Meera A V
Nutrient Economy through Seed Coating with Vermicompost in Cowpea - Vellayani Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture 1998
An investigation was carried out at the Instructional
Farm, attached to the College of Agriculture, Vellayani to
evaluate "Nutrient economy through seed coating with
vermicompost in cowpea". The experiment was laid out in
Completely Randomised Design with nine treatments and three
replications. The variety used was Kanakamoni. The treatments
include coating of seeds with Rhizobium, vermicompost and a
combination of both and also uncoated seeds supplied with
either farmyard manure or vermicompost as organic source.
Biometric observations like height of plant, number
of leaves, seedling girth and number of fruiting branches were
not significantly influenced by any of the treatments.
However, root characters like root length, root spread and
number of effective nodules were found to be significantly
influenced by the different treatments. Coating of seeds with
vermicompost significantly influenced the grain yield of cowpea
and also the number of pods plant-l. Coating seeds with
vermicompost combined with the application of full inorganic
fertilizers and farmyard manure as organic source recorded the
highest grain yield. From the analysis of grain samples, it is
inferred that only K and Ca content of grain was significantly
influenced by the different treatments.
Phosphorus solubilisation capacity of soil was not
significantly influenced by any of the treatments. N fixing
capacity of soil was significantly influenced by the
vermicompost coating of seeds during 30 DAS and 45 DAS. Soil
analysis for available nutrients revealed that the different
treatments had significant influence on the Ca, Mg, Zn, Cu and
Mn content in soil.
Use of vermicompost coated seeds produced the maximum
uptake of N, P and K at maximum flowering stage and at harvest.
Soil application of vermicompost recorded the highest uptake of
Ca, Mg, Cu and Mn during maximum flowering stage. Plant
analysis for nutrient content indicated that the content of all
the nutrients except P was significantly influenced by the
different treatments during maximum flowering stage. Yield was
positively and significantly correlated with the height of
plant, root characters and availability and uptake of
nutrients.
In the present study, a superiority is shown by
vermicompost inoculated plants where farmyard manure was given
as the organic source indicating that at times of scarcity of
vermicompost, seed treatment could serve the purpose.
631.4 / MEE/NU
Nutrient Economy through Seed Coating with Vermicompost in Cowpea - Vellayani Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture 1998
An investigation was carried out at the Instructional
Farm, attached to the College of Agriculture, Vellayani to
evaluate "Nutrient economy through seed coating with
vermicompost in cowpea". The experiment was laid out in
Completely Randomised Design with nine treatments and three
replications. The variety used was Kanakamoni. The treatments
include coating of seeds with Rhizobium, vermicompost and a
combination of both and also uncoated seeds supplied with
either farmyard manure or vermicompost as organic source.
Biometric observations like height of plant, number
of leaves, seedling girth and number of fruiting branches were
not significantly influenced by any of the treatments.
However, root characters like root length, root spread and
number of effective nodules were found to be significantly
influenced by the different treatments. Coating of seeds with
vermicompost significantly influenced the grain yield of cowpea
and also the number of pods plant-l. Coating seeds with
vermicompost combined with the application of full inorganic
fertilizers and farmyard manure as organic source recorded the
highest grain yield. From the analysis of grain samples, it is
inferred that only K and Ca content of grain was significantly
influenced by the different treatments.
Phosphorus solubilisation capacity of soil was not
significantly influenced by any of the treatments. N fixing
capacity of soil was significantly influenced by the
vermicompost coating of seeds during 30 DAS and 45 DAS. Soil
analysis for available nutrients revealed that the different
treatments had significant influence on the Ca, Mg, Zn, Cu and
Mn content in soil.
Use of vermicompost coated seeds produced the maximum
uptake of N, P and K at maximum flowering stage and at harvest.
Soil application of vermicompost recorded the highest uptake of
Ca, Mg, Cu and Mn during maximum flowering stage. Plant
analysis for nutrient content indicated that the content of all
the nutrients except P was significantly influenced by the
different treatments during maximum flowering stage. Yield was
positively and significantly correlated with the height of
plant, root characters and availability and uptake of
nutrients.
In the present study, a superiority is shown by
vermicompost inoculated plants where farmyard manure was given
as the organic source indicating that at times of scarcity of
vermicompost, seed treatment could serve the purpose.
631.4 / MEE/NU