IMPACT OF INORGANIC AND ORGANIC SOURCES OF NUTRIENTS ON NPK UPTAKE BY AMBRETTE AND ITS POST-HARVEST SOIL NPK STATUS

The roots, leaves and seeds of ambrette are considered as valuable traditional medicines. The bitter, sweet, acrid, aromatic seeds are used as tonic and are considered to possess cooling, aphrodisiac, ophthalmic, cardiotonic, digestive, stomachiecm carminative, pectoral diuretic, stimulant, antispasmodic and deodorant properties. Crop removes nutrients continuously from soil and therefore, their replenishment though fertilizers and manures are essential. To find out the integrated effect of inorganic fertilizers, neem coated urea, enriched pressmud compost and sea weed extract on NPK uptake by ambrette and its post – harvest soil NPK status, a field investigation was carried out at Farmer’s Field Sivapuri Village, Chidambaram Taluk, Cuddalore District during Kharif, 2018. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with eight treatments and three replications. The crop was grown to maturity with proper cultural practices. The results revealed that application of integrated application of inorganic fertilizers, neem coated urea, enriched pressmud compost and sea weed extract resulted in significantly highest NPK uptake by ambretee and influenced the post – harvest soil fertility status with respect to available NPK.

Influence of Soil Bioamendments on the Availabilty of Nickel and Phytoextraction Capability of Marigold from the Contaminated Soil

Phytoremediation is an emerging technology involved in heavy metal remediation processes. It is evident from the several researches that the bioamendments greatly influences various biochemical processes and thus enhance the bioavailability of metals in the contaminated soil. It should favour greater absorption (removal) of metals by plants. Therefore, a pot experiments was conducted to examine the bioavailability and subsequent uptake of Ni by marigold during the application of different biomendments such as Farmyard manure (FYM), Composted poultry manure, Pressmud compost and Prosopis wood biochar. The result of pot experiment has shown the potential of bioamendments in enhancing the bioavailability of Ni in soil. The bioamendment application also enhanced the Ni content in plants. A significant positive correlations were obtained between Ni uptake by plants and water soluble and exchangeable Ni in soil. This explains the role of bioavailability in plant uptake of Ni. The bioconcentration factor (BCF) and enrichment factor (EF) were less than one but the translocation factor (TF) was greater than one in plants grown on soil amended with bioamendments. Marigold showed greater potential in tolerating and accumulating higher concentration Ni and therefore it could be integrated along with bioamendments for phytoextraction of Ni from contaminated soil.

EFFECT OF INORGANIC FERTILIZERS AND PRESSMUD COMPOST ON SOIL PROPERTIES, YIELD AND QUALITY OF BHENDI

A field experiment was conducted at farmer`s field in Sivapuri village, Chidambaram taluk, Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu to study the effect of inorganic fertilizers and pressmud compost on soil properties, yield and quality of bhendi cultivar Arka anamika as a test crop. The experimental soil was sandy clay loam with a pH of 7.20, EC of 0.64 dSm-1 and CEC of 19.20 c mol (p+) kg-1. The results of the experiment clearly revealed that the application of 100% recommended dose of fertilizer+15 tonnes of pressmud compost ha-1 (T4) registered the maximum fruit and stover yield of bhendi the same treatment T4 improved the quality attributes of bhendi viz., crude protein content, ascorbic acid content and crude fibre content. The available N, P, K and S content in the post harvest soil was maximum in the treatment T4. This treatment was followed by application of 75% recommended dose of fertilizer+15 tonnes of pressmud compost ha-1 (T7) regarding yield and quality attributes, as well as available nutrients status of post harvest soil. However, these two treatments were comparable to each other.

Direct and residual effects of agro-industrial wastes on a rocket salad ( Eruca sativa Mill.) — Sorghum [ Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] sequence

A field study conducted for two years (2002–04) at New Delhi showed that the seed yield (1.80 t ha −1 ) of rocket salad ( Eruca sativa Mill.) obtained by applying 5 t ha −1 pressmud compost based on distillery effluent + half the recommended dose of NPKS (recommended dose: 60 kg N, 13 kg P, 25 kg K and 20 kg S ha −1 ) was on par with the seed yield (1.69 t ha −1 ) recorded with the recommended dose of NPKS. However, the seed yield recorded with the former treatment significantly exceeded that obtained with 5 t ha −1 of a 1:1 mixture of fly ash and distillery effluent + half the recommended dose of NPKS (by 30.4%) or 5 t ha −1 of dry Jatropha curcas leaves + ½ NPKS (by 24.1%). On average, distillery effluent-based pressmud compost + ½ NPKS induced a perceptible increase in the soil-available NPK, recorded after the harvest of rocket salad, compared to the initial fertility status. The uptake of NPKS in the seed and stover of rocket salad was the highest after the application of pressmud compost, closely followed by the recommended dose of NPKS, and the lowest in the control. The residual effect of treatments given to rocket salad was significant on the fodder yield of succeeding sorghum [ Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]. The fodder yield recorded with pressmud compost + ½ NPKS was significantly higher than the other treatments. The application of pressmud compost alone was also significantly superior to the same rate of fly ash + effluent mixture or dry Jatropha leaves with respect to the seed yield of rocket salad, residual fertility after the harvest of rocket salad and the fodder yield of succeeding sorghum.