EVALUATION OF SOIL APPLIED PLANT DERIVATIVES OF TREE SPECIES ON NITROGEN AVAILABILITY TO CAULIFLOWER (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis L.)
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Date
2021-01
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NAUNI,UHF
Abstract
ABSTRACT
The investigation entitled, “Evaluation of soil applied plant derivatives of tree species on
nitrogen availability to Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis L.)” was conducted at the
experimental farm of the Department of Soil Science, Dr Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and
Forestry, Nauni, Solan, (HP) during 2018-19 and 2019-20 with the objectives of studying the effect of
plant derivatives on nitrification inhibition and soil microbial population, growth, yield and quality of
cauliflower. The plant growth parameters varied with a maximum plant height (68.66 cm), number of
leaves (21.69), polar diameter (15.29 cm), equatorial diameter (18.08 cm), harvest index (77.16 %), fresh
weight of root (25.79 g) and dry weight of roots (6.33 g) recorded under the treatment comprising of the
application of neem cake powder @ 20 g kg-1 soil. The maximum gross weight (1284.31 g plant-1) and net
curd weight (989.26 g plant-1), plant and soil nutrients and their uptake, in general, were also recorded to
be maximum in the same treatment. The maximum microbial count viz. bacterial population (20.01 x 105
cfu g-1 soil), fungal population (4.46 x 103 cfu g-1) and actinomycetes population (3.42 x 103 cfu g-1 soil)
were, however, recorded in the treatment comprising of pomegranate rind @ 10 g kg-1 soil. The maximum
curd yield of 283.97 q ha-1 was recorded by the application of neem cake powder @ 20 g kg-1 soil,
whereas, the maximum net returns (Rs ha-1 4,36,662) with a highest benefit: cost ratio of 3.89 was
recorded in the treatment comprising of the application of MF @ 20 g kg-1 soil followed.
Highest NH4+-N concentration (126.30 mg N kg-1) at the end of incubation i.e. after 42 days was
recorded under the treatment CaC2 @ 30 g kg-1 soil with a decreasing order of T7> T6> T5> T3> T4> T2>
T1> T8 at the end of 42 days of the incubation study. Regarding nitrification inhibition, the treatments neem
cake, CaC2 and pomegranate rind excelled over all the other treatments and recorded higher nitrification
inhibition (44.31, 43.17 and 39.10 %, respectively). Amongst the different plant derivatives tested,
treatment of melia fruit @ 20g kg-1 soil gave superior results on growth and quality parameters.