Effect of biofertilizers and micronutrients on growth, leaf yield and quality of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) cv. Sadhana Y. Mounika, G. Thanuja Sivaram*, P. Syam Sundar Reddy and M. Ramaiah College of Horticulture, Dr. YSR Horticultural University, Anantharajupeta 516 105, YSR Dist. (A.P.), India *E-mail: th_09@rediffmail.com ABSTRACT A field experiment was conducted during rabi 2015-16 at Research Farm, College of Horticulture, Dr.Y.S.R. Horticultural University, Anantharajupeta (Andhra Pradesh), India, to study the effect of different biofertilizers and micronutrients on growth, leaf yield and quality of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) cv. Sadhana. The experiment was conducted in a factorial randomized block design with biofertilizers and micronutrients. The biofertilizer treatments were seed inoculation with Azospirillum, Phosphate Solubilising Bacteria (PSB), Azospirillum + Phosphate Solubilising Bacteria (PSB) and control (without any biofertilizer), while the micronutrient treatments comprised of foliar sprays of Zinc sulphate, Copper sulphate, Ferrous sulphate each at @ 0.5% and control (without any micronutrient). The sixteen treatment combinations were replicated thrice. Among the treatments, seed inoculation with Azospirillum + PSB+ foliar spray of zinc sulphate @ 0.5% recorded maximum plant height, number of primary branches, leaf area, fresh leaf yield per plant, leaf yield per plot, leaf yield per hectare, dry matter production, protein content, ascorbic acid content and moisture content. While, the lowest days to germination and leaf chlorophyll contents were recorded with the seed inoculation of Azospirillum + PSB + foliar spray of ferrous sulphate @ 0.5%. Key words: Coriander, growth, biofertilizers, micronutrients, quality, yield. J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 12(2) : 113-117, 2017 constraint in coriander production (Sarada et al., 2008). In recent years, biofertilizers have emerged as an important component of integrated nutrient supply system and have shown promise to improve crop yields a nd nutr ient supplies. Azotobacter, PSB a nd Azospirillum are the widely used biofertilizers, that significantly contribute N and P to plants besides providing tolerance to water stressed situations (Maheshwari et al. 1991). Kalidasu et al. 2008., reported that the beneficial effect of foliar application of micronutrients on crops may be due to the improved ability of the crop to absorb nutrients, photosynthesis and better sink source relationship as these play vital r ole in va r ious biochemica l pr ocesses. Since information regarding the use of biofertilizers and micronutrients suitable for rainfed vertisols of Andhra Pradesh is very meagre, the present field experiment was conducted to study the effect of biofertilizers and micronutrients on growth, leaf yield and quality of coriander. INTRODUCTION Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is a major seed spice of India, and is mainly cultivated in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, with a production of 52.4 million tonnes from 54.3 million hectares (NHB, 2013). Andhra Pradesh ranks second in production of coriander and ranks first among the Southern states of the country. The share of Andhra Pradesh is highest i.e. 26,000 metric tonnes from 21,800 hectares (NHB, 2015). Coriander is globally referred to as Cilantro or Chinese parsley, and is very popular around the world for the use in soups, salads, dressing of vegetables and seasoning purposes .Under Andhra Pradesh conditions, the crop has to survive under residual soil moisture thr oughout the cr opping per iod a nd genera lly experiences terminal moisture stress which results in poor yields, which has been identified as a major Original Research Paper 113 114 Mounika et al MATERIAL AND METHODS A field experiment was conducted during rabi 2015-16 at Research Farm, College of Horticulture, Dr. Y.S.R. Horticultural University, Anantharajupeta, Andhra Pradesh (India).The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design with sixteen tr ea tments, viz. , B1M 1-Seed inocula tion with Azospirillum+ foliar spray of ZnSO4 @ 0.5%, B1M2- Seed inoculation with Azospirillum + foliar spray of FeSO 4 @0. 5 %, B1M 3 -Seed inocula tion with Azospirillum+ foliar spray of CuSO4 @ 0.5%, B1M0- Seed inoculation with Azospirillum, B2M1- Seed inoculation with PSB + foliar spray of ZnSO4@ 0.5%, B2M2-Seed inoculation with PSB +foliar spray of FeSO4 @ 0.5%, B2M3-Seed inoculation with PSB +folia r spr a y of CuSO 4@ 0. 5%, B2M 0-Seed inoculation with PSB, B3M1-Seed inoculation with Azospirillum +PSB+foliar spray of ZnSO4@ 0.5%, B3M2-Seed inoculation with Azospirillum + PSB +foliar spray of FeSO4@ 0.5%,B3M3-Seed inoculation with Azospirillum+PSB+ foliar spray of CuSO4 @ 0.5%,B3M0-Seed inoculation with Azospirillum +PSB, B0M1- Foliar spray of ZnSO4 @ 0.5%, B0M2- Foliar spray of FeSO4 @ 0.5 %, B0M3-Foliar spray of CuSO4 @0.5%, B0M0-Control. Seeds were sown in 2 m × 2m plots with a spacing of 20 cm × 15 cm. The crop was fertilized with 10 t of FYM along with NPK @ 30: 40: 20 kg/ha as basal. Two third’s of the nitrogen was applied as top dressing in two equal splits i.e. at 20 and 40 DAS. Need based cultural and plant protection operations were taken up to the leaf harvest. Five plant samples from each replication were selected at random to record data on morphological, yield and quality attributing characters. The experimental data was analysed statistically as outlined by Panse and Sukhatme (1995). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Morphological characters Morphological characters such as plant height, number of primary branches per plant (Table 1), leaf area per plant (Table 2) showed significant variation with different biofer tilizers a nd micr onutr ient treatments. Among the biofertilizers, seed inoculation with Azospirillum + PSB recorded highest plant height at harvest (29.03 cm), number of primary branches at harvest (4.30) and leaf area (67.95cm2) at 45 days of leaf harvest. The days to germination (Table 1) of coriander seed was significantly influenced by seed treatment with biofertilizers. As the application of micronutrients was done post-emergence of the crop, the micronutrient effect and the interaction between biofertilizers and micronutrients application were found to be non-significant. The observed differences between the control and inoculated treatments could J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 12(2) : 113-117, 2017 Table 1. Effect of biofertilizers and micronutrients on the days to germination, plant height at harvest and number of primary branches at harvest of coriander cv. Sadhana. Days to germination Plant height (cm) at harvest Number of primary branches at harvest Biofertilizers Micronutrients B0 B1 B2 B3 Mean B0 B1 B2 B3 Mean B0 B1 B2 B3 Mean M0 8. 1 7. 2 7. 4 7. 8 7. 6 20 .2 24 .2 24 .8 26 .0 23 .8 2. 8 3. 5 2. 2 4. 2 3. 2 M1 7. 2 6. 6 7. 5 7. 4 7. 2 23 .0 27 .3 26 .4 36 .3 30 .8 3. 0 4. 2 3. 4 4. 4 3. 8 M2 7. 1 7. 6 7. 2 6. 4 7. 1 22 .4 27 .8 28 .0 32 .6 26 .2 3. 1 3. 9 3. 9 4. 2 3. 7 M3 8. 3 7. 4 7. 1 7. 4 7. 6 23 .1 26 .0 27 .6 31 .2 26 .0 3. 0 3. 6 3. 2 4. 3 3. 5 Mean 7. 7 7. 2 7. 3 7. 3 22 .2 27 .5 28 .0 29 .0 3. 0 3. 8 3. 2 4. 3 Source B M B×M B M B×M B M B×M S. E m ± 0. 13 0.13 0. 25 0. 17 0. 17 0. 34 0. 02 0. 02 0. 05 CD (P=0.05) 0. 37 NS NS 0. 49 0. 49 0. 99 0. 07 0. 07 0. 13 B0 : Control M0 : Control B1 : Seed inoculation with Azospirillum M1: Foliar spray of ZnSO4 @ 0.5% B2 : Seed inoculation with PSB M2: Foliar spray of FeSO4 @ 0.5% B3 : Seed inoculation with Azospirillum + PSB M3: Foliar spray of CuSO4 @ 0.5% 115 Effect of biofertilizers and micronutrients in coriander be attributed to the availability of atmospheric nitrogen and soil phosphorus as a result of microbial inoculation, have led to better root and shoot development, better uptake of water, nutrients and their transportation. The observed results were in accordance with Rahimi et al. (2009) in coriander and Mehta et al. (2012) in fenugreek. Among the different micronutrients, the foliar application of zinc sulphate @ 0.5 % (M1) recorded significantly higher plant height at harvest (30.81cm), number of primary branches at harvest (3.83) and leaf area (61.55 cm2) at 45 days of leaf harvest. This could be attributed to fact that zinc is an activator of enzymes, and is involved in protein synthesis besides having a direct effect on the enzymatic regulation in plants. The synthesis of tryptophan, the precursor of Indole Acetic Acid (IAA) in the presence of zinc, could be attributed to the improved plant growth as previously described by Ingle et al. (1993) in chilli and Chhibba et al. (2007) in fenugreek. The combination of Azospirillum + PSB + foliar spray of zinc sulphate @ 0.5% (B3M1), recorded significantly higher plant height at harvest (36.31cm), number of primary branches at harvest (4.40) and leaf area (75.65cm2) at 45 days of leaf harvest. Yield and yield attributes The yield and yield attributing characters, such as fresh leaf yield per plant, leaf yield per plot, leaf yield p er hec t a r e ( Table 3 ) a nd dr y ma t t er pr oduction (Table 2) a lso showed significa nt va riation among the different biofertilizer a nd micronutrient treatments. Among the biofertilizers, seed inoculation with Azospirillum + PSB recorded maximum leaf yield per plant (3.74g), leaf yield per plot (0.48 kg), leaf yield per hectare (1.22t) and dry matter production (0.97g per plant). The application of biofertilizers might have enhanced the availability of nutrients and the production of growth hormones by bacteria could have contributed to the increase in the length a nd breadth of leaves lea ding to increased leaf yield. Similar results were obtained by Singh et al. (2012) and Sonali et al. (2012) in fenugreek. Among different micronutrients, the foliar application of zinc sulphate @ 0.5 % (M1) recorded significantly higher leaf yield per plant (3.60g), leaf yield per plot (0.46kg), leaf yield per hectare (1.18t) and dry matter production (0.64g per plant). Similar results were observed by Chhibba et al. (2007) in fenugreek. I nt er a c t ion ef f ec t of b iof er t iliz er s a nd mic r onu t r i ent s on s eed inoc u l a t ion wit h Azospirillum + PSB + foliar spray of zinc sulphate @ 0.5% B3M1 recorded significantly maximum leaf yield per plant (3.94g), leaf yield per plot (0.50 kg), lea f yield per hecta r e (1. 30 t) a nd dr y ma tter production (0.78g per plant). J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 12(2) : 113-117, 2017 Table 2. Effect of biofertilizers and micronutrients on leaf area, dry matter production and moisture of coriander cv. Sadhana Leaf area (cm2) Dry matter production (g/plant) Moisture (%) Biofertilizers Micronutrients B0 B1 B2 B3 Mean B0 B1 B2 B3 Mean B0 B1 B2 B3 Mean M0 27.35 50.15 44.21 60.65 45.59 0. 46 0. 59 0. 50 0. 58 0. 53 82.28 85.65 86.00 86.25 85.04 M1 40.15 66.21 64.18 75.65 61.55 0. 53 0. 60 0. 63 0. 78 0. 64 85.21 85.28 84.65 90.15 86.32 M2 38.65 63.65 56.82 71.25 57.59 0. 50 0. 62 0. 62 0. 68 0. 61 83.65 84.56 82.65 88.19 84.76 M3 33.25 58.34 48.68 64.25 51.13 0. 48 0. 63 0. 64 0. 65 0. 60 84.34 83.85 84.65 88.65 85.37 ME AN 34.85 59.59 53.47 67.95 0. 49 0. 61 0. 60 0. 67 83.87 84.84 84.48 88.31 Source B M B×M B M B×M B M B×M S.E M ± 0. 35 0. 35 0. 69 0.003 0.003 0.008 0. 56 0. 56 1. 13 CD (P=0.05) 1. 00 1. 00 2. 00 0. 01 0. 01 0. 02 1. 63 1. 63 3. 26 B0 : Control M0 : Control B1 : Seed inoculation with Azospirillum M1: Foliar spray of ZnSO4 @ 0.5% B2 : Seed inoculation with PSB M2: Foliar spray of FeSO4 @ 0.5% B3 : Seed inoculation with Azospirillum + PSB M3: Foliar spray of CuSO4 @ 0.5% 116 Mounika et al J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 12(2) : 113-117, 2017 Table 3. Effect of biofertilizers and micronutrients on leaf yield per plant, leaf yield per plot and leaf yield per hectare of coriander cv. Sadhana. Leaf yield per plant (g) Leaf yield per plot (kg) Leaf yield per hectare (t/ha) Biofertilizers Micronutrients B0 B1 B2 B3 Mean B0 B1 B2 B3 Mean B0 B1 B2 B3 Mean M0 2. 8 3. 1 3. 0 3. 4 3. 1 0. 3 0. 4 0. 4 0. 4 0. 40 0. 9 1. 0 1. 0 1. 1 1. 0 M1 3. 2 3. 6 3. 5 3. 9 3. 6 0. 4 0. 4 0. 4 0. 5 0. 46 1. 0 1. 2 1. 1 1. 3 1. 1 M2 3. 0 3. 2 3. 3 3. 8 3. 3 0. 4 0. 4 0. 4 0. 4 0. 44 0. 9 1. 1 1. 1 1. 2 1. 1 M3 2. 9 3. 2 3. 2 3. 7 3. 3 0. 3 0. 4 0. 4 0. 4 0. 42 0. 9 1. 0 1. 0 1. 2 1. 0 Mean 3. 0 3. 3 3. 3 3. 7 0. 4 0. 4 0. 4 0. 4 0. 9 1. 1 1. 0 1. 2 Source B M B×M B M B×M B M B×M S. E m ± 0. 02 0. 02 0. 04 0. 01 0. 01 0. 02 0. 01 0. 01 0. 02 CD (P=0.05) 0. 06 0. 06 0. 12 0. 03 0. 03 0. 09 0. 02 0. 02 0. 04 B0 : Control M0 : Control B1 : Seed inoculation with Azospirillum M1: Foliar spray of ZnSO4 @ 0.5% B2 : Seed inoculation with PSB M2: Foliar spray of FeSO4 @ 0.5% B3 : Seed inoculation with Azospirillum + PSB M3: Foliar spray of CuSO4 @ 0.5% Table 4. Effect of biofertilizers and micronutrients on ascorbic acid, total chlorophyll and protein content of coriander cv. Sadhana Ascorbic acid (mg/100 g) Total Chlorophyll (mg/100 g) Proteins (%) Biofertilizers Micronutrients B0 B1 B2 B3 Mean B0 B1 B2 B3 Mean B0 B1 B2 B3 Mean M0 115.3 129.6 125.0 134.2 126.0 1. 0 1. 1 1. 1 1. 2 1. 1 2. 8 3. 3 3. 4 3. 5 3. 3 M1 123.6 140.8 139.6 146.6 137.7 1. 1 1. 2 1. 2 1. 3 1. 2 3. 3 3. 6 3. 6 3. 8 3. 6 M2 119.2 136.2 135.2 142.2 133.2 1. 1 1. 2 1. 2 1. 4 1. 2 3. 2 3. 5 3. 5 3. 7 3. 5 M3 117.7 134.8 128.4 138.6 129.9 1. 0 1. 2 1. 1 1. 3 1. 2 3. 1 3. 6 3. 4 3. 7 3. 5 Mean 119.0 135.3 132.1 140.4 1. 1 1. 2 1. 2 1. 3 3. 1 3. 5 3. 5 3. 7 Source B M B×M B M B×M B M B×M S. E m ± 0. 85 0. 85 1. 70 0. 01 0. 01 0. 02 0. 02 0. 02 0. 04 CD (P=0.05) 2. 45 2. 45 4. 90 0. 02 0. 02 0. 05 0. 06 0. 06 0. 13 B0 : Control M0 : Control B1 : Seed inoculation with Azospirillum M1: Foliar spray of ZnSO4 @ 0.5% B2 : Seed inoculation with PSB M2: Foliar spray of FeSO4 @ 0.5% B3 : Seed inoculation with Azospirillum + PSB M3: Foliar spray of CuSO4 @ 0.5% Quality characters With regards to quality characters, viz., moisture content (Table 2), ascorbic acid content, protein content and chlorophyll content (Table 4) were significantly affected by different biofertilizers and micr onutrients. Among the biofer tilizer s, seed inocula tion with Azospirillum + PSB r ecorded maximum moisture content (88.31%), ascorbic acid content (140.47 mg100g-1), protein (3.72%) and chlorophyll contents (1.33mg 100g-1). Similar results were observed by Singh (2015) in coriander. Among the different micronutrients, foliar application of zinc sulphate @ 0.5 % (M1) recorded significantly higher moisture content (86.32%), ascorbic acid content (137.32mg100g-1) and protein content (3.63%).While, chlorophyll content in leaf was maximum (1.27 mg100g-1) with foliar application of ferrous sulphate @ 0.5 % (M2). These results are in 117 Effect of biofertilizers and micronutrients in coriander J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 12(2) : 113-117, 2017 line with the earlier findings of Rajamanickam et al. (2011) in mint. The interaction effect of biofertilizers and micronutrients on seed inoculation with Azospirillum + PSB + foliar spray of zinc sulphate @ 0.5% B3M1 recorded significantly higher moisture content (90.15%), ascorbic acid content (146.68mg100g-1) and protein content (3.80%).While, chlorophyll content in lea f was maximum (1. 40 mg100g-1) with seed inoculation of Azospirillum + PSB + foliar spray of ferrous sulphate @ 0.5%. 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Effect of different biofertilizers on growth, yield and quality of fenugreek. Asian J .Hort..7 (1):28-30. (MS Received 28 August 2016, Revised 24 March 2017, Accepted 25 October 2017)