Effect of the Combined Nutrient Fertilization on Elephant Foot Yam under Coastal Condition

Abstract

As the demand for chemical fertilizers has seen a steep upward trend which has resulted in damage of soil as well as human health. Integrated use of chemical fertilizers along with organic manures has been seen as a alternative method to reduce the dependence upon chemical fertilizers. Hence a the field experiment was carried out to study the effect of intergrated nutrient management practices on available nitrogen, phosphorus, potash in soil along with uptake and economics of elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeonifolius (Dennst.) Nicolsan) cv. Gajendra. The study was laid out in randomized block design with thirteen  treatments with three replications. Corms were cut into pieces weighing 800 g for planting, dipped in cow dung slurry and placed for drying. After drying, they are placed in the  pits and covered with soil. The treatments comprised of three levels of Farmyard manure (FYM) (20 t ha-1), Vermicompost (5 t ha-1), consortium bio fertilizer (5 Kg ha-1) and organic manures of different combinations. The observations of soil properties were recorded before and after harvesting. From the study it was observed that soil organic content was increased significantly due to the application of organic manures along with biofertilizers, whereas soil physical and chemical properties were unaffected.