​Effect of Different Organic Sources on Growth and Seed Quality Parameters of Black Gram [Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper

Abstract

Background: Pulses play an important role in Indian agriculture for sustainable production, improvement in soil health and environmental safety. They are a cheaper source of protein to overcome malnutrition among vegetarians due to the presence of a high percentage of quality protein which is nearly three times more than that of cereals. They are more responsive to organic manures but indiscriminate and continuous use of chemical fertilizers has venomous effects on soil physical, chemical and biological properties thereby affecting the sustainability of crop production, besides causing environmental pollution. Methods: The experiment consists of 12 treatments comprising organic amendments laid out in RCBD (completely randomized block design) with three replications. The black gram variety TAU-1 was sown with a spacing of 45 cm x 10 cm. The recommended dose of phosphorus for black gram was supplemented with different combinations of soil organic manures with equal proportions based on their P content. The required quantity of organic manures viz., Farmyard manure, vermicompost, Ghanajeevamrutha were uniformly incorporated into the soil as per the treatment three weeks before sowing. The organic manures to be applied were quantified equivalent to RDF (20 kg N+50 kg P2O5+0 kg K2O ha-1). Result: The studies showed that application of vermicompost+ghanajeevamrutha based on 100% RDP (Recommended dose of Phosphorus)+Rhizobium+PSB (Phosphorus Solubilizing bacteria) recorded significantly higher plant height (87.67 cm), number of branches per plant (6.33), relative chlorophyll content (48.11) and dry matter (2740.00 kg ha-1) with higher concomitant seed quality parameters like seed index (10.25 g) and protein content (22.7%) as compared to others. This study has demonstrated the importance of the usage of organics for improving the growth and seed quality parameters in black gram.