Effect of corm size and integrated nutrient management practices on yield attributes of elephant foot yam [(Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst.) Nicolson]

Abstract

A field experiment to evaluate the effect of size of minisett and integrated nutrient management practices on the yield attributes of elephant foot yam was carried out at College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala during April 2018-November 2018. The treatment combinations included three minisett sizes (s1: 200 g, s2: 300 g and s3: 400 g) planted at 60 x 60 cm spacing and five integrated nutrient management practices (i1- 100 % NPK, i2-75 % NPK with 50 % N substitution through coir pith compost, i3- 75% NPK with 50% N substitution through coir pith compost + PGPR-I+ AMF, i4- 50 % NPK with 50 % N substitution through coir pith compost, i5- 50 % NPK with 50% N substitution through coir pith compost + PGPR-I + AMF) and a control of 1 kg planted at a spacing of 90 x 90 cm. The results indicated that the minisett size 400 g recorded the highest corm yield per plant (1279.43 g), volume of corm (975.38 ml) and diameter of corm (14.13 cm). In case of different integrated nutrient management practices, application of 100 % NPK recorded the highest corm yield per plant (1187.67 g), volume of corm (945.17 ml) and diameter of corm (14.07 cm). Among different interactions of minisett size and integrated nutrient management practices, the combination of 400 g + 100 % NPK recorded the highest corm yield per plant (2053.00 g) and volume of corm (1588.00 ml).