Response of cumin (Cuminum cyxninum) to integrated nutrient management
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59797/ija.v49i3.5198Keywords:
Cumin, mustard cake, Castorxake, FYM, Volatile oil, Yield, EconomyAbstract
A field experiment was conducted on sandy-loam soil of Main Spices Research Station, Jagudan, Gujarat, dur- ing 1997-98 to 2000-2001 to study the effect of organic manures (mustard and castor-cake as well as FYM) alone or in conjunction with fertilizer on yield, quality and economics of cumin (Cuminum cyminum L). Application of rec- ommended dose of nitrogen through mustard-cake with fertilizer at the rate of 1:l recorded the maximum growth and yield attributes as well as yield (869 kglha). Moreover, maximum net returns (Rs 70,765lha) and benefit : cost ratio (4.39) were also recorded by the same treatment. However, fertilizing the crop with FYM alone, mustard-cake alone or in conjunction with chemical fertilizer recorded higher but statistically an equal oil content.References
Indian Journal of Agronomy 49 (3) :205-206 (September 2004)
Response of cumin (Cuminum cyxninum) to integrated nutrient management
B.S. PATEL, A.U. AMlN AND K.P. PATEL
Main Spices Research Station, Gujarat Agricultural university, Jagudan, Mehsana 382 710
Received :January 2003
A field experiment was conducted on sandy-loam soil of Main Spices Research Station, Jagudan, Gujarat, dur- ing 1997-98 to 2000-2001 to study the effect of organic manures (mustard and castor-cake as well as FYM) alone or in conjunction with fertilizer on yield, quality and economics of cumin (Cuminum cyminum L). Application of rec- ommended dose of nitrogen through mustard-cake with fertilizer at the rate of 1:l recorded the maximum growth and yield attributes as well as yield (869 kglha). Moreover, maximum net returns (Rs 70,765lha) and benefit :cost ratio (4.39)were also recorded by the same treatment. However, fertilizing the crop with FYM alone, mustard-cake alone or in conjunction with chemical fertilizer recorded higher but statistically an equal oil content.
Key words :Cumin, mustard cake, Castorxake, FYM, Volatile oil, Yield, Economy
Cumin is an important seed spice, which is used both as medicinal spice and flavouring agent. Owing to its short duration and requirement of less inputs, viz. irrigation, fer- tilizer, labour etc., cumin is regarded as an important cash crop of arid and semi-arid regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan where soils are light in texture with poor fertil- ity. During recent past, demand of cumin is increased 10- 12 %/year and to fulfil the demand of national and inter- national markets, production of cumin must be increased without harming the soil health. Among the various fac- tors contributing towards the attainment of potential yield with good quality, fertilizer management has considerable practical importance. Unjudicious use of chemical fertil- izer not only harms the soil health but also increases the cost of production. Integration of various organic manures with inorganic fertilizers is preferable as this not only re- duces the fertilizer requirement but also an ecofnendly ap- proach. Hence an experiment was conducted to study the effect of organic and inorganic fertilizers alone or in com- bination on productivity and quality of cumin.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
An investigation on organic and inorganic fertilizers management for cumin was carried out during the winters of 1997-98 to 2000-2001 at Main Spices Research Sta- tion, Jagudan, Gujarat. The soil of the experimental site was sandy loam in texture with slightly alkaline in reac- tion (8.1 pH), low in organic carbon (0.25 %), medium in available phosphorus (37 kgha) and rich in available pot- ash (415 kglha). The experiment consisting of 8 treat- ments (Table 1) was laid out in randomized block design with 4 replications. A recommended fertilizer dose of 30 and 15 kg N and Pha was applied as per treatments except in T, which received only 30 kg Nha through fertilizer. (Table 8). 'Gujarat Cumin 2' was sown in the second week of November at a row spacing of 30 cm with uni- form seed rate of 12 kgha and harvested during the sec- ond fortnight of March during the course of investigation. All recommended cultural operations were followed as per crop requirement.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Growth and yield attributes
Growth (plant height and number of brancheslplant) as well as yield attributes (number of umbelslplant, umbellates/umbel, seedslumbellate and test weight) were significantly influenced by different treatments (Table 1). Application of recommended fertilizer dosk through the mustard cake and inorganic fertilizer at the ratio of 1: 1 recorded the maximum growth and yield attributes of cumin. Crop fertilized with different organic sources with fertilizer (1: 1) recorded higher attributes than with or- ganic sources alone. Among the different organic sources, manuring of cumin with mustard-cake recorded the maxi- mum growth and yield attributes.
Cumin crop manured with mustard-cake alone re- corded maximum oil content in seed and was at par with application of mustard-cake with fertilizer and farmyard
PATEL ETAL. [Vol. 49, No. 3 Table 1. Growth, yield and quality attributes, seed yield and economics of cumin as influenced by organic and inorganic fertilizers (pooled
of 4 years)
Treatment Plant Branched Umbels1 Umbell-height plant plant atesl (4 plant
T, RD of N in form of 30.6 4.7 13.5 4.9 castor-cake (CC) TI RDofNinformof 31.9 5.0 14.7 5.4 musdard-cake (MC) T, RD of N in form of 30.9 4.7 13.9 5.1 FYM
