Effect of compost with banana peel and Moringa leaf powders on seed yield and yield components of green gram (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek)

Abstract

The one-factor experiment was carried out in 2019-2020 at the University farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Eastern University, Sri Lanka to study the effect of compost with banana peel and Moringa leaf powders on seed yield and crop residue of green gram (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek). It was laid out in a complete randomized design with eight replicates and the following treatments: T1 - control (100 g of compost alone), T2 - 100 g of compost + 9 g of banana peel, T3 - 100 g of compost + 6 g of banana peel + 3 g of Moringa leaf, T4 - 100 g of compost + 4.5 g of banana peel + 4.5 g of Moringa leaf, T5 - 100 g of compost + 3 g of banana peel + 6 g of Moringa leaf and T6 - 100 g of compost + 9 g Moringa of leaf powder per polybag (0.07 m2). The results showed that the application of compost with 4.5 g of banana peel and 4.5 g of Moringa leaf powders (T4) produced remarkable changes in the number of pods per plant, pod weight per plant, seed weight per plant, pod yield and seed yield than the other treatments. At the harvest, treatment T4 had the highest value (1,587.1 kg/ha) of seed yield, and treatment T1 gave the lowest value (906.1 kg/ha). The present study suggests that the application of 100 g (equivalent to 14.3 t/ha) of compost with 9 g (equivalent to 1.3 t/ha) of banana peel and Moringa leaf powders at a 1:1 (w/w) ratio would result in optimum seed yield of green gram in sandy regosol. The combined application of locally available banana peel and Moringa leaf powders could be used with compost for increasing the seed yield of green gram with less environmental impact.