Eco friendly, scientific method of crop production envisages use of organics in the soil as a source of nutrients. Inorganic nutrients play an important, direct role in yield and its attributes, as well as uptake of nutrients. However, use of organics along with inorganic nutrients not only helps increase the yield of crops, but also acts as a storehouse of nutrients, besides improving physical condition of the soil and quality of the produce. Chilli is one of the important commercial crops in the Krishna zone. Chilli, being a long duration crop, requires proper manuring and fertilizing in the surface soil is because of its shallow root system, for attaining high yields and quality produce (Bidari, 2000). The escalating cost of fertilizers, their hazardous polluting effects on environment and quality of the produce, there is a growing awareness among the farming community of the advantages of organic fertilizers. Therefore the present investigation was undertaken to study the effect of organic, inorganic and biofertilizers for yield improvement in chillies in vertisols. A field experiment was conducted at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Lam, Guntur, during kharif Productivity in chilli (cv. LCA 334) as influenced by organic and inorganic nutrient management in vertisols S. Bharathi, S. Surya Kumari and K. Uma Jyothi Regional Agricultural Research Station, Lam, Guntur- 522034, India E-mail: bharathi_says@yahoo.com ABSTRACT A field experiment was conducted at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Lam, Guntur during the kharif season of 2003-04 and 2004-05 in vertisols with an objective to assess effectiveness of organic nutrient package for yield sustainability and to assess inorganic nutrient management package vis-a-vis organic package for yield and quality in chilli cv. LCA 334. Farmers of this region generally use very high doses of inorganic fertilizers with improper nutrient balance which has led to deterioration of productivity and quality of both the produce soil. The experiment was carried out in randomized block design with ten treatments, in combinations of organic and inorganic sources. The organic sources used were: green manure (incorporation of pillipesara), neem cake, Azospirillum, phosphate solubilizing bacteria, VAM and burnt ash, and integrated with 50%, 75% and 100% recommended nitrogen in the form of chemical fertilizer. Results revealed that maximum dry chilli yield ( 5397kg ha-1) was recorded in combined application of green manure, neem cake, Azospirillum, phosphate solubilizing bacteria, burnt ash along with 100% recommended nitrogen. Key words: Chilli, organic, inorganic nutrient management 2003-04 and 2004-05. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design, with ten treatments replicated thrice. Treatments were as follows: T1 - Green manure (sunnhemp) + Neem cake @ 2t/ha + Azospirillum @ 2kg/ha + Burnt ash (crop residue) + Phosp obacteria T2 - Green manure (sunnhemp) + Neem cake @ 2t/ha + Azospirillum @ 2kg/ha + Burnt ash (crop residue) + Phosp obacteria + 50% of recommended dose of nitrogen T3 - Green manure (sunnhemp) + Neem cake @ 2t/ha + Azospirillum @ 2kg/ha + Burnt ash (crop residue) + Phospobacteria +75% of recommended dose of nitrogen T4 - Green manure (sunnhemp) + Neem cake @ 2t/ha + Azospirillum @ 2kg/ha + Burnt ash (crop residue) + Phospobacteria +100% recommended dose of nitrogen T5 - Green manure (sunnhemp) + Azospirillum @ 2kg/ha Short communication J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 6(1):62-65, 2011 63 T6 - Green manure (sunnhemp) + Azospirillum @ 2kg/ ha + 50% of recommended dose of nitrogen T7 - Green manure (sunnhemp) + Azospirillum @ 2kg/ ha + 75% of recommended dose of nitrogen T8 - Green manure (sunnhemp) + Azospirillum @ 2kg/ ha + 100% of recommended dose of nitrogen T9 - Recommended NPK (200-60-80) T10 - Farmers’ practice (300-200-60) The crop was raised with a spacing of 60cm x 30cm. Standard cultural practices recommended were followed and fertilizers were applied as per treatments. Green manure crop (sunnhemp) was raised @ 20 kg seed per hectare and was applied at the preflowering stage. By this practice, 30 tonnes of biomass per hectare on freshweight basis was added to the soil. Data on growth characters, yield attributes, yield, fruit rot incidence and quality analysis, i.e.,oleoresin and capsanthin content were recorded. Data on growth parameters (Table 1) revealed that application of organic manure with recommended dose of inorganic nitrogen showed superior performance in respect of growth and yield. Maximum plant height (96.2cm) and plant spread (101.5cm) was recorded with 100% recommended inorganic nitrogen in combination with organics-green manure ( sunnhemp) + Neem cake @ 2t/ha + Azospirillum @ 2kg/ha + Burnt ash (crop residue) + Phosphobacteria. This is in accordance with findings of Montagu and Goh (1990) in tomato. Number of fruits per plant (which is one of the most vital attributes) considerably increased with combined application of organic and bio fertilizers along with inorganic nitrogen, than treatments which received inorganic fertilizers alone. The highest number of fruits per plant was recorded in T4 (301), followed by T8 (281.5) and these were almost on par with each other, and significantly superior to other treatments. This could be attributed to the solubilization effect of plant nutrients by addition of organics, leading to increased uptake of NPK, as reported by Subbiah et al (1984). Similar and Nanthakumar and Veeraraghavatatham (1999). Lowest number of fruits per plant was recorded in T1 (109) and T5 (101) which received only organics. There was no significant difference among treatments in 100 pod weight and number of primary branches per plant (Table 2). The highest dry chilli yield was recorded in T4 (5397 kg/ha) which was almost on par with T8 (4885 kg/ ha). Results revealed that combined application of organics with recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers gave superior yield. Similar results were reported by Nair and Peter (1990) in chilli and by (Poopathi, 1994) tomato. On the other hand, among the quality parameter analyzed, there was no significant difference in, oleoresin content. However, the highest oleoresin content was recorded in T1 (9.8%) which received only organics. Significantl, higher capsanthin (EOA colour value) was recorded in T1 (10056), followed by T5 (9845). This might be due to physiological influence of Azospirillum, neem cake and phosphobacteria on the activity of enzymes. Similar observations were reported by Dhanalakshmi (1989) in tomato. Further, fruit rot incidence was also significantly low Table 1. Effect of organics and inorganics on yield attributes and yield in chilli Treatment Plant height (cm) Plant spread (cm) No of fruits / plant No. of primary branches / plant 03-04 04-05 Mean 03-04 04-05 Mean 03-04 04-05 Mean 03-04 04-05 Mean T1: Greenmanure 81.7 71.6 76.6 77.6 74.2 75.9 108 110 109.0 3.7 3.3 3.5 +Neem cake +Azosp + PSB+VARM+Burnt ash T2: T1+50% rec.N 85.1 75.01 80.0 86.4 78.6 82.5 132 120 126.0 4.0 4.5 4.25 T3: T1+75% rec.N 92.2 82.2 87.2 96.7 87.3 92.0 219 210 214.5 3.8 3.8 3.8 T4: T1+100% rec.N 101.2 91.2 96.2 107.6 95.4 101.5 310 300 301.0 4.5 3.9 4.2 T5: Green manure 79.9 69.9 74.9 74.4 67.6 76.4 97 105 101.0 3.6 3.7 3.65 +Azosp+PSB T6: T5+50% rec.N 83.0 73.0 78.0 83.0 83.8 83.4 115 115 115.0 4.0 5.0 4.5 T7: T5+50% rec.N 91.5 81.5 86.5 95.9 84.7 90.3 160 190 175.0 4.3 3.0 3.65 T8: T5+50% rec.N 97.5 87.5 92.5 103.4 93.4 98.4 298 275 281.5 3.9 3.6 3.75 T9: Rec. NPK (200:60:80) 99.4 89.4 94.4 94.6 92.5 93.2 265 270 267.5 3.8 3.6 3.7 T10: Farmers’ 98.3 88.3 93.3 92.2 89.1 90.7 264 260 262.0 4.4 3.9 4.15 practice (300:200:50) CD(P=0.05) 10.64 12.7 11.6 12.69 15.8 14.2 33.6 15.2 21.2 NS NS NS CV% 6.8 9.2 8.0 8.1 10.5 9.3 10.8 8.7 9.8 Productivity of chilli in vertisols J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 6(1):62-65, 2011 64 Table 2. Effect of organics and inorganics on yield attributes and yield in chilli Treatment 100 pod weight (g) Days to 50% flowering Yield (kg ha-1) 03-04 04-05 Mean 03-04 04-05 Mean 03-04 04-05 Mean T1: Green manure 69.0 72.6 70.8 53.2 59.6 56.4 2690 2590 2640 +Neem cake +Azosp +PSB+VARM+Burnt ash T2: T1+50% rec.N 71.0 70.0 70.5 58.0 60.0 59.0 2880 2680 2780 T3: T1+75% rec.N 70.6 72.2 71.4 60.5 62.3 61.4 3510 3250 3380 T4: T1+100% rec.N 71.5 72.5 72.0 62.3 60.5 61.8 5494 5300 5397 T5: Green manure 72.0 71.0 71.6 58.9 54.4 56.6 2510 2450 2480 +Azosp+PSB T6: T5+50% rec.N 70.2 71.6 70.9 57.8 60.0 58.9 2790 2500 2645 T7: T5+50% rec.N 70.1 71.5 70.8 60.0 58.0 59.0 3070 2980 3025 T8: T5+50% rec.N 71.7 71.9 71.8 61.0 58.0 59.5 4820 4950 4885 T9: Rec.NPK (200:60:80) 70.2 70.8 70.6 56.0 60.0 58.0 4020 4780 4400 T10: Farmers’ 70.6 70.2 70.4 61.0 57.0 59.0 3957 4650 4304 practice (300:200:50) CD(P=0.05) NS NS NS NS NS NS 739 647 693 CV% 12.5 10.4 11.5 NS = Non-Significant Table 3. Effect of organics and inorganics on yield and quality in chilli (Mean data 2003-2005) Treatment Fruit set (%) Oleoresin Capsanthin Damaged pods content (%) content (EAO) (% Fruit rot incidence) T1:Greenmanure+Neem cake +Azosp 59.8(50.7) 9.8 10056 11.99 (20.36) + PSB+VAM+Burnt ash T2:T1+50% rec.N 58.7(50.0) 9.2 9507 14.03 (22.19) T3:T1+75% rec.N 58.7(50.0) 9.1 9416 15.07 (22.83) T4:T1+100% rec.N 63.2(52.5) 9.1 8809 15.76 (23.43) T5:Greenmanure+Azosp+PSB 56.3(48.9) 9.6 9854 12.20 (20.43) T6:T5+50% rec.N 56.5(48.9) 9.6 9069 14.70 (22.38) T7:T5+50% rec.N 57.5(49.2) 9.5 8896 16.83 (23.92) T8:T5+50% rec.N 62.5(51.8) 9.5 8174 17.20 (24.49) T9:rec.NPK(200:60:80) 56.5(48.9) 9.4 7868 20.95 (27.25) T10:Farmers practice (300:200:50) 56.3(48.9) 9.4 7858 21.71 (27.77) CD(P=0.05) 2.5 NS 60.68 2.6 CV% 6.8 2.4 6.5 Figures in parantheses are angular transformed values in organic treatments T1 (11.99%) and T5 (12.20%). Maximum fruit rot was recorded in treatments T9 (20.95%) and T10 (21.71%) which received only inorganic fertilizers. Organic manures, however, showed an advantage over the recommended practices in terms of fruit quality (Table 3). The highest oleoresin and capsanthin content were seen in ‘organics alone’ treatment, which is consistent with other reports (Sharu, 2000). Lack of response to organics presumably owes to the present experimental site having been under chemical farming for several previous seasons. Moreover, long-term experimentation may be necessary to elucidate beneficial effects of the organics, especially, on aspects relating to soil health. Nonetheless, a gradual shift away from the chemical to organic practices seems a prudent choice for sustained crop production and the superior quality of produce. Results of the study revealed that maximum dry chilli yield (5397kg ha -1) can be obtained with 100% recommended dose of nitrogen in combination with green manure, neem cake, Azospirillum, burnt ash and phosphobacteria, followed by the treatment green manure Azospirillum along with 100% recommended dose of nitrogen (4885kg ha-1). However the highest colour value and the lowest fruit rot incidence were recorded in organics. Monitoring phosphorous and potassium status in the soil is necessary for timely correction to balance these nutrients. REFERENCES Bidari, B.I. 2000. Assesment of yield and quality of byadagi chillies (Capsicum annum L.) in relation to soil and management practices in Dharwad district. Ph.D.Thesis University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad. Bharathi et al J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 6(1):62-65, 2011 65 Dhanalakshmi, P. 1989. Effect of Azospirillum inoculum and nitrogen fertilization on growth and yield of tomato. M.Sc. 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Integrated nutrient management in chilli (Capsicum annuum L.). M.Sc. (Ag.) Thesis, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur, 108p (MS Received 09 March 2010, Revised 10 January 2011) Productivity of chilli in vertisols J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 6(1):62-65, 2011