EFFECT OF FORTIFIED MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE COMPOST ON GROWTH, YIELD AND QUALITY OF OKRA (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench)

Abstract

Municipal solid waste compost was collected from the Municipal Solid Waste Compost (MSWC) Plant located at Vellalore, Coimbatore district was fortified separately with Poultry Manure (PM) (10 %) and Single Super Phosphate (SSP) (50 kg tonne-1 of MSWC) to study its effect on growth, yield and quality of okra. The experiment conducted during November, 2014 with 12 treatments was laid out in randomized block design and replicated thrice. The experimental soil belongs to Irgur series (Typic Haplustalf), loamy sand in texture, non-calcareous, slightly alkaline in reaction with low available nitrogen, high available phosphorus and potassium. The soil is sufficient in iron (3.97 mg kg-1) and manganese (11.3 mg kg-1), deficient in zinc (0.93 mg kg-1) and copper (0.66 mg kg-1) and with traces of heavy
metals. The maximum plant height, number of leaves and leaf area at all the three stages viz., vegetative, flowering and at harvest were observed in the treatment 100 % Rec. NPK + FYM @ 25 t ha-1 (T2). Number of fruits per plant, fruit weight per plot and fruit yield per hectare were found highest with the application of 100 % Rec. NPK + FYM @ 25 t ha-1 (T2) ( 49.0, 259 kg plot-1 and 25.9 t ha-1, respectively) followed by 100 % Rec. NPK + Fortified Municipal Solid Waste Compost (FMSWC) with poultry manure 10 % (9:1) @ 5.0 t ha-1 (T8) (48.2, 240 kg plot-1 and 24.0 t ha-1).The fruit quality parameters viz., crude protein, crude fibre and ascorbic acid contents were improved by the application of 100 % Rec. NPK + FYM @ 25 t ha-1 (T2).