Synergistic effects of FYM and Azotobacter on Brassicaceae growth and yield at different altitudes

Bio-organic farming plays a crucial role in ensuring environmental sustainability by fostering plant growth and yield, particularly in challenging abiotic stress conditions. The study aims to investigate the influence of farm yard manure (FYM) and Azotobacter, at varying altitudes, on the growth and yield performance of Brassicaceae vegetables, including cabbage, cauliflower and radish. The open-field study was carried out using a factorial experiment within a randomized block design. The first variable consisted of different treatments: T1 (FYM), T2 (Azotobacter), T3 (FYM + Azotobacter) and T4 (control). The second variable was the location factor (such as high-altitude (3340 m, Leh-Ladakh) and low altitude (321 m, Chandigarh), India. In general, the T3 treatment (FYM + Azotobacter) exhibited superior crop growth and yield attributes as compared to the control. At 90 days after transplanting (DAT) or 60 days after sowing (DAS), the T3 treatments demonstrated increased plant height, leaf length, leaf width, leaf area, plant spread, stem diameter, leaf chlorophyll content and leaf anthocyanin content at HA, whereas a higher number of leaves and greater radish plant height and leaf area were observed at LA. Further, T3 treatment of HA cultivated Brassicaceae vegetables demonstrated a higher yield, such as cabbage (494.75 ± 4.97 q/ha), cauliflower (259.05 ± 10.34 q/ha) and radish (390.64 ± 4.65 q/ha) than LA. Overall, this study concludes that bio-organic farming of sustainable Brassicaceae vegetable production at HA gets more yields as compared to LA cultivated samples.