SUSTAINABLE NITROGEN MANAGEMENT IN CHILIES BASED CROPPING SYSTEM (original) (raw)

A field experiment was conducted at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore to study the effect of sustainable nitrogen management in chillies-cowpea cropping system. The results revealed that, integrated application of required nitrogen to both chillies and cowpea at 50% N as enriched farm yard manure and 50% N as inorganic fertilizer recorded significantly higher growth, yield attributes, productivity and profitability of chillies and enhance the soil fertility. Among the organic N management practices, application of 100% N as EFYM + vermicompost + neem cake (1/3 rd each) with bio fertilizer and phosphorous solublising bacteria was found to be economically feasible and ecologically sustainable N management practices in chillies-cowpea Cropping system Key words: Chillies, cowpea, enriched farm yard manure, neem cake Introduction In recent days sustainable agriculture has gained prime importance to provide livelihood support to farming community. Modern agriculture over last several decades has been depending heavily on the chemical fertilizers and insecticides, which are more cost intensive and resulted in adverse effect on soil fertility besides environmental problems. Hence maintaining soil fertility and soil productivity plays an important role for sustainable crop production. On the other hand, organic nutrients such as enriched farm yard manure, vermicompost, neem cake and bio-fertilizer are known to have beneficial effect on soil health but their limited nutrient content and their availability in large amount is a constraint for their wider usage. Combined application different organic manures recorded higher yield and quality of crop (Sangeetha et al., 2013). Sole application of organics or inorganic nutrients are in no way for a suitable solution for maintaining soil health and enhancing the productivity. Inclusion of leguminous pulses in chillies based cropping system will be of great use, as it improves the soil fertility, crop productivity and also most sustainable farming systems with recurring benefits to not only long-term soil health but also provides a lasting stability in production. With this background a study has been undertaken to find out the effect of various N management practices in chillies based cropping system in terms of productivity, profitability and soil fertility. Materials and Methods Experimental field was laid out in randomized block design (RBD) with eight treatments and replicated four times. The treatments were as follows: T 1 : 100 % N as enriched farm yard manure (EFYM) + Vermicompost + Neem cake (1/3 rd each), T 2 : T 1 + Biofertilizer + Phosphorus solublising bacteria (PSB), T 3 : T 1 + Panchakavya 3% foliar spray thrice, T 4 : T 1 + (Chillies + Onion)-(Cowpea + Coriander), T 5 : T 1 + One mechanical weeding and one hand weeding, T 6 : 50% N as enriched FYM + Biofertilizer + Phosphorus solublising bacteria, T 7 : 50% N as enriched FYM + 50% NPK as chemical fertilizer, T 8 : 100% recommended NPK as chemical fertilizers. The soil of experimental site was clay loam in texture with low in available nitrogen (256 kg ha-1), medium in available phosphorus (20.7 kg ha-1) and high in available potassium (412 kg ha-1) and organic carbon % (0.6). The organic manures were applied on N equivalent basis to the respective treatments in chillies. The recommended doses of nutrients for chillies are 120:60:60 kg N: P 2 O 5 : K 2 O ha-1. The entire inorganic source of P and K and 25 percent N were applied as basal. The remaining 75% N was top dressed at 30, 60 and 90 days after transplanting (DAT) in three equal splits. Results and Discussion Growth attributes Application of required N as 50% organic as (EFYM) and 50% inorganic to chillies registered higher plant height at all the growth stages of chillies. It is mainly due to the major nutrient supplied by the inorganic fertilizers will be utilized quickly by the crops and all other micro and macro nutrients available in EFYM will be released