Abstract
This study was conducted to comparatively assess the effects of fertilization typology (organic, inorganic, and biofertilization) on the growth, yield, and compositional profile of Jew’s mallow. The experiment was carried out over two growing seasons, under semi-arid climate conditions on silty loam soil. We adopted three fertilization strategies: (1) inorganic NPK fertilizer (146, 74, and 57 kg ha−1 for N, P2O5, and K2O, respectively), (2) farmyard manure (36 m3 ha−1), and (3) a biofertilizer (a set of mixed cultures of Bacillus spp., Candida spp., and Trichoderma spp. at 36 L ha−1). Treatment combinations were control (without fertilization, T1), NPK fertilizer (T2), farmyard manure (FYM, T3), biofertilizer (T4), NPK+biofertilizer (T5), and FYM+biofertilizer (T6). The T5 treatment maximized both plant and leaf biomass (up to 31.6 and 8.0 t ha−1, respectively), plant height (68.5 cm), leaf area (370 cm m−2), leaf protein content (18.7%), as well as N, P, and K concentration in leaves (2.99, 0.88, and 2.01 mg 100 g−1, respectively). The leaves’ weight incidence was lower in T5 treatment (36.7%) as compared to the unfertilized plants (T1). The results revealed that the combined application of inorganic NPK plus biofertilizer is most beneficial to increase growth, yield, and nutrient accumulation in Jew’s mallow plants.
Highlights
Over the years, mineral fertilizers have helped agriculture enhance crop productivity to meet the ever-increasing demand for food
According to Alori and Babalola [31], the efficiency of the microorganism in the biofertilizer in immobilizing N for a longer time in the a biofertilizer +is a living organisms that is added into the soil as inoculant that helps to provide form of NH4, which helped in the nutrient uptake by the plant [30]
[31], a biofertilizer is a living organisms that is added into the soil as inoculant that helps to provide availability of nutrients provided by mineral fertilization, which served as an energy source for certain nutrients for crop growth
Summary
Mineral fertilizers have helped agriculture enhance crop productivity to meet the ever-increasing demand for food. The overutilization of inorganic fertilizers poses a negative impact on the environment and soil functioning and fertility [1]. It leads to the high cost of crop production. Organic fertilization involves the use of naturally occurring material that includes animal manures and agricultural residues [2]. These materials have been proposed to boost the supply of inorganic nutrients, which can bridge fertilizer demand due to economic and environmental reasons [3]. Organic manure has been shown to improve the agronomic performances of many crops [6]
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