Malaysian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture (MJSA)

Nitrogen (N) is the most vital component for the productivity and profitability of crops, particularly in N-deficient soil. The use efficiency of N mostly depends on its judicious application and availability. Thus, the experiment was conducted in the farmer’s field of the southwestern coastal region during winter (2024-25) to investigate the growth, yield response and N use efficiency (NUE) of capsicum to various N rates under zero-tillage conditions. The factorial experiment comprised two capsicum varieties (Astha and BARI Misti Morich-2) and five rates of N (0, 90, 120, 150 and 180 kg ha¹). The experimental design was a factorial randomized complete block design and replicated three times. The individual effect of variety and N showed significant influence on growth, yield and profitability, yet their interaction was not significant. The growth, yield attributes, yield, total soluble solids, profitability, and NUE of Astha were substantially higher than BARI Misti Morich-2, where the yield, net income, and NUE were enhanced by 13%, 43%, and 13%, respectively. Among the N rates, application of N at180 kg ha¹ produced the highest yield, which was increased by 4 to 71% from 150 to 90 kg N ha yet the yield was statistically similar with 150 kg N ha-¹. Total soluble solids were substantially increased with the increased rate of N, but vitamin C content initially increased from 0 to 120 kg N hathen gradually declined with the higher N rates beyond 150 kg hat. The net income declined by 1.09 to 7.35 times from 120 to 90 kg N ha¹ compared to 180 kg N ha¹, yet there was no significant variation between 150 and 180 kg N ha¹ while in control treatment the net income was negative. The NUE was higher in the lower rates and then gradually decreased with the higher rates, where the NUE declined by 3 to 15% from the application of 120 to 180 kg N ha compared to 90 kg N ha¹. The results of this experiment suggested that the Astha variety is suitable with the application of 150 kg N hat under zero tillage conditions in the southwestern coastal soil of Bangladesh.