Response of vegetable crops to use of integrated nutrient management practices

Abstract

The investigation reports response of cucumber, knol khol, broccoli and radish to the use of integrated nutrient management practices at the experimental farm of the Division of Vegetable Science and Floriculture, FOA, Chatha, SKUAST-Jammu. The varieties used for study were Summer Green of cucumber, G-40 of Knol Khol, Early Green in case of Broccoli and CR-45 of Radish. Cucumber recorded highest yield of 213.85 q/ha with Neem Cake@ 5 t/ha. It was 17% superior to the recommended dose of chemical fertilizers. Yields were comparatively low with farm yard manure (FYM) vermicompost and poultry manure. Knol khol gave maximum yield with full dose of NPK + seedling treatment with Azatobactor at the time of transplanting with superiority of 45% over sole application of chemical fertilizers. Yields were reported low with organic treatments but FYM with seedling treatment with Azatobactor yielded satisfactorily to the level of 253.3 q/ha. Broccoli responded well to INM treatment but yielded enough with FYM at 20 t/ha and poultry manure at 5 t/ha to justify its consideration of organic production. Vermicompost in combination with half dose of chemical fertilizers did excellent in broccoli and radish. However, application of FYM and vermicompost alone were superior to the use of chemical fertilizers. A yield advantage of 12 and 4% was obtained over recommended dose of chemical fertilizers with their respective application. The investigations revealed that integrated use of nutrient source is superior in application to chemical fertilizers alone. The study indicates good potential to grow these vegetables organically. Further researches are needed to find out the optimum permutations and combinations of different organic nutrient sources, so those higher yield plateaus are sustained in organic production system. Key words: cucumber, knoll khol, broccoli, radish, integrated nutrient management.