Effect of different organic and natural liquid manures on growth and yield of leaf lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) under North-Western Himalayan conditions

Introduction

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is one of the most economically important leafy vegetable crop grown in the world. It occupies the largest production area among salad crops in the world with production continuing to increase on yearly basis. Lettuce is rich in vitamin A and minerals like calcium and iron. Consumption of lettuce helps in lowering blood cholesterol levels, improves insomnia possessing anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anticancer properties (Khare, 2004) [14] . The health promoting properties of lettuce is attributed to the presence of nutraceutical compounds like bioactive-terpenoids and polyphenols such as carotenoids, phenolic acids, and flavonoids. In India, lettuce is gaining popularity with the change in food habits and increasing awareness among the people towards their health. There is an increasing demand among consumers for safe and nutritious food that improves physical performance, reduces the risk of diseases, and increases the life span (Ogden et al. 2007) [19] . With the modernization and the growing population the consumption of chemicals namely fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators, etc., has increased substantially in order to achieve the current demand for food requirements. However, the efficiency of the chemical fertilizers already reached a steady phase due to their indiscriminate and inefficient use. Also the cost of inorganic fertilizers is increasing enormously to an extent that they are not affordable to small and marginal farmers. Hence in this regard, there is a need to identify a suitable substitute in place of chemical fertilizers which are economically cheaper and eco-friendly (Verma et al. 2018) [34] . The use of manures like Farm Yard Manure, Ghanjeevamrit and natural liquid organic manures like Jeevamrit and Saptadhanyankur plays an important role in sustaining the soil health as well as productivity of the crops. These manures contain small quantities of macronutrients, micronutrients, and growth-promoting substances, when applied to the crop either in form of foliar spray, through drenching in soil or in form of solid manure trigger the necessary plant growth and development, which ultimately led to better crop yield (Boraiah et al. 2017) [2] . Organic and natural farming practices eliminate the dependency on agrichemicals; rely on the use of natural products, and aids in improving the environment as well as farm economics in terms of higher yield and net returns. Organic and natural farming can play an important role in maximizing the profitable production of lettuce with enhanced soil fertility (Uddin et al. 1995) [33] . The greater challenge for India is to provide safe and healthy food for the growing population in the country. Despite such an important aspect, work has not been done on the use of organic and natural products in the cultivation of leafy lettuce in summer months. Hence this study was planned to generate information on effect of organic and natural liquid manures on growth and yield of lettuce cultivated in open field conditions.

Materials and Methods

The experiment was carried out at the Experimental Farm of Horticultural Research & Training Station and KVK, Kandaghat, Solan (H.P.) during 2022.The experimental site is situated at an elevation of 1425 m above mean sea level, about 14 km away from Solan, with 30.9702º N latitude and 77.1054º E longitude, representing mid hill zone of Himachal Pradesh. The layout of experimental field was laid down in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) Factorial with three replications comprising of sixteen treatment combinations of two factors-Factor I: Organic manure (M) and Factor II: Natural liquid manures (L). The detail of treatments combination is given in Table 1. Uniform and healthy seedlings were transplanted in the field in the first week of March in different plots at a spacing of 45 × 30 cm between and within the rows respectively, thus accommodating twenty plants per plot (2.7 m 2 ).Irrigation was done immediately after transplanting and followed on regular basis. All other cultural operations and plant protection measures were adopted to maintain uniform plant population and ideal conditions for proper growth and development of plants. The growth and yield parameters were recorded for five randomly selected plants and the mean values of data obtained were statistically analysed by adopting method as described by Panse and Sukhatme (2000) [21] . The critical differences were calculated at five percent level of significance wherever 'F' test was significant. No manure + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5% + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3% T5 M1L0 FYM @ 10 t/ha + No liquid manure T6 M1L1 FYM @ 10 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5% T7 M1L2 FYM @ 10 t/ha + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3% T8 M1L3 FYM @ 10 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5% + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3% T9 M2L0 Ghanjeevamrit @ 1 t/ha + No liquid manure T10 M2L1 Ghanjeevamrit @ 1 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5% T11 M2L2 Ghanjeevamrit @ 1 t/ha + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3% T12 M2L3 Ghanjeevamrit @ 1 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5% + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3% T13 M3L0 FYM @ 5 t/ha + Ghanjeevamrit @ 0.5 t/ha + No liquid manure T14 M3L1 FYM @ 5 t/ha + Ghanjeevamrit @ 0.5 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5% T15 M3L2 FYM @ 5 t/ha + Ghanjeevamrit @ 0.5 t/ha + Saptadhanyakur spray @ 3% T16 M3L3 FYM @ 5 t/ha + Ghanjeevamrit @ 0.5 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5% + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3%

Factor I: Organic manure (M): M 0 -No organic manure, M 1 -FYM @ 10 t/ha, M 2 -Ghanjeevamrit @ 1 t/ha, M 3 -FYM @ 5 t/ha + Ghanjeevamrit @ 0.5 t/ha

Factor II: Natural liquid manure (L): L 0 -No liquid manure, L 1 -Jeevamrit (drenching @ 5%), L 2 -Saptadhanyankur (spray @ 3%), L 3-Jeevamrit + Saptadhanyankur (Drenching @ 5% + spray @ 3%)

Results and Discussion

Application of different levels of organic manures, natural liquid manures and their combinations significantly influenced the various plant growth and yield characters.

Days taken to marketable maturity

Earliness is an important character in lettuce and is economically significant in a way that early maturing varieties fetch higher prices in the market than normal varieties.In plants; earliness is characterized by accelerated passage through the vegetative stages. The cultivation of early maturing varieties results in a more productive use of land, since the same field may yield two or more harvests per season. Plants under treatment M 3 L 3 (FYM @ 5 t/ha + Ghanjeevamrit @ 0.5 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5% + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3%) were found to be earliest in maturity i.e. 40.77 days.While Plants under control treatment took maximum number of days to attain marketable maturity i.e. 48.64 days (Table -2). The reduction in the number of days may be attributed to added supply of nutrients and proliferous root system developed early under balanced nutrient application through varying levels of organic manures and natural liquid manures resulting in better absorption of water and nutrients with improved physical environment. The results are in conformity with Rather et al. (2018) [24] & Chatterjee (2015) [4] .

Leaf length

Among different treatments M 3 L 3 (FYM @ 5 t/ha + Ghanjeevamrit @ 0.5 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5% + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3%) recorded maximum average leaf length i.e. 21.20 cm. The minimum average leaf length was recorded under control treatment (T 1 ) i.e. 12.77 cm. Increase in length of leaves might be due to the application of organic manures. The positive influence of natural manures on the growth and yield characters of lettuce crop might be due to the release of the balanced nutrients contained in the organic nutrient sources especially nitrogen. This ensures favourable condition for the elongation of lettuce plant as well as availability of other macro and trace elements and improvement in soil physical structure such as water holding capacity. The leaf proliferation and expansion in leafy vegetables is attributed to organic soil amendments. These results were in agreement with the findings of Masarirambi et al. (2010) [16] and Sarhan et al. (2012) [25] .

Leaf breadth

Plants recorded maximum average leaf breadth (20.61 cm) in treatment M 3 L 3 (FYM @ 5 t/ha + Ghanjeevamrit @ 0.5 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5% + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3%) whereas minimum average leaf breadth was recorded in control i.e. 11.10 cm (Table -2). Average Leaf breadth was significantly influenced by combined effect of different organic manures and natural liquid manures. This might be due to the continuous nutrient availability to the plants by the use of organics and natural liquid manures. This was found to be in accordance with findings of Hasan and Solaiman (2013) [11] , Sevinc et al. (2018) [26] & Caliskan et al. (2014) [3] .

Plant spread

The maximum increase in plant spread was recorded in treatment M 3 L 3 (FYM @ 5 t/ha + Ghanjeevamrit @ 0.5 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5% + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3%) i.e. 36.83 cm and the minimum increase in plant spread i.e. 31.11 cm was recorded under control. The increase in leaf length due to the increased uptake of nutrients might be the reason for increased plant spread. This is found to be in accordance with findings of Manoj et al. (2013) [15] , Rather et al. (2018) [24] and Dolma and Gupta (2011) [7] .

Plant height

Maximum plant height was recorded in the treatment M 3 L 3 (FYM @ 5 t/ha + Ghanjeevamrit @ 0.5 t/ha + Jeevamritdrenching @ 5% + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3%) on the other hand minimum plant height (18.49 cm) was recorded in control treatment (M 0 L 0 ). It may be due to the reason that organic manure enhanced soil aggregation, aeration, water holding capacity and amended the root system by flow of nutrients, which in combination created favourable conditions for root respiration, nutrient absorption by the roots and hence growth in plant height. Similar finding for plant height had been reported by Taha et al. (2017) [32] , Ansari (2008) [1] , Sharma and Aggarwal (2019) [27] , Devan (2013) [6] & Pant et al. 2009 [22] .

Fresh leaf weight

Fresh leaf weight is an important yield contributing character and has a direct effect on the final plant yield. Application of M 3 L 3 (FYM @ 5 t/ha + Ghanjeevamrit @ 0.5 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5% + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3%) recorded the maximum fresh leaf weight i.e. 16.02 g while the minimum fresh leaf weight was recorded in control treatment (M 0 L 0 ) i.e. 9.87 g (Table -3). This might be due to the fact that organic manures, natural liquid manures and their interaction enhances the role of leaves in photosynthesis, energy storage, cell division and cell enlargement. Similar results have been reported by Singh (2004) [30] , Durak et al. (2017) [8] , Frasetya et al. (2019) [9] , and Sharma et al. (2002) [28] .

Dry leaf weight

Dry leaf weight is an important character which helps to determine the fiber and total dry matter in the plant leaf.

Leaf dry weight tended to increase by increasing dose of organic manures and by application of different liquid manures; however this increment was not significant. Application of organic manure, natural liquid manure and their interaction with each other had non-significant influence on this character.

Number of leaves per plant

Plants under treatment M 3 L 3 (FYM @ 5 t/ha + Ghanjeevamrit @ 0.5 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5% + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3%) produced the maximum number of leaves (35.51). On the other hand minimum number of leaves were recorded in control treatment (M 0 L 0 ) i.e. 26.73. The increase in growth parameters like leaf number was due to the fact that organic and natural liquid manures besides supplying N, P and K also improved the soil condition which improved the source to sink relationship. The unavailable sources of elemental nitrogen, bound phosphates, micronutrients, and decomposed plant residues were made available into the most absorbable form to facilitate the plants to absorb the nutrients. This lead to an increase in the growth attributes of plants due to natural liquid manure application. The results were in conformity with those reported by Islam et al. (2012) [13] , Moreira et al.

(2014) [18] , Rather et al. (2018) [24] , Michael et al. (2012) [17] and Siddappa (2015) [29] . 9.98 0.84 31.99 M1L1 (FYM @ 10 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5%) 13.00 0.82 30.69 M1L2 (FYM @ 10 t/ha + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3%) 10.53 0.83 32.24 M1L3 (FYM @ 10 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5% + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3%) 11.02 0.79 33.51 M2L0 (Ghanjeevamrit @ 1 t/ha + No liquid manure) 13.39 0.95 27.77 M2L1 (Ghanjeevamrit @ 1 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5%) 11.65 1.01 31.21 M2L2 (Ghanjeevamrit @ 1 t/ha + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3%) 11.48 0.98 28.47 M2L3 (Ghanjeevamrit @ 1 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5% + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3%) 13.80 0.84 31.69 M3L0 (FYM @ 5 t/ha + Ghanjeevamrit @ 0.5 t/ha + No liquid manure) 10.32 0.85 32.72 M3L1 (FYM @ 5 t/ha + Ghanjeevamrit @ 0.5 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5%) 14.60 0.91 30.41 M3L2 (FYM @ 5 t/ha + Ghanjeevamrit @ 0.5 t/ha + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3%) 13.22 0.99 30.56 M3L3 (FYM @ 5 t/ha + Ghanjeevamrit @ 0.5 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5% + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3%) Yield (per plant, per plot, per hectare) Yield is the most important parameter that determines the success of crop production. Lettuce crop reacts positively to the application of organic manures. Plants supplied with optimum level of nutrients in form of organic manures exhibits maximum vegetative growth which ultimately leads to the higher plant yield. Plants under treatment M 3 L 3 noticed the highest lettuce yield (612.55g) per plant, yield per plot (12.25 kg) and yield per hectare (362.88 q) (Table-4). Whereas, the lowest yield (407.10 g) per plant, yield per plot (8.14 kg) and yield per hectare (241.17 q) was recorded with control treatment (M 0 L 0 ). The combined application of organic and natural liquid manures enhances the growth and yield attributing parameters due to the slow release of nutrients throughout the growing period of crop and also improves the soil physico-chemical and mineralogical properties which in turn increase the fertility status of the soil. Hence, these organic manures and natural liquid manures are efficient natural substitutes for obtaining higher yield besides improving the nutrient status of the soil. Similar findings have been reported by Palekar (2006) [20] , Devakumar et al. (2008) [5] , Singh et al. (2012) [31] and Ghuman and Sur (2006) [10] . Benefit Cost ratio: Among different treatments net returns were highest (₹ 928431.78 ha -1 ) in M 3 L 3 (FYM @ 5 t/ha + Ghanjeevamrit @ 0.5 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5% + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3%) whereas lowest net returns (₹ 601254.04 ha -1 ) were calculated in control treatment (M 0 L 0 ). Similarly, maximum gross income per hectare (₹ 1088629.78) was recorded under M 3 L 3 while minimum gross income (₹ 723504.04) was obtained under control treatment (Table -5). Maximum B:C ratio (5.80) was recorded in M 3 L 3 (FYM @ 5 t/ha + Ghanjeevamrit @ 0.5 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5% + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3%) whereas minimum B:C ratio (4.52) was recorded in M 1 L 0 (FYM @ 10 t/ha + No natural liquid manure). Higher net return under M 3 L 3 (FYM @ 5 t/ha + Ghanjeevamrit @ 0.5 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5% + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3%) could be due to the higher yield of lettuce plant obtained under this treatment. Excellent vegetative growth and good soil conditions resulted in higher yield which ultimately led to the increase in economic yield, total gross income, net returns and benefit cost ratio despite of increase in expenditure. These results were in conformity with those obtained by Hashem and Abd-Elrahman (2016) [12] on the benefits of applying natural organic manures and their combination. Also, the results were in confirmation with those obtained by Patil et al. (2013) [23] on lettuce plants.

Conclusion

The present study revealed that the integrated application of FYM @ 5 t/ha + Ghanjeevamrit @ 0.5 t/ha + Jeevamrit drenching @ 5% + Saptadhanyankur spray @ 3% (M3L3) proved most effective among all treatments for enhancing growth and yield attributes of leafy lettuce. This treatment also recorded the highest economic returns, including gross income (₹ 10,88,629.78), net returns (₹ 9,28,431.78), and benefit-cost ratio (5.80). It may thus be concluded that the combined use of these organic inputs can be recommended for sustainable and commercially viable lettuce production under open field conditions.

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