Eco-friendly Cultivation of Annual Chrysanthemum for Enhancing Seed Quality and Soil Properties

Abstract

Sustainable agriculture is the cultivation of healthy soil and seedlings which are essential for producing high-quality yields that meet the nutritional needs of living organisms. The soil and its microenvironment are crucial for significantly improving plant growth and promotion of sustainable agriculture practices. This focus on sustainability aims for long-term crop and livestock production while minimizing negative environmental impacts. Therefore, for eco-friendly cultivation of annual chrysanthemum a study was carried out in the open field of the Department of Seed Science and Technology at Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan (H.P) India for two years (2019-2021). The field experiment consisted of nine different formulations of jeevamrit arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications for each treatment. Notably, the use of T6 (Drenching with jeevamrit @30% at 15 days interval) and T7 (Drenching with jeevamrit @35% at 15 days interval) significantly enhanced the production while also enriching the soil with the considerable increase in beneficial microbial count like bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes. Hence, this seeks to identify an environmentally friendly method to improve seed production quality in annual chrysanthemum and enhance soil nutrients.