Augmenting yield of taro (Colocasia esculenta) through organic manures

Abstract

Growing concerns and awareness regarding environmental degradation, food safety, and human health have generated interest over the use of more organic manures in farming. In the view of this context a field experiment was conducted during February-August 2020 at Tiruvannamalai district, Tamil Nadu, India to study the influences of organic manures on the yield of taro (cv. Sree Rashmi). The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with nine treatments replicated thrice. Organic manures used for the study were farmyard manure, vermicompost, neem oil cake, phosphobacteria were applied as basal form and Seaweed extract, effective microorganisms, and panchagavya, were soil drenched on the day of sowing, 30th and 60th days after sowing as per the treatment. Results revealed that the maximum values of yield parameters viz., number of cormels/plant (20.34), length of the cormels (11.28 cm), diameter of cormels (6.61 cm), girth of cormels (15.23 cm), single cormel weight (30.43 g), weight of the mother corms (599.28 g), total cormel yield/plant (618.94 g), total cormel yield/plot (24.13 kg), total cormel yield/ha (30.93 t), net income (Rs. 208485.62) and B:C ratio (3.24) were recorded under the treatment of RDF+ vermicompost (5t/ha) + sea weed extract (5 mL/litre) +phosphobacteria (2 kg/ha) proved best treatment in respect of these parameters. Among all the organic manures sea-weed extract combined with vermicompost and phosphobacteria proved beneficial in respect of yield and yield attributes. The minimum values of all these characters were recorded under control. The use of organic manures proved to be eco-friendly in taro cultivation for sustainable yield and quality of cormels as well as for maintaining soil health.