TITLE:
Comparative Study of Various Organic Fertilizers Effect on Growth and Yield of Two Economically Important Crops, Potato and Pea
AUTHORS:
Aisha Wazir, Zishan Gul, Manzoor Hussain
KEYWORDS:
Organic Fertilizers, Potato, Pea, Egg Shell, Banana Peel, Used Tea Waste
JOURNAL NAME:
Agricultural Sciences,
Vol.9 No.6,
June
25,
2018
ABSTRACT: In the present experiment, the effect of various house hold wastes i.e. T1 (egg shell powder), T2 (wood ash), T3 (banana peel), T4 (used tea waste), T5 (egg shell tea) and T6 (control) used as organic fertilizers on growth and yield of two important vegetables i.e. potato and pea was investigated. Among all the treatments, the minimum average number of days to germination was observed in T3 in both potato and pea. The overall growth and development of potato and pea plants increased and the average plant height after 30, 60 and 90 days was greater in plants of treatment T1 (egg shell powder). In case of potato, the highest mean plant height (14.75 cm) was observed in treatment T1, followed by T3 and T4 (10.62 cm and 9.87 cm) respectively after 90 days of the emergence. T1 treatment increases the no. of leaves, no. of nodes, no. of branches and leaf area. Regarding tuber yield, the tubers were classified as large (>30 grams), medium (15 - 30 grams) and small (0.4 - 15 grams). T1 treatment produced greater average number of large size tubers (2.25) per plant, followed by T3 (1.25); however, the medium and small tubers followed comparable trends with differences among treatments. The average tuber yield (per potato plant) in treatment T1 was higher (113.78 g). In case of pea, T4 treatment (used tea waste) showed the highest mean plant height (82.25 cm). The treatment T1 (eggshell powder), T3 (banana peel) and T4 (used tea waste) showed positive effect on average pod yield (64.82 g, 66.67 g and 114.35 g) respectively. Number of grains per pod and pod size has been found higher in case of treatment T4. It has been concluded that among the different organic treatments, eggshell powder, banana peel and used tea waste were found best as organic fertilizer source for the two vegetables i.e. potato and pea.