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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com / submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
The investigation was conducted to study the effect of integrated nutrient management studies in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). The cultivar Punjab Ratta and Punjab Varkha Bahar-4 comprised the plant material in autumn and rainy season, respectively. The experiment comprised fourteen treatments of biofertilizers and organic manures with or without chemical fertilizers. The experiment was conducted in randomized complete block design with three replications. The cultures of biofertilizers i.e. Azotobacter, Azospirillum and Phosphorus Solublizing Bacteria (PSB) were applied to the seedlings while Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizae (VAM) was applied directly in the treatment plots @ 500 g/ha. The treatment with Azotobacter was found beneficial for improving plant height, number of branches per plant and leaf area when it was applied along with recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF). Azotobacter along with VAM and RDF improves the number of branches per plant, leaf area, fruit diameter and number of fruits per plant. Likewise Azospirillum along with RDF and Azotobacter along with VAM and RDF helped to increase the fruit yield in rainy and autumn season to the tune of 549 and 543.1 q ha-1 which was 25 % and 19.3 % higher than the RDF respectively. The application of Azotobacter and Azospirillum along with 75 % recommended dose of nitrogen during autumn season and Azotobacter, Azospirillum, PSB and VAM treatments along with 75 % N and 75 % P of the recommended dose of nitrogen and phosphorus during rainy season recorded yield at par with RDF. It is concluded that Azotobacter along with VAM and 75 % dose of N and P saves the nitrogenous and phosphorus fertilizers without any significant reduction in yield. The application of Azotobacter along with VAM and recommended dose of N, P and K during autumn season and the application of Azospirillum along with recommended dose of fertilizers during rainy season proves beneficial for production of tomato under Punjab conditions.