or mixed with other vegetables (Kashyap et al. 2017) [18] . In Bangladesh, cauliflower is cultivated over an area of 56,446.94 acres, yielding a total production of 343,758.71 metric tons. (BBS, 2024) [5] . It can be grown in nearly all types of soil with good soil fertility (Islam, 2008) [15] . Compared to other cauliflower growing countries of the world, the average yield of cauliflower in Bangladesh is very low mainly due to low yielding variety, poor crop management practices and lack of improved technologies. Proper growth and higher yield of cauliflower mainly depend on nutrient availability in soil, which is completely related to the judicious application of manures and fertilizers.

But in Bangladesh continuously use of chemical fertilizer rather than manures badly affects the texture, structure, aeration, water holding capacity and microbial activity of soil (Rahman et al., 2013) [24] . To enhance the productivity of vegetable crops and to earn high economic return, chemical fertilizers, pesticides and other chemical inputs are increasingly used which adversely affected the sustainability of agricultural system and make problems on environment and ecology. Moreover, long term use of only chemical fertilizers also has detrimental effect on soil physical and biological properties, biodiversity, quality of the produce and human health. Organic manures are obtained from decomposed organic materials, either from green plants or animals (Simarmata et al. 2016) [29] . Organic manures enhance the size, biodiversity, and activity of the microbial population in the soil, affecting its structure, nutrient turnover, and various other physical, chemical, and biological properties. (Devi et al. 2018) [9] . Its enhance the longevity during post-harvest operations in terms of deterioration and loss of weight due to presence of micronutrients which nourishes the cellular and sub cellular parts of curd (Basnet et al. 2017) [4] . In Bangladesh, a good soil contains more than 3% organic matter but soil of the most region have less than 2%, at even some region soils have less than 1% organic matter. For continuous cropping, organic manures applied to the crop fields through cowdung, poultry manure, mustard oil cake, vermicompost etc., are insufficient than the requirement. Vermicompost are products obtained from the accelerated biological degradation of organic wastes by earthworms and microorganisms. It undergoes significant humification through the fragmentation of parent organic materials by earthworms and the colonization of microorganisms. The use of compost and vermicompost has also been observed to improve plant growth and quality. The vermicompost promote growth from 50-100% over conventional compost and 30-40% over chemical fertilizers (Sinha et al., 2010) [30] . Among the organic manures mustard oil cake play crucial role on growth, development and productivity of plants. It is a rich sour of different nutrient including 4.93% N, 0.53% P2O5, 0.65% K2O. Nowadays, mustard oil cake is referred to as "plant horlicks" because it releases nutrients slowly, allowing plants to access nutrients over an extended period. It has been found to be the most prospective because they do not only reduce nematode development but also triggering plant growth by supplying sufficient amount of S, Zn and B (Thomsen et al., 2005) [33] . Chitosan oligosaccharide (COS), a nontoxic plant biostimulant degraded from chitosan (Mattaveewong et al., 2016) [21] , has been shown to be an effective elicitor of plant immunity, environmentally friendly and easily soluble in water (Muanprasat et al., 2017) [22] . COS has been largely used in many plants as immunity elicitor including wheat (Wang et al., 2015) [34] , oilseed rape (Yin et al., 2013) [37] , tobacco (Jia et al., 2022) [17] and tomato (Zhang et al., 2009) [38] . COS not only triggering the plant immunity to defense plant diseases, but also enhanced several secondary metabolites content in plant. Interestingly, COS treatment improves vitamin and polyphenols contents in cherry fruits (Kerch et al., 2011) [19] . Eco-friendly characteristics of these biomaterials with remarkable antimicrobial and eliciting properties has been getting more interest to the researchers in recent years. Considering the above factors, the present experiment was undertaken to find out the best solutions that could be suggestive for increasing production and gaining higher profitability of cauliflower. Therefore, the present research work was undertaken to fulfill the following objectives;  To select the most effective manures for better growth, productivity and profitability of cauliflower  To determine the best concentration of chitosan oligosaccharides for better growth, productivity and profitability of cauliflower; and  To investigate the effective combination of manures and chitosan oligosaccharides for better growth, productivity and economic return of cauliflower. Geographically, the research farm is located at 22 0 37 N latitude and 89 0 10 E longitudes. The area is covered Gangetic Tidal Floodplains and falls under Agroecological Zone "AEZ-13". The area lies at 0.9 to 2.1 meter above mean sea level. This region occupies a vast area of tidal floodplain land in the south-west part of Patuakhali district.

Materials and Methods

Treatments of the experiment

The two factors experiment was carried out with two sets of treatment consisting of four different manures (M0=Control; M1= Cowdung @ 10 t/ha; M2=Vermicompost @ 1.5 t/ha; M3= Mustard oil cake @ 2 t/ha and three different concentrations of chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) (T0=Control; T1= COS @ 50 mg/L and T2=COS @ 100 mg/L).

Design and layout of the experiment

The experiment was laid out in the Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Total experimental area was divided into three equal blocks which denoted the replications. The total number of plots was 36 and size of each unit plot was 1.8 m x 1.6 m. There were 12unit plots in each block. The distance between two adjacent blocks and plots were 100 and 50 cm, respectively.

Application of manures, fertilizers and COS

The total amount of cowdung, vermicompost, mustard oil cake, was applied as basal dose at the time of final land preparation as per treatment. COS was applied two times after transplanting of seedings in the main field. Firs application was done after 15 days of transplanting and 2 nd application was done after 45 days of transplanting.

Transplanting of seedlings:

The seedlings of white Marble (F1 hybrid) variety of cauliflower were used as experimental materials. On 8 December 2022, 27 days old, healthy and disease-free seedlings of uniform size were transplanted into the experimental plots, maintaining a spacing of 60 cm × 40 cm to accommodate 12 plants in each unit plot. Intercultural operations including gap filling, weeding, earthing-up, irrigation and insect pest management was done whenever necessary.

2.6 Methods of data collection: Five plants were randomly selected from the middle rows of each unit plot to avoid border effects, and data were recorded for each plot. Measurements were taken for various parameters to evaluate plant growth, yield attributes, and overall yield as influenced by the different treatments in the experiment. Data were recorded from sample plants during the period of experiment.

Plant height:

The plant height was measured at 30, 45, 60 days after transplanting and during harvesting by using a meter scale. The measurement was taken from the ground level to the tip of the largest leaf of an individual plant. Mean value of the five selected plants was calculated for each unit plot and expressed in centimeter (cm).

Number of leaves per plant:

The total number of leaves per plant was counted at 30, 45, 60 days after transplanting and during harvesting from five selected plants and mean value was recorded.

Length of the largest leaf:

The length of largest leaves was estimated at 30, 45, 60 days after transplanting and during harvesting by using a meter scale. The measurement was taken from base to tip of the leaf. Thus, mean was recorded and expressed in centimeter (cm).

Days taken to curd initiation

Days required for curd initiation from transplanting was recorded from the first curd initiation.

Diameter of curd:

The curds from the sample plants were vertically sliced in the middle using a sharp knife. The diameter of each curd was measured in centimeters (cm) with a measuring tape, taking the horizontal distance from one side to the other at the widest part of the cut curd, and the average value was recorded.

Fresh weight curd:

The weight of curd was recorded from randomly selected five plants. The weight of curd was recorded at harvest and then converted to kilogram (kg).

Yield per hectare

Yield per hectare was calculated out by converting from the per plot yield data to per hectare and was measured in ton (t).

Economic analysis

Economic analysis was done to measure the profitability of the treatment combination of different manures and COS concentration. All input costs including the cost for land lease and interest on invested capital were considered for computing the cost of production. Interests on invested capital were calculated @ 9% for 6 months. Price of 1 kg cauliflower at harvest was considered to be Tk 6.00 in farmer field. Cost and analysis were done in details according to the procedure of Alam et al. (1989) [3] . The benefit cost ratio (BCR) was calculated by using following formula:

Statistical analysis

The collected data on various parameters under the study were statistically analyzed by using Statistix 10 software. The means for all the treatments were calculated and analysis of variance for each parameter was performed by Ftest. The significance of difference between the pair of means was compared by Tukey's test at the 1 and 5% significant level of probability (Gomez and Gomez, 1984) [11] .

Results and Discussion

Plant height

Height of plant is one of the most important growth contributing characters of plants. It is influenced by several factors including genetic makeup, nutrient availability, environmental or climatic conditions, and soil characteristics etc. Among those, nutrient availability in soil is one of the most important factors for attaining desirable plant height.

Fig 1:

Effect of manures on the plant height of cauliflower. Vertical bars represent standard error. Here, Mo= No manures; M1= Cowdung @ 10 t/ha; M2= Vermicompost @ 1.5 t/ha; M3= Mustard oil cake @ 2 t/ha.

Plant height was significantly influenced by different manures at different time points after transplanting (DAT) (Fig. 1). Among the different manures, the tallest plant (45.45, 56.24, 62.91 and 63.31 cm) was recorded from cowdung @ 10 t/ha followed by vermicompost @ 1.5 t/ha (43. [2,8,24,36] . Cowdung acts as an organic manure, adding nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to the soil. It also improves soil aeration and water-holding capacity, making it easier for plants to absorb nutrients and water, ultimately promoting taller and healthier growth. [7] . Similar findings were reported by Shahnila et al. (2025) [27] and Islam et al. (2023) [16] , they found that alginate oligosaccharides foliar spray increased the plant height of garlic and onion, respectively. Sultana et al. (2017) [32] also reported that plant height of tomato and brinjal increased with increasing concentration of oligo-chitosan up to 100 ppm. In addition, Salachna and Łopusiewicz (2022) [26] reported that chitosan oligosaccharide lactate application at 50 and 100 mg/L increased plant height (by 14.6% and 13.2%) in baby leaf red perilla.

Number of leaves per plant

Leaf number of cauliflower per plant was varied significantly by application of different organic manures at different time points after transplanting (DAT) (Fig. 3). Among the organic manures, cowdung [14] , they noticed that organic regime increased the number of leaves per plant of cauliflower. (2023) [16] and Shahnila et al. (2025) [27] , they noted that alginate oligosaccharides foliar spray increased the number of leaves per plant of onion and garlic, respectively. Values having same letter(s) within the column do not differ significantly at 5% level of probability. Here, Mo= No manures; M1= Cowdung @ 10 t/ha; M2= Vermicompost @ 1.5 t/ha; M3= Mustard oil cake @ 2 t/ha; To= Control (without COS); T1= 50 mg/L COS; T2= 100 mg/L COS; *= Significant at 5% level of probability; **= Significant at 1% level of probability; CV= Co-efficient of Variation; NS= Not significant.

Length of the largest leaves

Effect of different manures had significant difference on the length of the largest leaves at different time points after transplanting (Fig. 5). Among the manures, cowdung @ 10 [35] and they reported that organic manures produced largest leaves compared to control treatment. Manures significantly impact the leaf size of cauliflower by improving soil health and providing essential nutrients. They enhance nutrient uptake, leading to larger and more robust leaves. Manures like vermicompost and poultry manure have been shown to increase plant height, leaf area, and overall yield of cauliflower. M1= Cowdung @ 10 t/ha; M2= Vermicompost @ 1.5 t/ha; M3= Mustard oil cake @ 2 t/ha. Different concentration of COS showed significant variation on length of the largest leaves at different days after transplanting (Fig. 6). [20] reported that oligochitosan treatment increased the shoot length in salinity stress condition compared to control treatment which supported our results. Similar findings were also reported by Howlader et al. (2025) [13] , they reported that chitosan @ 500 ppm showed larger leaves of tomato in salinity stress condition.

Days taken to curd initiation

The analysis of variance showed that there was significant effect among different manures on days taken to the curd initiation of cauliflower (Fig. 7). Early curd formation was observed from the plot that not received any manures. Minimum days required for curd formation (71.23 days) were noted from the application of cowdung @ 10 t/ha, while maximum days to curd formation of cauliflower (72.42 days) were observed from control treatment. It was noted that the curd initiation was delayed where no manures were applied. Similar findings were reported by Farahzety and Siti Aishah (2013) [10] , they revealed that organic manures application enhance early curd formation and maturity of cauliflower. Cowdung @ 10 t/ha; M2= Vermicompost @ 1.5 t/ha; M3= Mustard oil cake @ 2 t/ha. Different concentration of COS showed significant difference in respect of days taken to curd initiation of cauliflower (Fig. 8). The minimum days (70.67 days) taken to curd initiation was recorded when COS @ 100 mg/L applied which was closely followed by COS 50 mg/L (71.93 days) while the maximum days (72.82 days) required for curd initiation when no COS was applied. Statistically significant variation was observed in case of combined effect of manures and different concentration of COS on days taken to curd initiation of cauliflower (Table 4). The treatment combination cowdung @ 10 t/ha with COS @ 100 mg/L required the minimum days (70.12 days) for curd initiation which was statistically similar with treatment combination of mustard oil cake @ 2 t/ha with same concentration of COS (70.55 days) whereas the maximum days taken to curd initiation (73.78 days) in case of control treatment.

Diameter of curd

Significant variation was found on diameter of curd by applying different manures (Fig. 9). Among different manures, cowdung @ 10 t/ha produced significantly the maximum diameter of curd (19.52 cm) followed by mustard oil cake @ 2 t/ha (18.21 cm). In contrast, the lowest curd diameter (12.80 cm) was obtained from the control treatment. Other sources of plant nutrient showed intermediary results compared to the highest and lowest value of curd diameter. Bopche and Agrawal, (2024) [6] reported similar findings, they revealed that manures enhanced curd diameter of cauliflower compared to control treatment. Manures increase cauliflower curd diameter by providing essential nutrients, improving soil structure, and enhancing water and nutrient uptake, ultimately leading to larger and heavier curds. Here, Mo= No manures; M1= Cowdung @ 10 t/ha; M2= Vermicompost @ 1.5 t/ha; M3= Mustard oil cake @ 2 t/ha.

Different concentration of COS exhibited significant differences in case of curd diameter of cauliflower (Fig. 10). Foliar application of COS @ 100 mg/L showed maximum curd diameter (19.10 cm) followed by COS @ 50 mg/L (16.67 cm) while the minimum curd diameter (15.25 cm) was noted from control treatment. COS likely enhance cauliflower curd diameter by promoting plant growth and development. They can stimulate photosynthesis, increase plant biomass, and potentially influence cell division and expansion, all of which contribute to larger, heavier curds. Similar findings were reported by Shahnila et a.

(2025) [27] , they reported that alginate oligosaccharides foliar spray increased the clove diameter of garlic.

Combined effect of manures and different concentration of COS was statistically significant in respect of curd diameter of cauliflower at different time points after transplanting (Table 4). The highest curd diameter (21.50 cm) was observed when plant grown under cowdung @ 10 t/ha with COS @ 100 mg/L followed by mustard oil cake @ 2 t/ha with same concentration of COS (20.20 cm). In contrast, the lowest curd diameter (10.20 cm) was noted in control treatment. 4.6 Fresh weight of curd: Different manures treatment effect was varied significantly in case of curd fresh weight of cauliflower (Fig. 11). Maximum weight of curd per plant (2.06 kg) was noted from the cowdung @ 10 t/ha followed by vermicompost @ 1.5 t/ha (1.87 kg) which was statistically identical with mustard oil cake @ 2 t/ha (1.86 kg) where the control treatment gave minimum weight of curd (1.73 kg) (Fig. 17). Bopche and Agrawal, (2024) [6] obtained similar results and they noted that manures produced higher curd weight that control. Manures increase the curd weight of cauliflower primarily by enhancing plant growth and nutrient availability, which leads to larger leaves and a greater overall plant size. This, in turn, supports the development of a larger and heavier curd.

Different concentration of COS showed statistically significant variation in respect of fresh weigh of curd of cauliflower (Fig. 12). The highest curd weight per plant (2.11 kg) was counted from COS @ 100 mg/L followed by COS @ 50 mg/L (1.95 kg) while the lowest curd weight per plant (1.54 kg) was noted from control treatment. Similar findings were recently reported that the application of oligosaccharides enhanced curd development, biomass accumulation and seed yield of cauliflower (Rajib et al., 2023) [25] . Howlader et al. (2025) [13] also found similar trend of results, they noted that alginate oligosaccharides preharvest treatment significantly enhanced fresh weight of tomato fruits compared to control treatment.

Cowdung @ 10 t/ha; M2= Vermicompost @ 1.5 t/ha; M3= Mustard oil cake @ 2 t/ha. Curd weight of cauliflower per plant was significantly affected by the combined effect of the manures and different concentration of COS (Table 4). Among the treatment combinations, cowdung @ 10 t/ha with COS @ 100 mg/L performed the highest weight of curd per plant (2.39 kg) followed by COS @ 50 mg/L with same source of plant nutrient (2.14 kg) while the lowest curd weight per plant (1.39 kg) was observed from control treatment. The treatment combinations M3T2 and M2T2 showed intermediary results compared to the highest and the lowest values.

4.7

Yield per hectare: Yield (t/ha) was significantly influenced by the application of different manures (Fig. 13).

The highest yield (64.39 t/ha) was recorded from cowdung @ 10 t/ha followed by vermicompost @ 1.5 t/ha (58.62 t/ha) whereas the lowest yield (52.72 t/ha) was recorded from control treatment. Narnolia et al. (2024) [23] reported similar findings and they observed that organic manures produced higher yield compared to inorganic fertilizers and control treatment. Similar trend of results was also revealed by [2,8,24] , in case of potato, onion, cabbage and garlic, respectively. Different concentration of COS showed significant variation in respect of yield of cauliflower (Fig. 14). The highest yield (66.08 t/ha) was recorded from COS @ 100 mg/L treatment followed by COS @ 50 mg/L (61.01 t/ha) whereas the lowest yield (48.38 t/ha) was noted from control treatment. The present studied results are in agreement with the findings of Sultana et al., (2017) [32] , those who reported that oligochitosan increased the yield of tomato and brinjal compared to control treatment. Islam et al. (2023) [16] , Shahnila et al. (2025) [27] and Howlader et al. (2025) [13] reported similar findings in case of onion, garlic and tomato, respectively when alginate oligosaccharides were applied. Significant variation was observed in case of yield (t/ha) of cauliflower in respect of combined effect of manures and different concentration of COS (Table 4). It was noted that the highest yield (74.81 t/ha) was recorded from the treatment combination of cowdung @ 10 t/ha and COS @ 100 mg/L followed by COS @ 50 mg/L (66.90 t/ha) with same organic manures. In contrast the lowest yield was noted from (43.62 t/ha) control treatment. 5). It was found that the highest production cost (214156.5 Tk./ha) was recorded from mustard oil cake @ 2 t/ha whereas the lowest production cost (126556.5 Tk./ha) was noted from control treatment. The results from M1 (148456.5 Tk./ha) and M2 (159406.5 Tk./ha) showed medium result but significantly varied from both M0 and M3. Total production cost in case of different concentration of chitosan oligosaccharides was varied significantly during cauliflower cultivation (Table 5). It was noted that T1 (control) treatment showed the lowest production cost (126556.5 Tk./ha) while T2 (COS @ 100 mg/L) showed the maximum production cost (132896.6 Tk./ha) followed by COS 50 mg/L (129726.5 Tk./ha). Significant variation was observed on total cost of production (Tk./ha) with the combined effect of manures and COS application during cauliflower cultivation (Table 5). It was observed that the highest cost of production (220496.6 Tk./ha) was recorded from M3T2 followed by M3T1 (217326.5 Tk./ha) and M3T0 (214156.5 Tk./ha). In contrast, the minimum production cost (126556.5 Tk./ha) was calculated from M0T0.

Gross return

Gross return (Tk./ha) was statistically significant in case of manures application during cauliflower cultivation (Table 5). The highest gross return (386347.00 Tk./ha) was recorded from cowdung @ 10 t/ha followed by vermicompost @ 1.5 t/ha (351753.00 Tk/ha) and mustard oil cake @ 2 t/ha (349393.00 Tk/ha) whereas the lowest gross return (316527.00 Tk./ha) was calculated from control treatment. Gross return (Tk./ha) varied significantly due to the application of different concentration of COS (Table 5). The highest gross return (396520.00 Tk./ha) was counted from COS @ 100 mg/L treatment followed by COS 50 mg/L (366085.00 Tk/ha) whereas the lowest gross return (290410 Tk./ha) was calculated from control treatment. Gross return (Tk./ha) was statistically significant in respect of combined effect of manures and COS application during cauliflower cultivation (Table 5). It was noted that the highest gross return (448900.00 Tk./ha) was recorded from M1T2 treatment followed by M1T1 (401420.00 Tk./ha), M3T2 (396240.00 Tk./ha), M2T1 (380340.00 Tk./ha) and M2T2 (375620.00 Tk./ha). In contrast, the lowest gross return (262280.00 Tk./ha) was noted from M0T0.

Net return

Significant variation was observed in case of net return (Tk./ha) in accordance with manures application during cauliflower cultivation (Table 5). It was noted that the highest net return (234720.00 Tk./ha) was recorded from cowdung @ 10 t/ha treatment followed by vermicompost @ 1.5 t/ha (189177.00 Tk./ha) whereas the lowest net return (132067.00 Tk./ha) was calculated from mustard oil cake @ 2 t/ha. Net return (Tk./ha) was significantly varied among the different concentration of COS during cauliflower cultivation (Table 5). It was noted that the highest net return (228036.00 Tk./ha) was counted from COS @ 100 mg/L treatment followed by COS 50 mg/L (200771.00 Tk./ha) while the lowest net return (128266.00 Tk./ha) was noted from control treatment. Net return was significantly affected by the combined effect of manures and COS application during cauliflower cultivation (Table 5). The highest net return (294103.00 Tk./ha) was counted from M1T2 treatment followed by M1T1 (249793.00 Tk./ha), M2T1 (217763.00 Tk./ha) and M2T2 (209873.00 Tk./ha). In contrast, the lowest net return (77184.00 Tk./ha) was calculated from M3T0.

Benefit cost ratio (BCR)

Statistically significant variation was found on benefit cost ratio (BCR) in accordance with manures application during cauliflower cultivation (Table 5). It was found that the highest BCR (2.60) was recorded from cowdung @ 10 t/ha whereas the lowest BCR (1.63) was recorded from mustard oil cake @ 2 t/ha (M3) which was significantly different from M2 (2.20). Significant variation was observed on benefit: cost ratio (BCR) according to different concentration of COS (Table 5). It was observed that the highest BCR (2.98) was calculated from COS @ 100 mg/L treatment followed by COS @ 50 mg/L (2.82) while the lowest BCR (2.29) was counted from control treatment. Benefit: cost ratio (BCR) was significantly varied among the combined effect of manures and COS application during cauliflower cultivation (Table 5). It was noted that the highest BCR (2.90) was recorded from M1T2 treatment followed by M0T2 (2.75) and M1T1 (2.65). In contrast, the lowest BCR (1.36) was recorded from M3T0.

Conclusion

The findings of the present research demonstrated that the application of manures and chitosan oligosaccharides displayed influential impact on growth, productivity and economic return of cauliflower. It was shown that among different manures used in the present study, cowdung 10 t/ha exhibited best performance in respect of growth, productivity and economic return of cauliflower. Among the different concentration of COS, 100 mg/L displayed superior performance than other concentration as well as control. Among the treatment combinations, cowdung 10 t/ha and COS 100 mg/L combinedly demonstrated superior performance in respect of all most all studied parameters and also in case of economic return. Finally, it can be concluded that cowdung 10 t/ha and COS 100 mg/L is promising for proper growth and increasing productivity and higher profitability of cauliflower.

Acknowledgement

AcknowledgmentsAuthors are grateful to Prof. Dr. Heng Yin, Natural Products and Glyco-biology Laboratory, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences for providing COS.

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