EFFECT OF ORGANIC AND CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS ON THE GROWTH OF DRUMSTICK (Moringa oleifera L.)

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at Soil Science Research Field ofHajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University (HSTU), Dinajpur, Bangladesh aimed to evaluate the impact of various organic and chemical fertilizers and their combination on Drumstick growth. The experiment involved six treatments namelyT1 = Control, T2 = Cow dung (500 g/plant), T3 = Vermicompost (500 g/plant), T4 = Chemical fertilizer (N:P:K = 2:2:2), T5 = Cow dung + Chemical fertilizer (N:P:K = 2:2:2) and T6 = Vermicompost (500 g/plant) + Chemical fertilizer (N:P:K = 2:2:2) in RCBD experimental design. The data was collected on plant height (cm), available S (ppm), available P (ppm), exchangeable K (meq/100g soil), total N (%), pH, OC (%), and OM (%). The results showed that the application of vermicompost and chemical fertilizers significantly influenced the height, N, P, K, S, pH, OC, and OM contents available for drumstick cultivation. Among the treatments, T6 (vermicompost + chemical fertilizer) treatment showed the highest plant height (80.00 cm) of drumstick followed by T5 (70.33) which was statistically simililar at 30 DAP. On the other hand, the lowest plant height (60.00 cm) was observed in T1 treatment. The 60 DAS T6 treatment, which combined vermicompost and chemical fertilizer, resulted in the highest drumstick plant height (98.33 cm), followed by T5 (87.20 cm), and T1 (67.83 cm) was the lowest. At 90 DAP treatment, including vermicompost and chemical fertilizer, significantly increased drumstick plant height (105.00 cm), while control (72.67 cm) had the lowest height, but statistically similar. At 30 DAP T6 had the highest N content (0.14%), while T1 had the lowest N content (0.06%). The highest available P was 15.13 ppm in the combination of vermicompost and chemical fertilizers (T6), with the lowest value being 2.65 ppm from the control treatment (T1). The combined vermicompost and chemical fertilizers (T6) produced the highest S (15.80 ppm) and the highest pH (6.25). The highest OC and OM values were 0.78 and 1.34 % in T6 from the combination of vermicompost and chemical fertilizer. The lowest values were obtained from the control (T1) (7.07%). The findings suggest that farmers may apply the combined vermicompost and chemical fertilizers at the rate of 5 t ha-1 combined with Urea, TSP and MOP at the rate of 43.48, 44.44 and 33.33 kg ha -1 for Drumstick cultivation to get satisfactory growth. The study also needs to be conducted in different Agroecological zones (AEZ) of Bangladesh for further research.