Efficacy of Phosphate Rich Organic Manure (BAIF-PROM) on growth, yield, and soil properties of chickpea-okra cropping sequence

Abstract

Currently, there is an increasing demand for agricultural production, not only to meet high-quality supplies, but also to develop environmentally sustainable strategies. The inorganic fertilizers are required for stimulating plant growth and production; however, non-stop use of inorganic fertilizers is disturbing our soil and environment. So, we have to return to the beyond and use organic fertilizers due to the fact organic fertilizers have a clean improvement over chemical fertilizer. So, a research study was carried out to study the effect of BAIF Phosphate Rich Organic Manure (BAIF PROM) on chickpea-Okra cropping sequence. BAIF has developed Integrated Renewable Energy and Sustainable Agriculture (IRESA) model for production of an organic manure as a source of phosphorus. This is slow nutrient-releasing manure which helps to meet the demand of the ongoing crop as well as the succeeding crop. The field experiment was taken during the kharif and rabi season in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Among the various treatments, application of GRDF (100% P2O5 through BAIF PROM and N & K through chemical fertilizer) (T6) showed significantly higher chickpea and okra yields of 35.55 qha-1 and 18.37 MTha-1, respectively, whereas GRDF (T2) treatment recorded yield of 34.93 qha-1 and 17.71 MTha-1. It was found to be 1.73% and 2.16% higher compared to the application of GRDF (100% NPK chemical fertilizer along with FYM) (T2) in chickpea and okra, respectively (Table 9). The highest phosphorus use efficiency of 25.88% was observed by treatment (T6) in chickpea, and 32.55% was recorded by treatment T5 in okra. The maximum organic carbon content of 0.62% and 0.64% was found in treatment (T6) in chickpea and okra, respectively, over the initial content of 0.59%. Maximum benefit cost ratio of 3.45 was recorded in treatment (T3) with application of 100% P2O5 through BAIF PROM along with FYM whereas treatment (T5) with 60% P2O5 through BAIF PROM and N & K through chemical fertilizer was found at par with B: C ratio of 3.44 in chickpea and okra cropping sequence. The B: C ratio of 2.24 was found in treatment RDF through chemical fertilizer (T2).