Influence of organic manures, bio-fertilizers and inorganic fertilizers on the growth and yield of chilli (Capsicum annum L.)

Abstract

The experiment to study the performance of chilli under different integrated nutrient supply was conducted at the Experimental Field, School of Agriculture, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, and Punjab during 2017. The experiment was conducted in Randomized Block Design with three replications. The variety of chilli used for the experiment was Super-Hot with the combination of twelve treatments along with one control. The treatment combinations included different organic manures (FYM, Vermicompost and Mustard cake), three levels of NPK (100, 75 & 50 per cent) along with bio-fertilizers such as Azospirillum, PSB and K-Solubilizers. Among all the treatments, better performance for growth and yield was observed Vermicompost + NPK 75% + Azospirillum + PSB + K-Solubilizers with a recorded plant height of (64.55 cm), number of branches per plant (16.92), minimum days to 50% flowering (29.26 days), number of fruits per plant (367.51), fruit length (7.90 cm), fruit diameter (4.58 cm) and yield per hectare (14.28 t) compared to the lowest performance in T13-control with a recorded plant height of (47.51 cm), number of branches (12.02 cm), days to 50 per cent flowering (38.23), maximum number of fruits per plant (271.25), fruit length (4.63 cm) and yield (6.56 t/ha). The results clearly indicated the chance of saving 20-25 per cent inorganic chemical fertilizers which will eventually reduced the cost of production and lesser impact on soil health and environment.