ORGANIC AMENDMENTS INFLUENCING GROWTH, HEAD YIELD AND NITROGEN USE EFFICIENCY IN CABBAGE (Brassica oleracea var. capitata L.)

Abstract

Cabbage is heavy feeder of nutrients and demands adequate nitrogen for biomass production. Amount of dry matter produced per unit of nitrogen applied or absorbed can be judged by estimating the nitrogen use efficiency of different nutrient sources used for cabbage cultivation. Field experiments were conducted at UBKV, Pundibari, West Bengal, India to access the influence of different nutrient source on growth, head yield and nitrogen use efficiency in cabbage. The experiment comprised of 15 different nutrients source combining inorganic fertilizers, organic manures (farmyard manure and vermicompost) and Azophos biofertilizers were laid out in RBD with 3 replications. Growth and head attributes of cabbage were significantly influenced by different nutrient combination and vermicompost emerged as better organic nutrient source over farmyard manure. Inoculation with biofertilizers exerted more positive result over uninoculated treatments. The nutrient schedule comprising of higher amount of vermicompost (5 t/ha) along with 75% of recommended inorganic fertilizers in presence of biofertilizes inoculation emerged as potential nutrient source and resulted in many fold improvement in the form of vigorous growth, advanced head maturity, maximum curding percent and highest head yield as compared other nutrient combination. The different parameters of nitrogen use efficiency (PFP, AE, PUE and AR) were markedly enhanced by the same nutrient combination.