Evaluation of Liquid Organic Manures on Growth, Yield and Quality in Oriental Pickling Melon under Organic Farming in Kerala

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the liquid formulations for production of organic oriental pickling melon (Cucumis melo var. conomon L.) was carried out at College of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara, Thrissur during 2013- 2014. Among the liquid formulations, weekly foliar application of Jeevamrutham (100%) and Panchagavyam (3 %) recorded the highest growth and yield attributes such as germination percentage (81.67 % and 85 %) length of vine (110.83 and 110.00 cm), number of leaves (37.00 and 36.00), dry matter production (96.40 and 87.00 g/plant), number of fruits per plant (3.83 and 3.73), volume of the fruits (770 and 751.66 cm3), weight of fruits (2.5 and 2.43 kg/plant), and yield (30.33 and 29.50 t/ha). While, lowest growth and yield attributes recorded in POP (POP recommendations of KAU) and Cow urine. Among the liquid formulations, the NPK content was more in the liquid extract of composite organic manures and fish amino acid. The highest fungal and bacterial count was recorded in Panchagavyam treated plots. Jeevamrutham treatment reported the highest B: C ratio of 2.09 followed by Green leaf extracts (2.02).