Quality of compost tea and its effect on growth and yield attributes of cotton crop in vertisols

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to prepare the compost tea and its effect on growth and yield attributes of cotton during the Kharif season of 2024-25 at Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth, Parbhani. with three replication and nine treatments viz, T1-Absolute Control, T2-100% RDF (150:75:75:25 NPKS), T3-75% RDF + @ 25% CTF, T4-75% RDF + @ 50% CTF, T5-75% RDF + @ 75% CTF, T6-75% RDF + @ 25% CTS, T7-50% RDF + @ 50% CTS, T8-25% RDF + @ 75% CTS and T9-50% RDF + @ 75% CTS. Compost tea was applied as foliar spray (CTF) at 30, 75, and 120 DAS, and as soil drenching (CTS) at 30 and 45 DAS. Compost tea was prepared with varying brewing methods and nutrient concentrations, focusing on the microbial richness and nutrient composition, including NPK and sulfur content. The study showed that the application of compost tea significantly affected cotton growth, and yield attributes. The maximum plant growth, yield and yield attributes, was observed with treatment T2 100% RDF on par with Treatment T5 75% RDF + @ 75% CTF at flowering, boll formation and boll development stage followed by treatment T4, T3 and T6. The data clearly indicated that the foliar application of compost tea reduced the 25% RDF and maintains the optimum yield.