AFFECTED BY ORGANIC AND BIO-SOURCES

Agric. Sci. Digest., 31 (4) : 260-264, 2011 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATION CENTRE www.ar.arccjour ccjournals.com / indianjournals.com nals.com CABBAGE PRODUCTIVITY,, NUTRIENT UPTAKE AND SOIL FERTILITY AS AFFECTED BY ORGANIC AND BIO-SOURCES Dated : Indira Sarangthem 1, A.D.D. Misra 2 and Y.. Chakraborty ty 3. Deppt of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture, CAU, Imphal (Manipur) ABSTRACT An experiment was conducted during rabi seasons of 2005-06 to study the effect of organic manures in soil parameters and yield of cabbage ( (Brassica olerecia ecia var. capitata) ) in an acid soil. The study consisted of two sources of organic manure (vermicompost and FYM) and Azospirillum (4 kg ha -1 ).The highest yield of cabbage was obtained with the application of vermicompost at 3 t/ha and Azospirillum (17.89 t/ha), which show significantly superior over FYM. The post harvest organic carbon and available NPK content of soil significantly improved with the use of vermicompost and Azospirillum. The concentration of nutrient (NPK) in shoot and root of cabbage were higher in the treatment receiving vermicompost 3t/ha along with Azospirillum as compared to FYM treatments. Key words : Azospirillium, Cabbage, F.Y.M., Vermicompost. INTRODUCTION Productivity of soils cannot be sustained with the use of fertilizers alone. Application of fertilizers alone has also led to deterioration in health of our arable soils. It has been realized that organic manures must also form part of the manurial schedule to maintain the productivity of soils. Organic manures like FYM have become scarce. Green manuring seems to be difficult under intensive agriculture. So, recycling of different organic manures besides ensuring hygienic disposal of the organic wastes through Vermicomposting is required. Kale and Bano (1986) reported that requirement of chemical fertilizers to paddy crop was reduced when vermicompost was used. The present study was therefore, undertaken to fine out the efficacy of vermicompost on the yield of cabbage and fertility status of the soil. \ MATERIALS AND METHOD The field experiments were conducted during rabi seasons of 2005-06 in clay soil having organic carbon 2.55% with a soil ph 5.5, available NPK 230, 23.02, 330 kg ha -1 respectively at College of Agriculture, CAU, Imphal to evaluate the efficacy of vermicompost and FYM with and without Azospirillum on the yield of cabbage. Ten treatments involving vermicompost, FYM and Azospirillum were considered vermicompost and FYM were applied at 1, 2 and 3 tons/ha with Azospirillum in all the treatment at 4 kg ha -1 soil treatment The experiment was laid out in randomized block design (RBD) with three replications; cabbage was grown as test crop. vermicompost and FYM were incorporated fifteen days before transplanting. * e.mail.- dhaka1968@gmail.com, investigation was aimed to assess the effect of GA 3 and VAM on growth and flowering in tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.) cv. Double.

RESULTS TS AND DISCUSSION Nutrient status of vermicompost and FYM: The nutrient content in vermicomposts was many times more as compared to FYM (Table1). The C: N ratio in vermicompost (45.7) is more than FYM (14.1) when C: N ratio more than 20:1 is added to the soil, temporary immobilization of nutrients by microorganisms and consequent reduction in the growth of the crop would be observed. Vermicomposting the organic wastes solve this problem by lowering the C: N ratio to below 20:1. Thus vermicompost is a very good source of organic matter and plant nutrients (nitrogen 01.9%, P 1.3% and K 0.8%). Further the egg masses of the earthworms in the vermicompost are expected to increase the earthworm population in the soil, which in turn would improve the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil. Lavelle (1988) reported that the availability of K, Ca, Mg, and Na increased in the soil with incorporation of vermicompost. Organic Carbon: The organic carbon content of soil after the harvest of cabbage was significantly enhanced as compared to unitial soil status represented in Table3. The highest organic carbon content was recorded in the treatment of vermicompost at 3 t ha -1 with Azospirillum (59.92 g kg -1 ) which showed significant superiority over rest of the treatments, FYM @ 3 t ha -1 with Azospirillum (49.60 g kg -1 ) resulted in significantly higher organic carbon content as compared to single application of Azospirillum (27.50 g ka -1 ) vermicompost (27.50 g kg-1) and FYM (30.30 g kg -1 ) respectively. The findings were supported with the findings of Jagadeeshwari and Kumaraswamy (2000). The increase in organic matter content may be due to addition of organic manure with biosource, which stimulated the growth and activity of microorganism, and also due to better root growth. These observations were in line with the finding of Sudhir and Siddaramappa (1995). The effect was further enhanced by the addition Vol. 31, No. 4, 2011 261 of Azospirillum soil @ 4 kg ha -1 resulting in the improvement of root growth and nitrogen fixation which resulted in the improvement of cabbage ball formation and increased the organic matter content (Babhulkar et al. 2000). Available nitrogen: The available nitrogen content of soil after the harvest of cabbage increased significantly over the initial contents (Table 3). The increase was maximum in the treatment of vermicompost @ 3t/ha with Azospirillum (275 kg/ha). It might be due to sufficient supply of nutrients by applied organic sources (Acharya, et al. 1988). The increase in available nitrogen content of soil after the harvest of cabbage in the treatment vermicompost and Azospirillum (275kg/ha) might be ascribed to the fact that the addition of Azospirillum along with organic source, which is of rich nutrient content, narrowed the C: N ratio of the organic manures and this enhanced the rate of mineralization resulting in rapid release of nutrient from the organic carbon (Sheeba and Chellamuthee 1999). The results on the available nitrogen content after cabbage the harvest of indicated that the residual effect irrespective of organic source was enhanced. Similar results were reported by Rao et al. (1987) and Badanur et al. (1990). Table1 : Chemical properties of vermicompost and FYM. Particulars Vermicompost ( Eisenia foetida ) FYM ph 7.40 7.20 OC (%) 27.43 12.00 Free CaCo3 (%) 10.50 12.20 C: N ratio 45.70 14.40 N (%) 1.90 0.50 P (%) 1.30 0.75 K (%) 0.80 2.30 Fe 17.80 24.70 Zn 19.20 40.00 Mn 24.60 12.00 Cu 7.60 2.80

262 AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE DIGEST Table 2 : Effect of vermicompost, FYM and Azospirillum on yield and NPK content of cabbage (root and shoot at harvest). TREATMENTS Nutrient content Yield (t/ha) Cabbage head Cabbage rot N % P % K % N% P % K % T-1 (Control) 1.20 0.49 0.53 1.23 0.42 0.66 5.50 T-2 (Azospirillum) 1.24 0.44 0.56 1.25 0. 47 0.72 7.73 T-3 (vermicompost) (2t/ha) 1.23 0.50 0.60 1.34 0.55 0.77 10.25 T-4 (FYM 2t/ha) 1.25 0.51 0.58 1.47 0.55 0.75 10.32 T-5 (Azospirillum + Vermi 1t/ha) 1.22 0.52 0.86 1.31 0.47 0.85 13.73 T-6 (Azospirillum + Vermi 2t/ha) 1.26 0.51 0.87 1.50 0.55 0.84 15.15 T-7 (Azospirillum + Vermi 3t/ha) 1.30 0.50 0.84 1.44 0.52 0.99 17.89 T-8 (Azospirillum + FYM 1t/ha) 1.27 0.44 0.72 1.43 0.45 0.73 12.62 T-9 (Azospirillum + FYM 2t/ha) 1.35 0.45 0.80 1.52 0.46 0.88 12.83 T-10 (Azospirillum + FYM 3t/ha) 1.25 0.51 0.82 1.32 0.54 0.85 13.98 CD at 5% 0.11 0.01 0.02 0.15 0.03 0.03 1.07 Table 3 : Effect of vermicompost, FYM and Azospirillum on post harvest organic carbon, available nitrogen, phosphorous and potash of Soil. Treatment Available. N(Kg ha -1 ) AvailableP 2 O 5 (Kg ha -1 ) AvailableK 2 O(Kg ha -1 ) Organic carbon (gm/kg) T-1 (Control) 243.53 42.59 341.63 25.90 T-2 (Azospirillum) 252.98 43.34 348.96 27.50 T-3 (vermicompost) (2t/ha) 256.20 44.85 352.64 30.30 T-4 (FYM 2t/ha) 260.60 45.54 355.74 28.50 T-5 (Azospirillum + Vermi 1t/ha) 270.50 50.57 365.96 42.40 T-6 (Azospirillum + Vermi 2t/ha) 274.09 52.88 371.86 51.60 T-7 (Azospirillum + Vermi 3t/ha) 275.06 54.81 375.40 59.92 T-8 (Azospirillum + FYM 1t/ha) 266.95 47.60 361.09 37.30 T-9 (Azospirillum + FYM 2t/ha) 268.33 49.33 364.13 41.00 T-10 (Azospirillum + FYM 3t/ha) 272.70 51.63 369.12 49.60 CD (0.05) 9.48 2.42 2.75 1.20 Available phosphorous: The available phosphorus content of soil increased significantly due to various nutrient management practice (Table 3). Application of vermicompost with Azospirilium resulted in significantly higher residual phosphorus (4.81kg/ha) than the FYM with Azospirillium (51.63kg/ha) and also with single treatment of FYM, Vermicompost and Azospirillium. These results were in conformity with the finding of Acharya et al (1988). Incorporation of Organic Manure along with Azospirillium increased the availability of phosphorus (45.54, 44.85, 43.34 kg/ha) respectively attributable to reduction in fixation of water-soluble phosphorus, increased mineralization of organic phosphorus due to microbial action and enhanced mobility of phosphorus. Available potash: Significant increase in the available potassium content of soil after after harvest of cabbage crop over control was observed due to various nutrient managements (Table3). In the

Vol. 31, No. 4, 2011 Table 4 : Effect of different organic source on nutrient uptake in cabbage. 263 Treatment N(Kg ha -1 ) P 2 O 5 (Kg ha -1 ) K 2 O(Kg ha -1 ) T-1 1143.53 428.24 560.00 T-2 2007.11 733.52 1031.77 T-3 2311.98 944.58 1232.45 T-4 2198.73 856.86 1075.11 T-5 3358.99 1314.39 2270.31 T-6 3836.15 1473.30 1973.67 T-7 5882.23 2189.74 3928.64 T-8 2621.08 863.98 1407.61 T-9 3473.78 1101.44 2033.43 T-10 3365.68 1375.08 2187.03 CD (0.05) 1.58 0.96 0.75 (375.40 kg/ha) followed by FYM treatment (369.12 kg/ha). Similar results were reported by Jagadeeshwari and Kumaraswamy (2000).The higher availability of potassium in the treatment with or without. Azospirillium or both the organic source vermicompost and FYM applied might be due to the beneficial effect of application of organic source and Bioresource. Effect on nutrient (NPK) uptake in cabbage The uptake data show that among the application of different sources of organic matter, vermicompost dominates and gave higher uptake of NPK (5882.23, 2189.79 and 3928.64 kg/ha) as compared to FYM (3365.68, 1375.88 and 2187.03 kg/ha) at the level of 3t/ha, shows the mobility of nutrients in soil and uptake is more in Vermicompost treatment than FYM (Table4). Azospirilum alone shows significance difference over no Azospirillum. However, in combination with other organic source gave higher nutrient content, uptake and yield in cabbage. Effect on nutrient (NPK) content in cabbage: The effect of vermicompost and Azospirillum on nutrient content NPK.(1.3%, 0.50%, 0.84%) of head and (1.44%, 0.52%, 0.99%) root in cabbage were significantly higher than FYM with Azospirillum in cabbage head and root (1.25%, 0.51%. 0.82% and 1.32%, 0.54%, 0.85%) respectively (Table2). Cabbage Yield: Cabbage yield increased significantly due to various nutrient management practices over control Table 2. Significantly highest ball yield (17.89tha -1 ) was recorded in treatment of vermicompost @3tha -1 with Azospirillum which was closely followed by vermicompost @ 2 t ha -1 plus Azospirillum. Overall yield increased from treatment of vermicompost and FYM with Azospirillum (17.89, 13.98 t ha -1 ) compared to single application of Azospirillum, vermicompost and FYM (7.73, 10.25, 10.32 t ha -1 ) respectively. The increased cabbage yield in the treatment was attributed to the beneficial effect of combined use of organic manure with biosource (Azospirillum), which enhanced the nutrient availability. Through enhanced microbial activity conversion from unavailable to available from and also due to improved physical and bio-chemical conditions. These results were in conformity with the findings of Babhulkar et.al (2000) and Vasanth & Swami, K. (1999). CONCLUSION The study indicated that out of the different treatment practices application of organic source along with the biosource in certain level gives highest yield and high nutrient uptake and good residual effect which not only improves productivity but also improves the fertility status of soil.

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