EFFECT OF ORGANIC MANURES AND FOLIAR APPLICATION OF FISH AMINO ACID ON VEGETATIVE GROWTH AND DRY MATTER PRODUCTION OF AFRICAN MARIGOLD (TAGETES ERECTA L.)

Abstract

African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) is one of the important commercial flower crop grown exclusively for their vibrant blooms. An experiment entitled “Effect of organic manures with foliar application of fish amino acid on growth and yield of African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) was carried out in the department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar during (2018–2020). The twelve treatments includes organic inputs such as farmyard manure (25 t ha-1), vermicompost (5t ha-1), oilcake (2 t ha-1) along with foliar application of two levels of fish amino acid @ 2% and 4 % . The treatments were studied under randomized block design (RBD) with three replications. Among the twelve treatments, the performance of plants treated with (FYM @ 25t ha-1+ Vermicompost @ 5 t ha-1 + FAA @ 4%) resulted in superior plant height (63.42 cm), plant spread (54.31cm), number of primary branches (13.68), secondary branches (24.17) , number of leaves (154.86 ), dry matter production (118.23 g plant-1). Hence it is concluded that combined application of organic manures and fish amino acid had a good synergetic effect on vegetative growth of African marigold.