C O N T E N T S JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURAL SCIENCES Volume 16 Issue 1 June 2021 In this Issue i-ii Review Moringa (Moringa oleifera L.): An underutilized and traditionally valued 1-13 tree holding remarkable potential Jattan M., Kumari N., Raj Kumar, Kumar A., Rani B., Phogat D.S., Kumar, S. and Kumar, P. Original Research in Papers Characterization and evaluation of mountain sweet thorn 14-25 (Flacourtia montana J. Grah) collections Tripathi P.C., Ganeshan S., Radhika V. and Shetti D.L. Optimization of methodology for the extraction of polyphenolic compounds 26-35 with antioxidant potential and á-glucosidase inhibitory activity from jamun (Syzygium cumini L.) seeds Arivalagan M., Priyanka D.R. and Rekha A. Genetic variability studies in amaranthus (Amaranthus spp.) 36-44 Agadi A.H., Kolakar S., Lakshmana D., Nadukeri S. and Hanumanthappa M. Morpho-physiological parameters associated with chlorosis resistance to 45-52 iron deficiency and their effect on yield and related attributes in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Challam C., Dutt S., Sharma J., Raveendran M. and Sudhakar D. Responses of different Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) cultivars to water 53-63 deficit conditions Ayub Q., Khan S.M., Hussain I., Naveed K., Ali S., Mehmood A., Khan M.J., Haq N.U., Shehzad Q. Induced variability for yield and its attributing traits in cluster bean 64-68 [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L. ) Taub] through gamma irradiation Lavanya H.N., Mishra S., Sood M., Aghora T.S., Anjanappa M., Rao V.K. and Reddy A.B. In vitro multiplication protocol for Curcuma mangga : Studies on carbon, 69-76 cytokinin source and explant size Waman A.A., Bohra P., Karthika Devi R. and Pixy J. Effect of fungicide and essential oils amended wax coating on quality and shelf life 77-90 of sweet orange (Citrus sinensis Osbeck) Bhandari M., Bhandari N. and Dhital M. Post-harvest quality and quantification of betalains, phenolic compounds and 91-102 antioxidant activity in fruits of three cultivars of prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica L. Mill) Gonzalez F.P.H., Saucedo V.C., Guerra R.D., Suarez E.J., Soto H.R.M. Lopez J.A., Garcia C.E. and Hernandez R.G. Soil microbial community dynamics as influenced by integrated nutrient 103-113 management practices in sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) cultivation Baraa AL-Mansour and D. Kalaivanan Effect of spectral manipulation and seasonal variations on cut foliage production 114-120 and quality of Philodendron (Philodendron ‘Xanadu’) Sujatha A. Nair, Laxman R.H. and Sangama Short Communications Studies on mutagenic sensitivity of seeds of pummelo (Citrus maxima Merr.) 121-124 Sankaran M., Kalaivanan D. and Sunil Gowda D.C. Isolation and characterization of microsatellite markers from 125-129 Garcinia indica and cross species amplification Ravishankar K.V., Vasudeva R., Hemanth B., Nischita P., Sthapit B.R., Parthasarathy V.A. and Rao V.R. 103 J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 16(1) : 103-113, 2021 Original Research Paper Soil microbial community dynamics as influenced by integrated nutrient management practices in sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) cultivation Baraa AL-Mansour*1 and Kalaivanan D.2 1Ministry of Agriculture, Directory of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, Lattakia, Syria 2Division of Natural Resource Management, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru *Corresponding author e-mail : baraaalmansour@yahoo.com. ABSTRACT An experiment was conducted to study the effect of integrated nutrient management practices on the microbial community dynamics of soils under sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) at ICAR - Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru during Kharif season of 2015 and 2016. There were nine treatments replicated thrice in randomized complete block design. The results indicated that integrated application of FYM (10 t/ha) + 100% recommended N through FYM + bio-fertilizer i.e., T2 recorded the highest population of heterotrophic free-living N2 fixers (40.66 and 63.33 CFU ×10 3/ g), phosphate solubilizing bacteria (5.6 and 6.6 CFU ×103/ g) and fungal (6.4 and 5.33 CFU ×103/ g) while T9 with application of NPK (160:80:80 kg /ha) + FYM (10 t/ha) recorded the highest population of actinomycetes (29.93 and 44.56 CFU ×103/ g) in soil during 2015 and 2016, respectively. Application of recommended dose of FYM (10 t/ha) in T7 resulted in reduction in population of heterotrophic free-living N2 fixers (26.13 and 34 CFU ×10 3/ g) and actinomycetes (20 and 30.5 CFU ×103/ g) whereas, the application of recommended dose of chemical fertilizer in T8 recorded the lowest population of phosphate solubilizing bacteria (3.9 CFU ×10 3/ g) and fungal (3.6 and 2.5 CFU ×103/ g) during 2015 and 2016, respectively. Highest organic carbon (0.63 and 0.66 %) content in the post-harvest soil samples was recorded with application of NPK (160:80:80 kg /ha) + FYM (10 t/ha) while, the lowest organic carbon value (0.52 and 0.53%) was recorded in T8 during 2015 and 2016, respectively. Application of recommended FYM (10 t/ha) along with recommended NPK (160:80:80 kg/ha) in T9 recorded maximum herbage yield in the main crop (41.59 and 38.31 t/ha) and ratoon (20.97 and 17.77 t/ha) during 2015 and 2016, respectively. The results obtained from this study clearly demonstrated that integrated nutrient management can maximize soil microbial community dynamics which is considered as driving force behind regulating soil processes that support sustainable sweet basil cultivation. Keywords : Chemical fertilizers, Bio-fertilizer, Farm yard manure, Soil microbial community and Sweet basil. INTRODUCTION Soil biota refers to the organisms both animals (fauna/ micr o-fauna) and plants (flora /microflora) that determines overall quality, fertility and stability of the soils. Further, the process of soil formation, structural stabilization, nutrient cycling is largely regulated by these soil organisms. Hence, they are most important in achieving the soil sustainability. The fact is that soil contains a vast number and wide range of organisms which are important in the myriad of biochemical reactions and intricate biological processes that take place within the soil (Bajracharya, 2011). Koopmans and Smeding (2008) state that learning how to manage beneficial soil biological processes as the key step towards developing sustainable agricultural systems. Maintenance of soil fertility reflects positively on the crop yield (Mbonigaba, 2007). This can be achieved by practicing integrated nutrient management including application of organic manures that results in a general improvement in the soil organic matter (SOM) which r epr esents the ma in r eser voir of ener gy for This is an open access article d istributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommer cial-ShareAl ike 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, d istribution, and reproduction in any med ium, provide d the original author and source are credited. 104 AL-Mansour and Kalaivanan J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 16(1) : 103-113, 2021 microorganisms and nutrients supply for plants (AL- mansour et al., 2019). Microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi and other micro fauna representatives are responsible for the energy and nutrients cycling (Bot and Benites, 2005). So it represents important component in the evaluation of soil quality and can be used as biological indicators for production systems (Fr a nchini, 2007) a nd it ha s str ong correlation with the soil organic matter, which in turn reflects in crop yield (Gundale, 2005). Increase in the microbial population have been linked to increase in soil carbon and ecological buffering capacity and in response to organic management, as well as various organic amendments application such as livestock manure (Ling et al., 2014). A 19-year long-term experiment conducted to evaluate the effects of fertilization regimes on soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics indicated that the SOC content in the top 20cm soil layer remained unchanged over time under the unfertilized control plot whereas it significantly increased under both organic, bio and NPK fertilizers and combined manure treatments (Yang et al., 2011). Regular/recommended application of organic manures such a s FYM that incr ease soil a ggr egation is therefore vital because most soils rely on aggregation of particles to maintain favorable conditions for soil microbial and faunal activity, plant growth and yield (Yu et al., 2012). An experiment was conducted to study the effect of FYM, bio-fertilizers, mineral NPK fertilization on vegetative growth, oil production and chemical composition of basil plant. The results obta ined by (Zeina b, 2005) indica ted that the application of FYM at high level (25t/ha) significantly increased the studied parameters compared with other fertilization including the control. The interaction between the main-plots (FYM treatments) and sub- plots (bio, and NPK treatments) had significant effect on the yield parameters. The rise in agricultural systems studies concerning soil quality and microbial properties are a reflection of the importance of soil to the understanding of agricultural sustainability. How management practices impact the soil is fundamental in evaluating the sustainability of an agricultural system. More than just a substrate for suppor ting root structur e, the soil ha s its own complexes ecosystem in which microorganisms are the dominant form of life and are responsible for performing functions vital to soil productivity. Sweet ba sil (Ocimum basilicum L.) belonging to the Lamiaceae fa mily, cultiva ted around the world (Baritaux et al., 1992) is considered as an important source for food and medicine (Palada et al., 2002). However, the studies on integr a ted nutr ient management in basil are meager. Hence, the study was conducted with different combination of inorganic fertilizers, organic manure (FYM) and bio- fertilizer to find out their effect on dynamics of soil microbial population and organic carbon in sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) cultivation. MATERIAL AND METHODS Experimental location and treatment details Field experiments were conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications in an exper imental field of ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bangalore during the kharif season of 2015 and 2016. The experimental station is situated at an altitude of 890 m above mean sea level and 13o58" North latitude and 77o29" East longitudes. The nine treatments of the experiment consisted of different combinations of organic manure (FYM), bio-fertilizers and chemical fertilizers (NPK) : T1- (FYM (10 t/ha) +100% recommended N through FYM), T2 - (FYM (10 t/ha) + 100% recommended N through FYM + Arka Microbial Consortium @ 5 kg/acre), T3 - (FYM (10 t/ha) + 75% recommended N through FYM), T 4 - (FYM (10 t/ha) + 75% recommended N through FYM + Arka Microbial Consortium @ 5 kg/acre), T5 - (FYM (10 t/ha) + 50% recommended N through FYM), T6 - (FYM (10 t/ha) + 50% recommended N through FYM + Arka Micr obia l Consor tium @ 5 kg/a cr e), T 7 - (r ecommended FYM (10 t/ha ) only), T 8 - (recommended NPK(160:80:80 kg/ha) only), and T9 - (recommended FYM (10 t/ha) + recommended NPK (160:80:80 kg/ha). Estimated N content of FYM used in this experiment was 0.64%. Arka Microbial Consortium (AMC) is a carrier-based product which contains N Fixing, P & Zn solubilizing and plant growth promoting microbes as a single formulation. After 15 days of transplanting, recommended dose of AMC @ 5 kg/acre was applied at 2 cm deep to individual plants in treatments T2, T4, T6 and immediately covered by soil. Similar method of application was followed for ratoon crop after harvest of main crop. Land preparation The land was brought to a fine tilth by ploughing and harrowing. The experimental site was divided 105 Soil microbes and integrated nutrient management in sweet basil into plots having dimensions of 4.8 m long and 4.0 m wide with the spacing of 40 cm between the plants and 60 cm between the rows. There was a space of 0.5 meter between plots and 0.5 meter between replications. Basil seeds were sown in two nursery beds of 6.0 m in length with 0.1 m in width and 10 cm height. Forty days old (40 days) healthy and uniformly rooted seedlings of sweet basil were t r a ns pla nted to t he f ield. Weeding wa s done manually and drip irrigation was given daily for half an hour during the early stages of the crop and subsequently irrigation was given depending on the soil moisture condition. Estimating the fresh herbage yield Five plants were randomly selected from each plot for recording the observations and the crop was harvested at full bloom stage before setting the seed. Fresh herbage harvested from each plot was weighed a n d c onver t ed t o p er h ec t a r e a nd expressed in tonnes (t). Microbial population of the soil Microbial population of the soil under different treatments was enumerated by standard plate count t ec hnique. Tota l b a ct er ia l c ount in s oil wa s determined by serial dilution method. For the study, initia l soil sa mples pr ior t o t he s t a r t of the experiment and after harvest were collected from the surface layer (0-15 cm) according to different treatments with three replications. Exactly 5 gm of soil sample was taken into 50 ml of sterile distilled water and shaken for 15 minutes. A series of 9 fold dilutions were prepared and 0.1 ml of each dilution was spread on media plates. To enumerate fungal, azotobacter, phosphate solubilising bacteria and actinomycetes population, potato dextrose agar (PDA), Jensen’s media , Pikovska ya Aga r a nd Kenknight media were used, respectively. After 3- 5 days of incubation microbial population was counted following the spread plate technique and expressed as CFU ×103/ g of soil. Organic carbon estimation (% ) T he or ga nic c a r b on c ont ent of t he s oil wa s estimated by Walkley and Bla ck wet oxidation method as described by Jackson (1973). Statistical Analysis T he data gener a ted fr om the exper iment wer e analyzed using SAS 9.3 version of the statistical package (SAS Institute Inc, 2011). Analysis of var ia nce (ANOVA) wa s per for med using SAS PROC ANOVA procedure. Means were separated using Fisher ’s protected least significant difference (LSD) test at a probability level of p<0.01 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Populat io n o f he te r ot ro phic fr ee - liv ing N 2 fixers The data in Table 1 indicated significant difference among the treatments with respect to population of heterotrophic free-living N2 fixers (CFU ×10 3/g of soil). While, maximum population of the colonies in the soil after cropping (40.66 and 63.33 CFU ×103/ g) was recorded in T 2 with application of FYM (10 t/ha) +100% recommended N through FYM + Arka Microbial Consortium @ 5kg/acre during 2015 and 2016, respectively. Whereas, the treatment i.e. T7 recorded the lowest counts (26.13 and 34 CFU ×103/ g) during first and second year, r espectively. T he a ddition of orga nic ma nur e greatly influences the microbial populations which expected to cause changes in the organic matter content of soil that directly influenced microbial dyna mic s of s oil ( D ef or es t e t a l . , 2 0 1 2 ) . Application of bio-fertilizer stimulates the native s oil mic r o or ga nis ms a nd r ea c t iva t es t he biogeochemical cycles leading to increase in the organic material that significantly increases the bacterial populations. The results are on line with Watts et al., (2010), Krishnakumar et al. (2005) and Lalfakzuala et al., (2008). Population of phosphate solubilizing bacteria The data on the population of phosphate solubilizing bacteria (CFU ×103/ g of soil) after cropping given in Table 1 indicated that there was no significant difference between the treatments during first year (2015). The application of FYM (10 t/ha) + 100% recommended N through FYM + Arka Microbial Consor tiu m @ 5kg/a cr e i. e. , T 2 r ecor ded t he highest population of PSB (5.6 CFU ×103/ g) while, the lowest PSB (3 CFU ×103/ g) was recorded in T8. However, there were significant differences among the treatments in respect to population of J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 16(1) : 103-113, 2021 106 phosphate solubilizing bacteria in the soil after cropping was observed during second year (2016). Similar to first year, application of FYM (10 t/ha) + 100% recommended N through FYM + Arka Microbial Consortium @ 5kg/acre recorded the highest population of PSB (6.6 CFU ×103/ g) in soil while, the application of recommended dose of chemical fertilizer recorded the lowest population of PSB (3.9 CFU ×103/ g). G r owth of P solub ilizing mic r oor ga nisms is generally accompanied by decrease in pH of the soil ( Mishr a , 19 85). Reduct ion in pH due to application of FYM along with bio-fertilizer is a result of the production of organic acids which include citric, gluconic, fumaric, malic, oxalic, lactic, 2- ketogluconic, malonic acids etc. (Vassilev, 1996). Although chemical fertilization has resulted in increases in crop yield, this application was not sufficient in triggering a significant improvement in the soil microbial properties. Similar results were obtained by Wang et al., (2011). The addition of fertilizers enriched the soil microbial biomass and soil enzymes by enha ncing t he soil phys ic o- chemic a l p r oper ties a nd s oil orga nic ma t ter, especially thr ough the a ddition of FYM. Root exudates augmented the soil microbes in general by the crop growth and that could expla in the inc r ea s e of s oil p op u la t ion a t h a r ves t t ime comparing with the initial soil. Population of fungi Fungal population in the soil after cropping in two years of the experiment was affected significantly by the treatments involving different levels of organic manure with and without bio-fertilizers and inor ga nic f er tiliz er s . As s howed in Table 2 application of FYM (10 t/ha) +100% recommended N through FYM + Arka Microbial Consortium @ 5 kg/ a c r e (T 2) r ecor ded t he ma x imum fu nga l population (6.4 and 5.33 CFU ×103/ g) in the soil while, the application of recommended dose of chemical fertilizer (T8) recorded the lowest fungal population (3.6 and 2.5 CFU ×103/ g) in the soil after cropping in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Microbial population size and community structure are sensitive to changes in chemical properties of the surrounding soil (Pansomba t et al., 1997). F u ngi c ons t it u t e a n es s ent ia l c omp onent of biologica l c ha r a cter istic s in soil ecos ystems. Organic carbon level in the soil and precipitation play pivotal role in fungal growth and sporulation. Greater microbial populations in FYM treated plots along with bio-fertilizer as compared to chemically amended plots due to enhancing the organic carbon in the soil. Similar kind of results was reported by Venka t es wa r lu a nd S r iniva s a R a o, ( 2 0 0 0 ) . Application of farm yard manure can be viewed a s a n exc ellent wa y to r ecycle nutr ients a nd provide a steady source of organic C to support the microbial community resulting in higher fungal populations compared to NPK- treated plots. Lower fungal population in soil with application of chemical fertilizers alone is attributed to lack of organic amendment input. The microbial population dynamics is governed by interactions between plant type, climate, and management practice. So that, the low tempera ture that pr eva iled in the fir st season could have influenced the proliferation of fungi, which require low temperature for their gr owt h; S ong e t a l . ( 2 0 0 7 ) ind ic a t ed t ha t difference in the establishment of field leads to alteration of microbial communities. Population of actinomycetes The data in Table 2 on actinomycetes population of the soil after cropping (CFU ×103/ g of soil) indic a ted s ignifica nt dif fer enc es bet ween t he t r ea t ment s . T he highes t p op u la t ion of actinomycetes (29.93 and 44.56 CFU ×103/ g of soil) wa s r ecor ded in T 9 with a pplica tion of recommended NPK (160:80:80 kg/ha) + FYM (10 t/ha) during 2015 and 2016, respectively, while application of recommended dose of FYM (10 t/ ha) in T7 resulted in minimum population (20 and and 30.5 CFU ×103/ g of soil) during 2015 and 2016, respectively. Ac t inomyc e t es a r e one of t he p r edomina nt members of soil microbial communities and they have beneficial roles in soil nutrients cycling and agricultural productivity (Elliot and Lynch, 1995). O r ga nic ma t t er, s a linit y, r ela t iv e mois t u r e, temper ature, pH a nd vegetation a r e impor tant factors which control abundance of actinomycetes in soil (Mcarthy and Williams, 1992). The density of actinomycetes is opposite to the hydrogen ion concentra tion, that could justify increasing its population with application of NPK along with AL-Mansour and Kalaivanan J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 16(1) : 103-113, 2021 107 Ta bl e 1: H et er ot ro ph ic f re e- liv in g N 2 fix er s an d ph os ph at e so lu bi liz in g ba ct er ia p op ul at io n (C FU × 10 3 / g of s oi l) as i nf lu en ce d by d iff er en t le ve ls o f N t hr ou gh F Y M , bi o- fe rt ili ze rs a nd i no rg an ic f er ti liz er So il m ic ro bi al p op ul at io n Tr ea tm en ts H et er ot ro ph ic fr ee li vi ng ph os ph at e so lu bi liz in g N 2 f ix er ba ct er ia T1 FY M (1 0 t/h a) + 10 0% R ec . N th ro ug h FY M 34 .9 6A B C 41 C 4 5. 48 A B C T2 FY M (1 0 t/h a) + 10 0% R ec . N th ro ug h FY M + B F 40 .6 6A 63 .3 3A 5. 6 6. 6A T3 FY M (1 0 t/h a) + 75 % R ec . N th ro ug h FY M 31 .8 3B C D 36 .8 3C 3. 6 4. 8B C D T4 FY M (1 0 t/h a) + 75 % R ec . N th ro ug h FY M + B F 36 .4 2A B C 54 .5 B 4. 5 5. 6 A B T5 FY M (1 0 t/h a) + 50 % R ec . N th ro ug h FY M 29 .5 C D 39 .4 C 3. 3 4. 08 C D T6 FY M (1 0 t/h a) + 50 % R ec . N th ro ug h FY M +B F 34 A B C 40 C 4 4. 9B C D T7 R ec . F Y M ( 10 t/ ha ) o nl y 26 .1 3D 34 C 3. 7 4. 06 C D T8 R ec .N PK (1 60 :8 0: 80 K g /h a) 36 .2 6A B 35 C 3 3. 9D T9 R ec . N PK (1 60 :8 0: 80 K g /h a) + R ec . F Y M (1 0 t/h a) 39 A 55 B 4. 5 5. 32 A B C G en er al M ea n 34 .2 6 44 .6 7 4. 04 4. 99 CV % 10 .9 9 10 .3 3 26 .5 4 17 .0 7 LS D a t 5 % 6. 52 7. 99 N S 1. 47 Soil microbes and integrated nutrient management in sweet basil J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 16(1) : 103-113, 2021 108 Ta bl e 2: F un ga l a nd A ct in om yc et ye s po pu la tio n (C FU × 10 3 / g of s oi l) as i nf lu en ce d by d iff er en t le ve ls o f N t hr ou gh F Y M , bi o- fe rt ili ze rs an d in or ga ni c fe rt ili ze r So il m ic ro bi al p op ul at io n Tr ea tm en ts Fu ng al A ct in om yc et ye s A fte r th e ex pe ri m en t 20 15 20 16 20 15 20 16 T1 FY M (1 0 t/h a) + 10 0% R ec . N th ro ug h FY M 6. 26 A B 5. 16 A B 24 .3 3 34 .0 0 A B T2 FY M (1 0 t/h a) + 10 0% R ec . N th ro ug h FY M + A M C (5 kg /a c) 6. 4A 5. 33 A 26 .6 7 36 .3 3 A B T3 FY M (1 0 t/h a) + 75 % R ec . N th ro ug h FY M 4. 1C D 3C D 22 .6 7 31 .6 7B T4 FY M (1 0 t/h a) + 75 % R ec . N th ro ug h FY M + A M C ( 5k g/ ac ) 4. 7 C D 3. 65 C D 25 .8 5 35 .0 7 A B T5 FY M (1 0 t/h a) + 50 % R ec . N th ro ug h FY M 4. 3C D 3C D 21 .6 7 30 .6 7B T6 FY M (1 0 t/h a) + 50 % R ec . N th ro ug h FY M + A M C (5 kg /a c) 5. 3B C 4B C 24 .6 7 32 .5 0B T7 R ec . F Y M ( 10 t/ ha ) o nl y 3. 7D 2. 66 D 20 .0 0 30 .5 0B T8 R ec .N PK (1 60 :8 0: 80 k g /h a) 3. 6D 2. 5D 28 .3 3 41 .8 3 A B T9 R ec . N PK (1 60 :8 0: 80 k g /h a) + R ec . F Y M (1 0 t/h a) 5. 1B C 4B C 29 .9 3 44 .5 6 A G en er al M ea n 4. 80 3. 70 24 .3 3 35 .2 4 CV % 1. 26 1. 26 16 .7 4 12 .5 LS D a t 5 % 15 .2 0 19 .7 2 N S 7. 47 AL-Mansour and Kalaivanan J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 16(1) : 103-113, 2021 109 FYM (Alexa nder, 1977) While, increasing the colony’s in the second season comparing to first one due to a relatively low level of moisture, this property of actinomycetes might be due to their sporulation capability under stress conditions (El- Tarabily and Sivasithamparam, 2006). Organic carbon The treatments effect on organic carbon per cent in the soil are presented in Table 3. Application of FYM (10 t/ha) +100% recommended N through FYM + Arka Microbial Consortium @ 5kg/acre i.e., T2 recorded the maximum organic carbon (0.63 a nd 0.66 %) in the post-ha rvest soil sa mples collected dur ing 2015 a nd 2016, respectively. While, the minimum value (0.52 and 0.53%) was recorded in T8 with application the recommended dose of inorganic fertilizer (160:80:80 kg /ha) during 2015 a nd, 2016, r espectively. Organic carbon per cent is fine indicators of soil quality which influence soil function in specific ways (e.g., immobilization–mineralization) and are much more sensitive to change in soil management practices (Saviozzi et al., 2001). The results showed the positive influence of higher level of N through FYM and bio-fertilizer in increasing the organic carbon content that could be beca use of the effect of FYM a nd bio- fer tilizer in stimula t ion of soil microbial activity, therefore increasing the C output. Similar results were also found by Halvorson et al., (2002); Su et al. , (2006) a nd Lou et al. , (2011). Fresh herbage yield T he f r es h h er b a ge yield of b a s i l dif f er ed significantly between the treatments during two year s of the experiment. It is evident from the Table 4 that the application of NPK (160:80:80 kg /ha) + FYM (10 t/ha) i.e., T9 recorded significantly the highest herbage yield in the main crop (41.59 and 38.31 t/ha) and ratoon (20.97 and 17.77 at/ha) during kharif 2015 and 2016, respectively. The lowes t f r es h her b a ge yield p er hec t a r e wa s recorded with recommended dose of FYM alone in the main crop (28.36 and 17.49 t/ha) and in ratoon (12.59 and 8.93 t/ha) during first and second year, respectively. Similar trend was also reflected in total herbage yield of basil. Application of NPK (160:80:80 kg /ha) + FYM (10 t/ha) i.e., T9 recorded significantly the highest total herbage yield (62.56 and 56.08) while, the lowest value (40.95 and 26.42 t/ha) was recorded in T7 during individual years. Treatments Organic carbon (%) Before the experiment 0.5 After the experiment 2015 2016 T1 FYM (10 t/ha) +100% Rec. N through FYM 0.61 AB 0.65A T2 FYM (10 t/ha) +100% Rec. N through FYM + AMC (5kg/ac) 0.63 A 0.66 A T3 FYM (10 t/ha) +75% Rec. N through FYM 0.58ABC 0.62 A T4 FYM (10 t/ha) +75% Rec. N through FYM + AMC (5kg/ac) 0.61AB 0.65 A T5 FYM (10 t/ha) +50% Rec. N through FYM 0.56 ABC 0.60AB T6 FYM (10 t/ha) +50% Rec. N through FYM+ AMC (5kg/ac) 0.58 ABC 0.64 A T7 Rec. FYM (10 t/ha) only 0.55 ABC 0.57ABC T8 Rec.NPK (160:80:80 kg /ha) 0.52 0.53C T9 Rec. NPK (160:80:80 kg /ha)+ Rec. FYM (10 t/ha) 0.54BC 0.54BC General Mean 0.58 0.60 CV% 5.09 6.13 LSD at 5% 0.02 0.03 Table 3: Organic carbon content (%) in the soil as influenced by different levels of N through FYM, bio-fertilizers and inorganic fertilizer J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 16(1) : 103-113, 2021 Soil microbes and integrated nutrient management in sweet basil 110 Tr ea tm en ts Fr es h he rb y ie ld (t h a- 1 ) F ir st y ea r (2 01 5) Se co nd y ea r (2 01 6) A fte r th e ex pe ri m en t M ai n cr op R at oo n To ta l y ie ld M ai n cr op R at oo n To ta l y ie ld T1 FY M (1 0 t/h a) + 10 0% R ec . N th ro ug h FY M 33 .3 1C 17 .0 3D 50 .3 4 E 25 .9 4C 11 .3 3C 37 .2 7 C T2 FY M (1 0 t/h a) + 10 0% R ec . N th ro ug h FY M + A M C (5 kg /a c) 37 .8 4B 18 .5 9C 56 .4 3 C 27 .7 3C 12 .3 1B 40 .0 4 C T3 FY M (1 0 t/h a) + 75 % R ec . N th ro ug h FY M 32 .4 0C 15 .6 3E 48 .0 3 E 21 .7 3D 10 .1 9D 31 .9 2D E T4 FY M (1 0 t/h a) + 75 % R ec . N th ro ug h FY M + A M C ( 5k g/ ac ) 36 .1 9B 17 .1 2D 53 .3 1 D 22 .8 4D 11 .2 7C 34 .1 1 D T5 FY M (1 0 t/h a) + 50 % R ec . N th ro ug h FY M 29 .9 3D 13 .5 7G 43 .4 7 F 21 .0 2D 9. 51 E 30 .5 3 E T6 FY M (1 0 t/h a) + 50 % R ec . N th ro ug h FY M + A M C ( 5k g/ ac ) 33 .0 8C 14 .9 6F 48 .0 4 E 22 .3 2D 10 .1 1D 32 .4 3 D E T7 R ec . F Y M ( 10 t/ ha ) o nl y 28 .3 6D 12 .5 9H 40 .9 5G 17 .4 9E 8. 93 E 26 .4 2F T8 R ec .N PK (1 60 :8 0: 80 k g /h a) 40 .3 9A 19 .5 9B 59 .9 8 B 33 .2 8B 14 .9 2B 48 .2 B T9 R ec . N PK (1 60 :8 0: 80 k g /h a) + R ec . F Y M (1 0 t/h a) 41 .5 9A 20 .9 7A 62 .5 6 A 38 .3 1A 17 .7 7A 56 .0 8 A G en er al M ea n 34 .7 9 16 .6 7 51 .4 6 27 .0 5 10 .8 2 37 .4 4 CV % 3. 15 2. 21 2. 19 5. 72 3. 83 4. 58 LS D a t 5 % 1. 89 0. 63 1. 95 2. 54 0. 71 2. 88 T ab le 4 : F re sh h er b yi el d (t /h a) o f ba si l (O ci m um b as il ic um L .) a s in fl ue nc ed b y di ff er en t le ve ls o f N t hr ou gh F Y M , bi o- fe rt ili ze rs an d in or ga ni c fe rt ili ze r J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 16(1) : 103-113, 2021 AL-Mansour and Kalaivanan 111 Application of inorganic fertilizers are expected to release greater quantity of nutrients particularly N, P, K at a faster rate and higher level and there by gr eater upta ke by the pla nts which resulted in higher growth and yield parameters. On the other hand a pplication of FYM along with inorganic fertilizer release nutrients after mineralization. Such c ont r olled b ut r egula ted s u pp ly of nu t r ient s increased uptake N, P, K which in turn, brought about higher growth and yield. Increase in the yield par a meter s with combined use of or ga nic and inorganic application reported in earlier reports of Joy et al. (2005) in black musli, Kothari et al. (2005) in Spila nthus a cmella , Ra jendr a n a nd Gnanavel (2008) in Aloe vera and Ravikumar et al. (2012) in coleus. Organic amendments show a s lower nut r ient r elea se pa tt er n t ha n miner a l fertilizer but facilitate an increased soil organic matter (SOM) content (Pinitpaitoon et al., 2011). Although Vanlauwe and Giller (2006) claim that or ga nic r esour ces a re not sufficient enough to supply c r ops with the r equir ed nutr ients, the increased SOM is enhancing productivity due to the improved soil properties (Watson et al., 2002). Similar results were obtained by Mohamad et al. (2014) and Asieh (2012). 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