Effects of Organic and Inorganic Nutrient Sources on the Growth and Yield of Bottle Gourd

Producing nutritious food is the ultimate objective of organic farming, since it helps in improving soil formation, nitrogen fixation, nutrient recycling, erosion mitigation, and carbon sequestration. An experiment was conducted at Nalanda College of Horticulture, Noorsarai, Nalanda during summer season of 2017 and 2018 to assess the effect of integrated and sole applications of organic and inorganic fertilizers on the growth and yield of bottle gourd under onion-onion-bottle gourd crop sequence. The experiment consists of seven treatments viz.,T1-100%NPK through inorganic fertilizers (IFs) 120:60 and 40 Kg N:P2O5 and K2O); T2-50%NPK through IFs+50%N through farm yard manure (FYM); T3-50% N through FYM+50% N through vermicompost (VC); T4-1/3 of N each through FYM + VC + neem cake (NC); T5-50% N through FYM + PSB + azotobactor; T6-50% N through FYM+50% N through VC+PSB + azotobactor and T7-1/3 of N each through FYM + VC + NC +PSB + azotobactor. These seven treatments were replicated thrice in Randomized Block Design. Results revealed that T1-100%NPK through inorganic fertilizers recorded 222.3 q ha-1 fruit yield, which was statistically at par with T2 (192.3 q ha-1). T1 recorded maximum vine length followed by T2 T7 and T6. After completion of the cropping system; onion-onion-bottle gourd, soils were subjected to analysis. EC, pH and soil organic carbon (SOC) didn’t differ significantly. Available N, P and K also found non-significant due to different fertilizer and organic manure sources, but maximum available N was observed in 100% inorganic plots (T1) followed by integrated (T2) and 100 % organics (T6) . Maximum P and K were observed in T6. T1-100% IFs sources recorded highest gross return (1.56 Lakh), net return (1.16 Lakh) and B: C ratio (2.87) followed by T2. On the basis of result it has been concluded that T2 having 50 % NPK through inorganic fertilizer + 50 % N through FYM may found suitable for sustainable bottle gourd production as it performed at par with T1 in respect to crop growth and yield.