Studies on the effect of integrated nutrient management practices on growth, leaf yield and quality of palak (Beta valugeris var. bengalesis)

Introduction

The chenopodiaceae family includes the Palak (Beta vulgaris var. bengalensis), which is most likely indigenous to the Indo-Chinese area. Other names for it include Indian spinach, spinach beetroot and palak. It is often cultivated in the winter. On a tiny, thick stem, this herbaceous annual yields rosette-shaped, succulent, soft edible leaves that are picked and prepared as a vegetable. In addition to its various therapeutic benefits, the herbaceous portions provide a slight laxative effect. Its leaves are used to treat liver and spleen disorders, as well as inflammation, paralysis, headaches, and earaches. The preventive food value of leafy greens is strong. Since leafy vegetables are valuable commodities, they may contribute significantly to economic growth. Due to a growing understanding of their nutritional significance, interest in growing leafy vegetables has grown significantly in recent years. High-yielding leafy greens offer additional jobs, foreign currencies, nutritional security, and income (Chadda, 2004) [2] . The majority of farmers exclusively apply urea as fertiliser, often in excess of the prescribed amount. Their knowledge of management techniques and the use of biofertilizer and other fertilisers is inadequate. Possibly these are the main causes of poor yield and soil health deterioration. Additionally, an increase in N fertiliser raised the crop tissues' nitrate content without appreciably raising output. (Sunitha et al., 2024) [9] . It has become necessary to use unconventional fertilisers as supplements or replacements for chemical fertilisers because the increased use of chemical fertilisers has increased the cost of producing vegetables, polluted their agricultural environment, and reduced soil fertility.In the same respect, (Ahmadi et al., 2010) [1] reported that, total yield, number of leaves/plant and nitrate content in leaves were increased by increasing chemical fertilizer NPK, while different fertilizer levels had no significant effect on petiole length.

Materials and Methods

The experiment was conducted at the field of Horticulture, School of studies in agricultural sciences, Vikram University, Ujjain (M.P.). Ujjain is situated at 23.17650 N latitude and 75.78850 E longitudes at an altitude of 494 m Mean Sea Level. The experiment was laid out at the crop cafeteria of the section Horticulture. Seed rate used during experiment 10-12 kg and tested variety Pusa vilayti palak. PM).Among the various nutrients, nitrogen plays a very important role in plant growth and development. As it is not only directly as a constituent of proteins but also indirectly by changing the phytohormone balance in the plant. In the current study, in addition to applying fertilisers at the 100% recommended dosage, the application of inorganic fertilisers in combination with vermicompost, FYM, poultry manure, and biofertilizers significantly impacted growth characteristics like plant height, leaf number, leaf area, fresh and dry leaf weight, and dry matter production. The current study's findings showed that applying the necessary dosage of fertilizer-a mix of inorganic and organic manures such as vermicompost, FYM, chicken manure, and biofertilizers-had a substantial impact on plant height. A rapid rate of increase in plant height was observed from 15 DAS to harvest during crop growth period. Among all the treatments T11 (100% RD through organic manure (33.3%VC+33.3%FYM+33.3% PM), Highest plant height with the application of poultry manure was also recorded in palak (Phadnis et al., 2007) [8] .

Results and Discussion

Growth parameters

Data examine in

Yield parameter

A glance of the data represented in Table 5 to 7 that there was significant effect of integrated nutrient management practices on yield, he maximum fresh leaves weight (38.43, 37.97 and 36.11 g) were recorded at 15, 30 and 45 DAS and highest leaf yield (576.67 q ha -1 ) were recorded with T11 (100% RD through organic manure (33.3% VC + 33.3% FYM + 33.3% PM). Increased vegetative development, a balanced C/N ratio, and the direct or indirect involvement of co-enzymes in controlling several physiological processes inside the plant may have contributed to the treatment's highest yield. These characteristics of inorganic nutrients, biofertilizers, and micronutrient sprays may have improved root growth, improved plant nutrient translocation, and hastened the synthesis of carbohydrates, all of which would have improved leaf output. Tosic et al. (2016) [10] observed similar findings. The use of inorganic nutrients and biofertilizers, such as Azotobacter and PSB, which have improved the availability of N and P in soil as essential plant nutrients, may be the cause of the yield increase. The yield improvement may be attributed to higher yield attributing components such as increased vegetative and yield parameters which were positively affected by the foliar application of micronutrients as reported by Diana and Nehru (2014) [5] . Poultry manure application resulted in significantly higher yield in chilli, similar results were reported by (Paudel et al. 2004) in lettuce, (Geetha kumar et al., 2005) [6] in amaranthus (Phadnis etal., 2007) [8] in palak. The reduced leaf yield with 100% organic source of nutrients might have lead to reduction in leaf area and less uptake of nutrients.

Economics

The use of integrated nutrient management strategies in palak had a substantial impact on net return and the B-C ratio, according to the data (Table 8). T11 (100% RD through organic manure (33.3%VC+33.3%FYM+33.3% PM) were recorded highest gross return (₹288333), highest net return (₹2183330), maximum benefit cost ratio (3.07). Similar results were reported by (Madhavi et al., 2009) in spinach. To obtain more returns, it is preferable to have a higher monetary worth and lower cultivation costs. The current market price of output and inputs is taken into consideration while calculating the economics of various treatment combinations, which include land configuration and fertiliser level. These results are very close to the finding of (Chaudhary et al., 2011) [4] .

References

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