Organic Cultivation of Summer Groundnut using Cow-based Bio-enhancers and Botanicals

Abstract

Background: Recognizing the adverse impact of excessive use of chemicals on soil health, human health and environment, Government is promoting production of organic crops, fruits and vegetables etc. through various schemes. Demand for organic food items is also on the rise during the last few years. Number of cow-based bio-enhancers and botanicals have been developed by innovative organic growers/ associations and NGOs. But very meagre scientific information is available regarding such formulations. Hence, to incorporate these products in organic farming module, the present experiment was conducted.Methods: A field experiment was conducted in summer season of 2017 to 2019 at Junagadh, Gujarat, India with cow-based bio-enhancers (Panchagavya, Bijamrut, Jivamrut, Amrutpani, Sanjivak and cow urine) and botanicals (Seaweed extract and Banana pseudo stem sap) in randomized block design with three replications. The cow-based formulations were prepared on farm as per the procedure given by National Centre for Organic Farming, Ghaziabad and botanicals viz., banana pseudo stem extract and seaweed extract (Kappaphycus alvarezii) were obtained from Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari and Junagadh Agricultural University, Okha.Result: The results revealed that application of FYM @ 5 t/ha significantly enhanced growth and yield attributes viz., plant height, number of branches/plant, number and dry weight of nodules/plant, number of mature pods/plant, pod weight/plant and shelling percentage and ultimately produced significantly higher pod (1823 kg/ha) and haulm (3270 kg/ha) yields, followed by Panchagavya as foliar spray @ 3% at 30, 45 and 60 DAS (1582 and 2846 kg/ha) and seaweed extract as foliar spray @ 3.5% at 30, 45 and 60 DAS (1423 and 2570 kg/ha). Application of FYM, Panchagavya and seaweed extract also increased uptake of NPK by pod and haulm over the control, while different treatments failed to affect the post-harvest soil fertility except available P which is higher under FYM, Jivamrut, Amrutpani and Sanjivak over the control. Overall, application of FYM and Panchagavya accrued higher net return of `55285 and 46229/ha with B:C of 2.21 and 2.12, respectively.