INTRODUCTION

Organic farming is becoming increasingly popular,
with a rapidly growing global demand for organic products.
It offers considerable benefits over conventional farming
systems particularly with respect to sustainable yield, better
quality and health hazard free produce. Fruits, often eaten
raw, are more vulnerable to contamination with chemicals
due to the latter’s residual toxicity as compared to cereals
and pulses. Thus, organic production of fruits is gaining
popularity over that of other crop groups.

Papaya is grown in an area of 98,000 ha with
production of 36.29 lakh tons in India (National Horticultural
Board, 2009). Since papaya bears fruits and flowers round
the year, it is likely to respond well to organic production
systems compared to other perennial fruit crops. In almost
all the states, area under papaya is increasing, and limited
information is available on organic production system in this
crop. Hence, the present investigation is very important in
crops like papaya.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A field trial was conducted during 2005-2007 at
the experimental farm of Indian Institute of Horticultural
Research, Bangalore. The soil in the experimental plot was
red loam with pH 6.12, 0.73% organic carbon, 158 kg

Effect of organic nutrition practices on papaya (cv. Surya) fruit yield,
quality and soil health

Y.T.N. Reddy, Reju M. Kurian,  A.N. Ganeshamurthy1 and P. Pannerselvam1
Division of Fruit crops

Indian Institute of Horticultural Research
Hessaraghatta Lake Post, Bangalore-560 089, India

E-mail:nreddy@iihr.ernet.in

ABSTRACT

A field experiment was conducted during 2005-07 at Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore, on
papaya cv. Surya with six organic treatments along with recommended dose of fertilizers and no manure/fertilizer
application.  Results indicated that crop growth and fruit yield were higher in inorganic fertilizer treatment (55 t ha1)
compared to organic treatments (26.9 to 38 t   ha-1). There was no significant variation in average fruit weight and
TSS, but shelf life of the fruit was significantly higher in organic treatments (6.2 to 7.9 days) as compared to
inorganic fertilizer treatment (5.1days). Among the treatments, application of 7 kg urban compost plant-1 or 10 kg
FYM plant–1 was found to be ideal for improving soil health in terms of microbial population, and biochemical reaction
compared to other treatments.

Key words: Papaya, organic practices, fruit yield, quality, shelf life

1 Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry

available nitrogen/ha, 13 kg phosphorus/ha and 196 kg
potash/ha.  There were 8 treatments details of which are
as follows;

T
1
: Recommended dose of NPK fertilizers (250g N + 250

g P
2
O

5 
+ 500 g K

2
O plant-1year-1),

T
2
: 10 kg FYM plant-1 year-1

T
3
: 7 kg urban compost plant-1 year-1

T
4
: 20 kg sun hemp + 150 g rock phosphate plant-1 year-1

T
5
: 2 kg neem cake + 0.5 kg wood ash plant-1 year-1

T
6
: 18 kg rural compost plant-1 year-1

T
7
:

 
2.5 kg vermi compost + 12.5 kg sun hemp plant-1 year-1

 T
8
: No manure or fertilizer

Nutrient content of organic manures used in the experiment
is as follows:

Organic manure used Percentage
N P K

FYM 0.91 0.166 0.88
Rural compost 1.22 0.304 0.98
Urban compost 0.86 0.284 0.80
Vermicompost 1.41 0.299 0.55

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 5 (2): 124-127, 2010

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125

Standard procedures

Soil samples were collected at 2 years from
experimentation for nutrient and microbial analysis. Microbial
properties and soil enzymes were estimated as per standard
procedures. Vegetative parameters such as plant height,
plant girth and number of leaves were recorded at 6 month
intervals. Fruit yield was recorded periodically. Fruit quality
attributes such as TSS and keeping quality of fruits were
also recorded as per standard procedures. Statistical analysis
of data was done based on methods given by Panse and
Sukhatme (1985). Plant spacing was 1.8 m×1.8 m in the
trial.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Vegetative characters : Vegetative parameters such as
plant height, plant girth and number of leaves at 24 months
from planting were affected by various nutrient treatments
(Table 1). Maximum plant height, girth and number of leaves
were recorded in the recommended dose of fertilizer
treatment, whereas, no manure or fertilizer treatment
recorded the least. Similar results were reported by Singh
and Sharma (1996) Reddy et al (1986), Purohit (1977),
Awada and Long (1978), Jauhari and Singh (1971), and
Kumar et al (2006).  Increased growth in recommended
fertilizer dose treatment was mainly attributed to sufficient
availability of all the nutrients during different growth stages
of the plant, compared to other treatments

Fruit yield:  Fruit yield in terms of number of fruits and
their weight were found to be significantly different among
various treatments (Table 2). Maximum fruit yield was

Table 1. Vegetative characters, fruit yield and quality of ‘Surya’
papaya as influenced by various treatments (24 months after
planting)

Treatment Plant Plant No. of
height  girth leaves

(m)  (cm) plant-1

T
1
: Recommended 2.49 52.0 25.8

dose of NPK fertilizers
(250 g N + 250 g
P

2
O

5
 + 500g K

2
O

plant-1year-1)
T

2
 : 10 kg FYM 2.27 40.6 19.9

plant-1 year-1

T
3
 : 7 kg urban 2.32 46.5 23.9

compost plant-1 year-1

T
4
 : 20 kg sun hemp + 2.27 47.9 20.5

150 g rock phosphate
plant-1 year-1

T
5
 : 2 kg neem cake + 2.10 36.0 20.3

0.5 kg wood ash
plant-1 year-1

T
6
 : 18 kg rural 2.24 44.6 21.5

compost plant-1

year-1

T
7 :   

2.5 kg vermin 2.06 42.4 19.7
compost + 12.5 kg
sun hemp plant-1 year-1

T
8
 : No manure 1.68 33.3 16.1

or fertilizer
SEm ± 0.01 0.30 0.38
CD  (P=0.05) 0.04 0.90 1.12

Table 2. Fruit yield and quality of ‘Surya‘ papaya as affected by various treatments

Treatment Fruit yield Fruit quality
No. of Fruit No. of Fruit Average TSS Shelf
fruits  yield fruits yield fruit  (oBrix) life
plant-1 (kg plant-1) ha-1(000)  (t ha-1) weight (g) (days)

T
1
: Recommended dose of NPK fertilizers 37.9 17.8 116.8 55.0 472.6 11.1 5.1

(250 g N + 250 g P
2
O

5
 + 500 g K

2
O plant-1year-1)

T
2
 : 10 kg FYM plant-1 year-1 19.9 9.7 61.3 30.0 498.2 11.4 7.6

T
3
 : 7 kg urban compost plant-1 year-1 25.2 11.8 77.7 36.5 476.5 11.3 6.6

T
4
 : 20 kg sun hemp + 150g rock phosphate 30.0 12.6 92.5 38.7 427.7 12.2 7.1

plant-1 year-1

T
5
 : 2 kg neem cake + 0.5 kg wood ash 20.0 9.9 61.6 30.6 495.3 11.3 6.2

plant-1 year-1

T
6
 : 18 kg rural compost plant-1 year-1 27.0 11.5 83.2 35.5 430.0 11.6 6.6

T
7  

: 
 
2.5 kg vermi compost + 12.5 kg sun 18.7 8.7 57.7 26.9 473.8 11.4 7.0

hemp plant-1 year-1

T
8
 : No manure or fertilizer 12.0 5.7 39.4 17.5 441.3 12.2 7.9

SEm ± 4.6 1.9 14.4 5.9 28.5 0.28 0.66
CD (P=0.05) 13.7 5.6 42.4 17.3            NS                NS 0.91

recorded under recommended dose of fertilizer treatment,
and the least with control treatment.  Similar results were
reported by Kumar et al (2006), Reddy et al (1986) and
Singh & Sharma (1996).  The increased fruit yield was
attributed to better plant growth compared to that in other

Effect of organic practices on papaya

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 5 (2): 124-127, 2010

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126

organic treatments or control.  Although yield was higher in
inorganic treatment (recommended dose of fertilizer) soil
quality improvement was not noticed in terms of soil
microflora and soil enzymes. Fruit yield reduction was 30-
51% in organic treatments as compared to inorganic
treatment at two years from experimentation. This may be
due mainly to higher and quick availability of nutrients for
growth and development under inorganic fertilizer treatment.
In addition, pest and disease problem too may have resulted
in reduced fruit yield in organic treatments (although
progressive nutrient built up was seen in the soil due to
addition of organic manures).

Fruit quality attributes:   Fruit quality attributes like average
fruit weight and TSS were found to be non significant but
shelf life was found to be significantly different among
various treatments (Table 2). Maximum shelf life was (7.9
days) seen in control, whereas, minimum shelf life (5.1 days)
was noticed in recommended dose of fertilizer treatment.
The finding is quite interesting but needs to be confirmed at
different locations.

Soil health:  Results on soil microbial population indicated
that in general bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes and total
diazotrophos were significantly higher in all the organic
treatments compared to no manure and recommended dose
of fertilizers (Table 3). The organic treatments recorded
significantly higher soil respiration and mineralizable nitrogen
content compared to recommended dose of fertilizer and

Table 3. Microbial population, soil respiration and mineralizable nitrogen in organic papaya (C.V.Surya field

Treatment Bacteria Fungi Actionomycetes Total Soilrespiration Soil
(108cfug-1) (104 cfug1) (105 cfug-1) Diazotrophs (mg C kg-1soilhr-1) mineralizable

(104 cfu g-1) nitrogen
(mg N kg-1 of soil)

T
1
: Recommended dose 98.4 6.0 8.3 6.3 7.19 10.5

of NPK fertilizers
(250 g N + 250 g P

2
O5

 
+

500 g K
2
O plant-1   year-1)

T
2
 : 10 kg FYM plant-1 year-1 141.8 18.3 16.0 21.0 8.57   46.25

T
3
 : 7 kg urban compost 139.6 16.4 17.8 19.4 7.26   47.25

plant-1 year-1

T
4
 : 20 kg sun hemp + 116.4 8.4 14.0 16.5 10.10 42.00

150 g rock phosphate
plant-1 year-1

T
5
 : 2 kg neem cake + 0.5 kg 119.6 11.0 14.8 15.0 9.70 45.50

wood ash plant-1 year-1

T
6
 : 18 kg rural compost 136.4 18.0 16.4 23.2 8.70 56.00

plant-1 year-1

T
7 
:
   
2.5 kg vermi 127.3 11.6 13.6 19.1 9.85   43.75

compost + 12.5 kg
sun hemp plant-1 year-1

T
8
 : No manure or fertilizer 80.2 5.4 9.2 7.9 5.60 14.00

SEm ± 5.70 0.61 0.66 0.79 0.40 3.55
CD (P=0.05) 11.67 1.25 1.34 1.63 0.81 7.28

control treatment. The finding clearly indicated an increase
in microbial population in organic treatments, which may
have improved soil respiration and mineralizable nitrogen
content. Reduction in soil microorganisms in inorganic
fertilizer treatment could be due to toxicity from metal
contaminants found in inorganic fertilizers (Marschner et
al, 2004),  In the present study, treatments that resulted in
higher organic carbon content in soil had higher microbial
population. Similar results were reported by Chang et al
(2007).

The results on soil enzyme activity (Table 4)
indicated that among various treatments, dehydrogenase and
glusosidase activity was significantly higher in 7 kg urban
compost plant–1 treatment, whereas acid phosphatase and
urease were significantly higher in 20 kg sunhemp plus 150
g rock phosphate plant-1 treatment compared to control and
inorganic fertilizer applied treatments. These results reveal
that treatments that received FYM or compost had greater
microbial population, which may have increased soil enzyme
activity compared to inorganic fertilizers alone or control.
Higher levels of enzyme activity have been reported by many
researchers in soils treated with vermicompost and organic
manure compared to inorganic fertilizers (Krishna Kumar
et al, 2005; Chang et al, 2007).

Results clearly revealed that organic nutrition
practices in papaya production significantly improve soil
health in terms of soil microbial and biochemical properties

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 5 (2): 124-127, 2010

Reddy et al

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127

Table  4. Soil enzyme activity in organic papaya field (24 months
after planting)

Treatment Soil enzyme activity Urease4

Dehydro- βGluco- Acid.phos-
genase1 sidase2 phatase3

T
1
: Recommended 27.4 69.2 86.1 29.4

dose of NPK fertilizers
(250g N + 250 g P

2
O

5
 +

500 g K
2
O plant-1year-1)

T
2
 : 10 kg FYM 83.5 169.3 106.8 66.5

plant-1 year
T

3
 : 7 kg urban 102.4 226.2 109.2 60.2

compost plant-1 year-1

T
4
 : 20 kg sun hemp + 78.9 147.7 121.0 79.8

150 g rock phosphate
plant-1 year-1

T
5
 : 2 kg neem cake + 69.6 141.1 112.1 63.0

 0.5 kg wood ash
plant-1 year-1

T
6
 : 18 kg rural 83.7 225.4 107.5 46.9

compost plant-1 year-1

T
7  

:
 
2.5 kg vermicompost + 74.7 177.5 112.3 39.9

12.5 kg sun hemp
plant-1 year-1

T
8
 : No manure 39.8 68.7 94.4 28.6

or fertilizer
SEm 3.39 7.32 4.96 2.50
CD (P=0.05) 6.95 14.98 10.15 5.12
1. µg TPF released g-1 of soil h-1,     2. µg g-1 soil h-1,    3. µg p-nitrophenol
released g-1 soil h-1      4. µg NH

4
 formed g-1 soil h-1

compared to application of inorganic fertilizers alone. Among
the treatments, application of 7 kg urban compost plant-1 or
10 kg FYM plant-1 was found to be ideal for improving soil
qualities, but fruit yield was significantly higher under
recommended dose of fertilizers compared to that under
organic treatments.

REFERENCES

Anonymous, 2009. Indian Horticulture,  Database 2009,
National Horticulture Board pp 6

Awada, M. and Long, C. 1978.  Relation of nitrogen and
phosphorus fertilization to fruiting and petiole
composition of ‘Solo’ papaya. J. Amer, Soc. Hortl.
Sci., 103:217–219

Chang, E.H., Chung, R.S. and Tsai, Y.H. 2007.  Effect of
different application rates of organic fertilizer on soil
enzyme activity and microbial population. Soil Sci.
Pl. Nutrition, 53:132–140

Jauhari, O.S. and Singh. D.V. 1971.  Effect of N, P and K
on growth, yield and quality of papaya var. Coorg
Honey Dew, Prog. Hort., 2:81–89

Kumar, N., Meenakshi, N., Suresh, J. and Nosov, V. 2006.
Effect of potassium nutrition on growth, yield and
quality of papaya. Ind. J. Fert., 2:43–47

Krishnakumar, N., Saravanan, A., Natarajan, S.K.,
Veerabadran, Y. and Mani, S. 2005. Microbial
population and enzymatic activity as influenced by
organic farming.  Res. J. Agril. Biol. Sci., 1:85-88

Marschner, P., Crowley, D. and Yang, C.H. 2004.
Development of specific rhizosphere bacterial
communities in relation to plant species, nutrition and
soil type.  Pl. and Soil, 261:199–208

Panse, Y.G. and Sukhatme, P.V.  1985 Statistical Methods
for Agricultural Workers. IV Edn, ICAR, New Delhi,
p 327

Purohit, A.G. 1977. Response of papaya to nitrogen,
phosphorus and potassium. Ind. J. Hort., 34:350–
353

Reddy, Y.T.N., Kohli, R.R. and Bhargava B.S. 1986. Effect
of  N, P and K on growth, yield and petiole composition
in papaya cv. Coorg Honey Dew. Singapore J.
Primary Industries, 14:118–123

Singh, I.P. and Sharma. C.K. 1996. Response of papaya to
N and P applications on tilla land, Tripura. J. Hill.
Res., 9:96–98

(MS Received 15 February 2010, Revised 13 August 2010)

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 5 (2): 124-127, 2010

Effect of organic practices on papaya

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