Site specific nutrient management in elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst.) Nicolson)

Abstract

Efforts were made to study the soil test based site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) practices in Elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst.) Nicolson). Among the different treatments, application of nutrients based on soil test (T2) recorded significantly higher plant height (81.33 cm), pseudostem girth (15.68 cm), number of leaves (4.81 nos.) and yield (48.94 t/ha) over control and was on par with the treatment T1 (Recommended dose of NPK as per CTCRI package) with the plant height (79.74 cm), pseudostem girth (14.99 cm), leaf production (4.44 nos.) and yield (48.56 t/ha). Based on these findings, fertilizer use needs to be tailored as per the site specific soil test data instead of recommended doses of fertilizers (RDF) which has highest Benefit Cost Ratio of 2.58.