Enhancing dragon fruit (Hylocereus costaricensis) with vermicompost and biofertilizer: A study on physico-chemical improvements
687 / 140
Authors
RAVI PRATAP
Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh 200 8002, India
Keywords:
Biofertilizers, Vermicompost, Dragon fruit, Physical parameters biochemicalAbstract
An experiment was conducted during 2022 and 2023 at Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh to evaluate the impact of vermicompost and biofertilizers on the physical and chemical characteristics of dragon fruit, providing valuable insights into sustainable cultivation practices using 11 treatments, viz. T1, Control; T2, Vermicompost (0.5 kg/plant); T3, Azotobacter (50 g/plant); T4, Azospirillum (50 g/plant); T5, Phosphate solubilizing bacteria (50 g ); T6, Vermicompost (0.5 kg/plant) + Azotobacter (50 g/plant); T7, Vermicompost (0.5 kg/plant) + Azospirillum (50 g/plant); T8, Vermicompost (0.5 kg/plant) + Phosphate solubilizing bacteria (50 g/plant); T9, Vermicompost (0.5 kg/plant) + Azotobacter (50 g/plant) + Azospirillum (50 g/plant); T10, Vermicompost (0.5 kg/plant) + Azotobacter (50 g/plant) + Phosphate solubilizing bacteria (50 g/plant) and T11, Vermicompost (0.5 kg/plant) + Azospirillum (50 g/plant) + Phosphate solubilizing bacteria (50 g/plant). The experiment was laid out in randomized block design (RBD) with three replications. The significant differences in physico-chemical attributes of dragon fruit (Hylocereus costaricensis L.), were observed as influenced by vermicompost and biofertilizers application. The maximum length of fruit (8.96 cm), diameter (7.55 cm), weight (205.90 g), volume (162.33 cc), specific gravity (1.27), pulp weight (160.55 g) and peel weight (41.59 g), pulp: peel ratio (3.86), thickness of fruit pulp (6.84 cm), thickness of fruit peel (0.59 cm) and number of bracts/fruit (30.99) and in biochemical parameters, total soluble solids contents (14.80 °Brix), titratable acidity (0.39%), ascorbic acid content (9.42 mg/100 g), total sugars (9.40%), reducing sugar (5.23%) and non-reducing sugar (4.17%) were found elevated with the use of vermicompost (0.5 kg/plant) + Azospirillum (50 g/plant) + Phosphate solubilizing bacteria (50 g/plant).
Downloads
References
Anagha P, Prakasha D, Kulapati H, Mallikarjun A, Vijay M and Anand N. 2024. Improving seed germination and seedling growth of dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus) by PGRs. The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 94(2): 187–91.
AOAC. 1980. Official Methods of Analysis. 14th edn. Association of Official Agricultural Chemists. Washington D C, USA. AOAC. 2006. Official Methods of Analysis. 18th edn, Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Gaithersburgs, Maryland.
Awasthi V, Tripathi V K, Yashasvi, G N and Anushi. 2021. Impact of Azotobacter and vermicompost on growth, flowering, yield and quality traits of strawberry. Frontiers in Crop Improvement 9(3): 1046–50.
Bhadauria A S and Tripathi V K. 2023a. Effect of bio-enhancers and bio-fertilizers on growth and quality of mango cv. Amrapali under sub-tropical plains of central Uttar Pradesh, India. International Journal of Plant and Soil Science 35(19): 1260–67.
Bhadauria A S and Tripathi V K. 2023b. Fruit characteristics and yield of mango cv. Amrapali as influenced by bio-enhancers and bio-fertilizers. International Journal of Environment and Climate Change 13(10): 1973–81.
Chandel S R S. 1984. Principle of Experimental Design. A Handbook of Agricultural Statistics, pp. 36–43.
Dey S, Datta S, Alam M and Datta P. 2022. Impacts of vermicompost and different organic growing media on the morpho-physiological characteristics of dragon fruit (Hylocereus costaricensis L.) in new alluvial zone of West Bengal. The Pharma Innovation Journal 11(7): 315–18.
Kumar A and Tripathi V K. 2020. Effect of Azotobacter, PSB and vermicompost on growth, flowering, yield and quality of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) cv. Chandler. Progressive Horticulture 52(2): 157–61.
Kumar S, Asrey R. and Mandal G. 2007. Effect of differential irrigation regimes on potato (Solanum tuberosum) yield and post-harvest attributes. The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 77(6).
Mishra A N and Tripathi V K. 2011. Influence of different levels of Azotobacter, PSB alone and in combination on vegetative growth, flowering, yield and quality of strawberry cv. Chandler. International Journal of Applied Agricultural Research 6(3): 203–10.
Perween T and Hasan M A. 2019. Growth, yield and quality of dragon fruit as influenced by NPK fertilization. Indian Journal of Horticulture 76(1): 180–83.
Ranganna S. 1977. Ascorbic acid. Manual Analysis of Fruit and Vegetable Products, pp. 94–101.
Ranganna S. 1979. Manual of Analysis of Fruit and Vegetable Products. Tata Mc Graw Hill Publishing Company Ltd., New Delhi.
Rani A S, Subbulakshmi S, Sudha R, Kavitha K, Nazreen Hassan S H, Muthulakshmi M and Suresh S. 2024. Synergizing sustainability: Integrated nutrient management and intercropping for optimal coconut cultivation in South India. Horticulturae 10(6): 1–13.
Sahu A, Kishore K, Dash S N, Sahoo S C, Nayak R K and Barik S. 2022. Calcium nutrition influencing yield and fruit quality of dragon fruit. Indian Journal of Horticulture 79(3): 317–22.
Singh A and Tripathi V K. 2020a. Influence of integrated nutrient management on flowering, fruiting, yield and quality parameters
of papaya (Carica papaya L.). International Journal of Agriculture Sciences 12(18): 10194–97.
Singh A and Tripathi V K. 2020b. Influence of integrated nutrient management on growth, yield and quality parameters of papaya (Carica papaya L.). Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 9(5): 2022–26.
Srivastava A K, Wu Q S, Mousavi S M and Hota D. 2021. Integrated soil fertility management in fruit crops: An overview. International Journal of Fruit Science 21(1): 413–39.
Stephen J, Manoharan D and Radhakrishnan M. 2023. Immune boosting functional components of natural foods and its health benefits. Food Production, Processing and Nutrition 5(1): 1–25.
Tripathi V K, Jain A, Kumar S, Dubey V and Kumar A. 2017. Efficacy of bio-fertilizers and mulching on growth, yield and quality of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) cv. Chandler. The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 87(9): 1179–83.
Tripathi V K, Kumar S and Gupta A K. 2015. Influence of Azotobacter and vermicompost on growth, flowering, yield and quality of strawberry cv. Chandler. Indian Journal of Horticulture 72(2): 201–05.
Verma R S, Lata R, Ram R B, Kumar S, Verma S S and Prakash S. 2019. Effect of organic, inorganic and bio-fertilizers on physico-chemical attributes of dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus L.) under Lucknow conditions. Indian Journal of Pure Applied Biosciences 7(6): 67–70.
Vinod B R, Ramachandra N K, Kirankumar G, Deepa T and Patil S N. 2021. Physicochemical characteristics of microencapsulated red-fleshed dragon fruit juice powder through spray drying. Biological Forum-An International Journal 13(3): 86–94.
Wangchu L, Angami T, Jini D, Bam J, Singh R, Tasung A and Suryawanshi A. 2024. Natural farming: Scope and prospective in Arunachal Pradesh. ICAR (Research Complex) for NEH Region, Umiam, Meghalaya.
Yashasvi G N, Tripathi V K, Awasthi V and Anushi. 2021. Impact of PSB and vermicompost on growth, yield and quality of strawberry. Biological Forum-An International Journal 13(3a): 314–18.
Downloads
Submitted
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The copyright of the articles published in The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences is vested with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, which reserves the right to enter into any agreement with any organization in India or abroad, for reprography, photocopying, storage and dissemination of information. The Council has no objection to using the material, provided the information is not being utilized for commercial purposes and wherever the information is being used, proper credit is given to ICAR.
How to Cite
