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EFFECT OF ORGANIC AND INORGANIC FERTILIZERS ON THE GROWTH AND

NUTRIENT CONTENT OF Abelmoschus esculentus (OKRA CROP)

Article  in  International Journal of Current Research · October 2012

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
OF CURRENT RESEARCH
International Journal of Current Research
Vol. 4, Issue, 10, pp.137-140, October, 2012

ISSN: 0975-833X
RESEARCH ARTICLE
EFFECT OF ORGANIC AND INORGANIC FERTILIZERS ON THE GROWTH AND NUTRIENT
CONTENT OF Abelmoschus esculentus (OKRA CROP)
aAttarde, S. B., aNarkhede, S. D., aPatil, R. P. and aIngle, S. T.
a School of Environmental and Earth Sciences, North Maharashtra University, P.B. No. 80, Umavi Nagar,
Jalgaon- 425 001 (M.S.) India

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Article History: In the present investigation effect of the organic and the inorganic fertilizers on the growth and
Received 28th July, 2012 nutrient status of A. esculentus (okra plant) was studied. Observations for physical parameters like
Received in revised form plant height, number of leaves and stem circumference were recorded at four important growth
14th August, 2012 stages in life cycle of the okra plant. Leaf chlorophyll content, fresh and dry weight of plants/pods as
Accepted 25th September, 2012 well as protein, fat and carbohydrate content in the okra fruit were estimated at 72 DAS (days after
Published online 25th October, 2012 sowing). For the experiment, various combinations of fertilizers were prepared and applied such as
Vermicompost (VC), Chemical Fertilizer (CF) and Farmyard Manure (FYM). The plots prepared
Key words: were T1 = Control, T2 = (FYM 100%), T3 = (VC 100%), T4 = (CF 100%), T5 = (VC 75% + CF 25%),
Abelmoschus esculentus, T6 = (VC 75% + FYM 25%), T7 = (VC 50% + FYM 50%) and T8 = (VC 50% + CF 50%). Nutrient
Okra plant, requirement for okra crop in experimental soil in the field was 67kg/ha Nitrogen, 470 kg/ha
Chemical fertilizer, Phosphorous and 63kg/ha Potassium. The perusal of the data revealed that with the use of inorganic
Farmyard Manure, fertilizers plants physical characteristics were enhanced compared to other treatments, Whereas
Vermicompost etc. nutrient status of okra fruit was recorded maximum in treatment T3 (VC 100%) and followed by T6
(VC 75% + FYM 25%). Although, treatment T4 has shown high potential for rapid growth of plant
comparatively similar results in the growth of plant were observed in treatment T5 (VC 75% + CF
25%). Thus, combination of organic fertilizer along with inorganic fertilizer is beneficial for the
physical growth of okra plant while nutrient content of okra fruit are dependent only on organic
fertilizer dose.
Copy Right, IJCR, 2012, Academic Journals. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION due to its higher porosity, aeration, drainage, water-holding

Development of technology is needed for the fulfillment of
plant nutrients through organic resources and their application
in a balanced way for maintaining soil productivity. Organic
farming proves many advantages for soil as well as it
improves plant and animal health. It also recycles and
regenerate the waste into wealth and can wipe out the use of
chemicals in the form of fertilizers or pesticides and help to
build the balanced sustainable model for ecofriendly
environment. Vermicomposting is a safe and non polluting
method for disposal and recycling of organic waste by its
conversion into organic fertilizers. It is an excellent form of
natural manure, which is cost-effective, easy to make and
effective in promoting waste-management. Vermicompost
application could be one of the most economical and attractive
methods of solving the problems like waste disposal and the
requirement to increase the organic matter content of soil
(Narkhede et al., 2011). Growth promoting constituents like
enzymes and hormones present in organic manures make them
useful for improvement of soil fertility and productivity. Some
plant-growth promoters in vermicompost (i.e., auxins,
gibberellins, cytokinins) represent excellent soil conditioners
*Corresponding author: sb.attarde@yahoo.co.in
capacity and microbial activity (Singh et al., 2008).
Biofertilizer are useful substitutes to inorganic fertilizers
which improves the soil quality. According to Narkhede et al.,
(2010) the nutrient status of the compost obtained from
municipal solid waste and sewage sludge was eminent. Due to
increase in prices rate of fertilizers in developing countries the
poor farmers are getting highly affected. Although the use of
chemical fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides have enhanced the
production of farming but there is growing concern over the
adverse effects of the use of chemicals on soil productivity
and environment quality. Use of chemical fertilizers for a long
time has resulted in poor soil health, reduce production, and
increase in incidences of pest and disease and environmental
pollution (Ansari and Ismail 2001).
The most important elements present in inorganic fertilizers
are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium which influence
vegetative and reproductive phase of plant growth. Compared
to inorganic fertilizers the organic fertilizer having lowered
the nutrient content, solubility, and nutrient release rates are
typically low than inorganic fertilizers and therefore inorganic
fertilizers are more preferred than organic fertilizers. Besides
this application of organic manures not only produced the
highest and sustainable crop yield, but also improved the soil
fertility and productivity of land (Sanwal et al., 2007). A
 138 International Journal of Current Research, Vol. 4, Issue, 10, pp. 137-140, October, 2012

combination of organic and inorganic sources of nutrients integrated effects of vermicompost, chemical fertilizers and
might be helpful to obtain a good economic return with good farm yard manure on growth, yield and quality of okra plant
soil health for the subsequent crop yield (Deshmukh et al., have been tabularized along with statistical data. Significant
2010). difference in all the combinations of treatments was observed
as compared to control. Plant height ranged between 13.3 to
MATERIALS AND METHODS 18.7 cm in 18 DAS, 28.2 to 37.5cm in 36 DAS, 45.2 to
57.4cm 54 DAS and 62.1 to 73.1 cm in 72 DAS respectively.
A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of The maximum height was recorded in treatment T4 followed
inorganic and organic fertilizers on growth and yield of A. by T8 and T5 in 18, 36, 54 and 72 DAS (Table 2).
esculentus. Soil pre-analysis was done in order to know the
Table 2: Plant height (cm) of A. esculentus (okra plant) by the
present NPK status of soil. According to the soil requirement combination of different treatments (n=3)
application of inorganic fertilizers as urea 67 kg/ha super
phosphate 470 kg/ha and muriate of potash 63 kg/ha were
applied to the soil. Soil physical and chemical parameters like
pH, conductivity, organic carbon, nitrogen, potassium,
phosphorous, chlorides, total viable count, bulk density, etc.
were determined as per the standard methods (APHA 1995).
Soil heavy metals like Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni and Zn were
extracted by acid digestion methods suggested by Hesse
(2002) and analyzed on Thermo ‘S’ series Atomic Absorption
Spectrophotometer. Experiment was laid out in complete
block design with plot size 2.0 m × 1.0 m. Seeds were sown at
the rate of 8.5 kg/ha. Plant height, number of leaves, stem
circumference, etc. were measured on 18, 36, 54 and 72 Days
after sowing (DAS). Estimation of chlorophyll content from
the plant leaves was done spectrophotometrically (Arnon
1949). Random ten plants per plot were harvested for the
study of fresh and dry weight biomass at 72 DAS. The protein
content was estimated by Lowry method (Lowry et al., 1951).
Fats and carbohydrates in the fruit were estimated by methods
of Sadasivam and Manikam (2005); Murugesan and
Rajakumari (2006). A comparative data was prepared for each
combination of treatment studied. The data collected were
analyzed statistically by using ANNOVA one way difference The integrated effects of vermicompost, chemical fertilizers
test at 0.05 probability level to find the significant difference and farm yard manure on growth, yield and quality of okra
in the parameters studied between various treatments. plant have been tabularized along with statistical data.
Significant difference in all the combinations of treatments
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION was observed as compared to control. Plant height ranged
between 13.3 to 18.7 cm in 18 DAS, 28.2 to 37.5cm in 36
Table 1: Characteristics of experimental soil (n=3) DAS, 45.2 to 57.4cm 54 DAS and 62.1 to 73.1 cm in 72 DAS
respectively. The maximum height was recorded in treatment
Sr. No. Parameter Soil Value T4 followed by T8 and T5 in 18, 36, 54 and 72 DAS (Table 2).
(Average ± SD)
1 pH 8.3±0.1 Table 3: Plant stem circumference (mm) of A. esculentus (okra
2 Conductivity (mmhos) 1.3±0.5 plant) by the combination of different treatments (n=3)
3 Moisture (%) 62.7 ±0.6
4 Organic carbon (%) 32.7
5 C/N ratio 40.8±0.12
6 Bulk Density (gm/cm3 ) 3.23 ±0.12
7 Nitrogen (%) 0.8 ±0.21
8 Phosphorus (%) 0.03 ±0.7
9 Potassium (%) 2.6 ±0.3
10 TVC (CFu/1ml) 5 x 105
11 Manganese (%) 0.0008 ± 0.05
12 Copper (%) 0.0005 ± 0.07
13 Magnesium (%) 0.0013 ± 0.06
14 Nickel (%) BDL
15 Zinc (%) 0.0001 ± 0.06
16 Iron (%) 0.0047 ± 0.43

The studies of physical and chemical parameters of soil were
conducted before the application of chemical fertilizers and
manures. This gave an idea about the initial make up and
fertility status of soil (Table 1). The results shown alkaline
nature of soil pH (8.3) with 0.4% of nitrogen, 0.03% of
phosphorous and 2.6% of potassium content respectively.The
Plant stem circumference ranged between 0.4 to 0.7cm in 18
DAS, 0.9 to 1.4cm in 36 DAS, 1.2 to 1.9cm in 54 DAS, and
2.0 to 3.0 cm in 72 DAS. The maximum stem circumference
was recorded in T4 treatment followed by T8 and T5 treatment.
There was a significant difference among the treatments as
compared to control (p>0.05) (Table 3).
 139 International Journal of Current Research, Vol. 4, Issue, 10, pp. 137-140, October, 2012

Total number of leaves was ranged between 3.8 to 5.8 at 18

DAS, 4.6 to 8.1 at 36 DAS, 6.6 to 10.6 at 54 DAS and 10.6 to
15.6 at 72 DAS. Treatment T4 had shown maximum number
of leaves in all four stages of plant growth. According to
Ansari and Sukhraj (2010) due to higher amount of nitrogen in
chemical fertilizers the numbers of leaves in the plants were
maximum and growth of plant is rapid. Also, chemical
fertilizers have greater availability of salts like nitrate,
phosphate and potash which significantly increased the plant
growth. Significant difference in all the combinations of
treatments was observed as compared to control (p>0.05).
Table 4: Number of leaves of A. esculentus (okra plant) by the
combination of different treatments (n=3)

Figure 1: Nutrient content in fruit of A. esculentus (okra plant) at

72 DAS (n=3)

Chlorophyll content (mg/g) in the okra leaves were maximum

Fresh and dry weight of okra crop was recorded maximum in
treatment in T4 followed by T3 and T5 as shown in (Table 2).
Fresh and dry weight of pods was observed maximum in
treatment T3 (Table 2). The moisture hold by the plant was
found to be better in T3 in okra as the vermicompost was
found to be effective among other treatments.
Table 5: Post harvest parameters of A. esculentus (okra plant) by
the combination of different treatments (n=3)
in treatment T6 (2.8) followed by T2 (2.3), T5 (2.2), T3 (2.0), T7
(2.0), T8 (1.9), T4 (1.8) and T1 (1.5) respectively (Figure 2).
Obtained findings are in correspondence with the findings of
Nainawat and Baradwaj (2003) who observed that the
farmyard manure along with vermicompost increases the
growth and yield of the plant. This might be due to better
supply of required nutrients to the soil by the application of
vermicompost.
Figure 2: Chlorophyll content (mg/g) in the leaves of
A. esculentus (okra plant) at 72 DAS (n=3)

The total protein content ranged between 3.1 to 6.7 % and fat
content 1.2 to 3.3% at 72 DAS and was recorded maximum in
treatment T6. In comparison with other treatments lower crude
protein content was observed in the inorganic fertilizer
treatment Adewole and Ilesanmi (2011). Whereas, maximum
carbohydrate content was observed in treatment T3, ranging
from 4.8 to 7.2% (Figure 1). Significant differences among the
treatments were observed as compared to control (p>0.05).
Amino acids and carbohydrate concentration were higher in
plot applied with manure compared to plot treated with
chemical fertilizers (Esmailian et. al., 2011).
With the application of NPK fertilizers in some treatment
resulting in increased pod formation, due to availability of
sufficient amount of primary growth elements (Naeem et al.,
2006). Treatment T5 (VC 75% + CF 25%) followed by T6 and
T4 treatments had shown maximum number of pods in okra
crop (Figure 3). Whereas number of flowers were highest
recorded in treatment T5 followed by T6 and T8 in okra (Figure
4). Significant results were obtained in various parameters
studied (p>0.05). Application of combination of organic and
inorganic fertilizers or organic alone is vital task for achieving
economical harvests for INM, thus practice will be beneficial
for farmer and would be and strategy which will be
environmentally friendly (Aslam, et al., 2010).
 140 International Journal of Current Research, Vol. 4, Issue, 10, pp. 137-140, October, 2012
Figure 3: Number of pods in A. esculentus (okra plant) at 72
DAS (n=3)
Figure 4: Number of flowers in A. esculentus (okra plant) at 36
DAS (n=3)
Conclusion
From the results obtained treatment T3 (VC 100%) aSnd T6
(VC 75% + FYM 25%) were found to be superior in
enhancing nutrient quality of okra fruit. Although treatment T4
(CF 100%) had shown maximum plant height, stem
circumference and number of leaves comparatively similar
results were obtained in treatment T5 (VC 75% + CF 25%).
Combination of organic and inorganic fertilizer resultant in
maximum the number of flowers and pods of okra crop in
treatment T5. Hence with the application of appropriate ratio
of organic and inorganic fertilizer in the field they act as
growth promoter for the okra crop. Treatment T4 had
enhanced the fibre and ascorbic acid content in the fruit of
okra followed by the treatment T8 (VC 50% + CF 50%).
Combination of vermicompost and farm yard manure in
treatment T6 (VC 75% + 25% FYM) were found to be the best
combination observed for the increase in leaf chlorophyll
content of okra plant compared to other treatments. Significant
differences were observed for various parameters studied
among the treatments at 5% or 1% level of significance. Thus
from the results obtained it can be concluded that organic
manures can enhance the nutrient status of okra fruit as well as
at appropriate combination with inorganic fertilizer it help to
increase the plant growth. Organic farming is an effective
option for agricultural fields in cropping of A. esculentus,
which will yield the quality product with least soil damage and
helps to maintain its fertility for a longer period.
Acknowledgements
Authors are highly thankful to the University Grants
Commission, New Delhi for granting financial assistance for
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the Major Research Project. F. No. 37-279/2009(SR). We are
also thankful to the School of Environmental and Earth
Sciences, North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon for providing
laboratory facility in the research work.
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