Vol. 14 No. 3
Effect of biofertilizers and inorganic fertilizers on mango cv. Himsagar
Author(s): S. Kundu and J. Mishra
Abstract: An experiment was conducted to study the effect of different combinations of biofertilizers and inorganic fertilizers on 10 years old mango cv. Himsagar during 2012-14 at Horticulture Research Station of Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Nadia, West Bengal, India. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design with nine treatments and three replications. Ttreatments include 100% NPK (T1), 75% NPK + Azotobacter + PSB + K-mobilizer (T2), 75% NPK + Azospirillum + PSB + Kmobilizer (T3), 50% NPK + Azotobacter + PSB + K-mobilizer (T4), 50% NPK + Azospirillum + PSB + K-mobilizer (T5), 25% NPK + Azotobacter + PSB + K--mobilizer (T6), 25% NPK + Azospirillum + PSB + K-mobilizer (T7), Azotobacter + PSB + Kmobilizer (T8) and Azospirillum + PSB + K-mobilizer (T9). Combinations of inorganic and biofertilizers (T2 - T6) were effective in increasing soil microbial population, leaf and soil nutrient status, flowering shoots, yield and also in improving fruit quality as compared with control (100% NPK) or only biofertilizers (T8 and T9). Combinations of higher rates (75% or 50%) of inorganic fertilizer and biofertilizers (T2, T3, T4 and T5) were more effective in this regard. In contrast, population of nitrogen fixing bacteria was reduced with the addition of inorganic fertilizer. It may be concluded that the treatments 75% NPK + Azotobacter + PSB + K-mobilizer (T2) and 75% NPK + Azospirillum + PSB + K-mobilizer (T3) were most effective in all respect and can reduce the use of 25% inorganic fertilizer.