Evaluation of organic and inorganic sources of nutrients on yield and quality of snake gourd. (Trichosanthes anguina L)

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at the Instructional Farm attached to the College of Agriculture, Vellayani during January to May 1997 with the objectives of finding out the potential of using farmyard manure, poultry manure, vermicompost and fertilizers and the extend to which organic manures can be substituted for fertilizers for increasing yield and improving the quality of snake gourd (Trichoso/hes anguina L.). Three sources of organic manures, three levels of chemical fertilizers and three additional treatments (organic sources + organic sources to substitute NPK) were tested for their efficiency in 3 X 3 + 3 factorial RBD with three replications. The results of the study revealed that yield attributing characters like length of the fruit, weight of the fruit and number of fruits per plant were highest in plots applied with farmyard manure + farmyard manure to substitute NPK. The organic manures, levels of inorganic fertilizers and their interactions didn't produce any marked difference in the yield of the crop. But significant difference was observed among additional treatments. Among additional treatments, plots applied with farmyard manure was found to be the best, (57250 kg ha") which was on par with poultry manure (53500 kg ha-I). Growth characters VIZ. weight of the roots plant" and dry matter production ha" were also highest in farmyard manure alone applied plots.

Application of chemical fertilizers significantly improve the nitrogen content in plant parts and fruits. Highest nitrogen content of plant and fruit was observed with full NPK levels (70 : 25 : 25 kg NPK ha-I). Different organic sources, levels of chemical fertilizers and their interactions failed to show any significant effect on N uptake of the plant. However increased levels of fertilizers increased the uptake of N. The organic forms of manures showed a definite advantage over inorganic fertilizers on the quality of the fruit. Among quality attributes, significantly higher values for Total Soluble Solids (TSS), vit.C., total sugars and increased shelf life were observed in fruits obtained from vermicompost applied plots. When the economics of production was worked out, it was observed that all treatments were able to fetch more profit, and the maximum B : C of 5.5 was observed by the application of vermicompost with 3/4 NPK. The present study revealed that integration of vermicompost with chemical fertilizers was beneficial for increasing the yield and improvement in xxvii quality along with a low financial input.