Pantnagar Journal of Research

Abstract

A field investigation was carried out at the experimental farm of Krishi Vigyan Kendra, CSKHPKV, Bajaura (Kullu), Himachal Pradesh during kharif, 2022. The experiment was carried out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications comprising 12 treatment combinations of NPK fertilizers, biofertilizers (Azotobacter and PSB), organic and natural farming on chilli variety ‘Him Palam Mirch-2’. Different nutrient management practices significantly influenced different horticultural traits. The results revealed that treatment combination of 100% NPK + 10 tonnes vermicompost + Azotobacter + PSB recorded maximum plant height (75.1 cm), number of primary branches per plant (4.90), number of secondary branches per plant (11.11), number of fruits per plant (173), fruit length (8.66 cm), fruit girth (3.60 cm), average green fruit weight (5.50 g), fruit yield (581.33 g), fruit yield plot^-1 (9.30 kg), fruit yield ha^-1 (258.37 q), number of seeds fruit^-1 (64.03), dry stalk weight (36.57 q ha^-1) and dry fruit yield (46.13 q ha^-1). The maximum B:C ratio of 4.24 was recorded with the application of 100% NPK + 10 tonnes vermicompost + Azotobacter + PSB and it also gave significantly the highest gross (₹ 5,16,740) and net (₹ 4,18,168.69) returns. Natural farming practice showed least performance for all the traits while organic farming practice found better than natural farming. Therefore, can be concluded that the combined application of NPK fertilizers and organic inputs coupled with biofertilizers proved the best for increasing fruit yield, quality and best utilization of nutrients supplied