Nutrients Uptake and the Yield of Okra and Carrot in Response to Bioslurry and Inorganic N Fertilizers

Abstract

Bioslurry can be used as soil amendment to improve soil fertility in sustainable ways. The experiments to investigate the effect of bioslurry and inorganic fertilizers on nutrient uptake and yield of carrot and okra were conducted from 2011 to 2012 at Institute of Soil Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, Ayub Agriculture Research Institute Faisalabad. Both experiments were set up as randomized complete block design (RCBD) and provided with three replications, consisted of seven treatments (100 kg N inorganic fertilizer (IF), 100 kg N-fresh slurry (FS), 100 kg N-dried slurry (DS), 100 kg N-farm manure (FM), 50 kg N-FS and 50 kg N-IF, 50 kg N-DS and 50 kg N-IF, 50 kg N-FS and 50 kg N-IF for carrot, and 90 kg N inorganic fertilizer (IF), 90 kg N-fresh slurry (FS), 90 kg N-dried slurry (DS), 90 kg N-farm manure (FM), 45 kg N-FS and 45 kg N-IF, 45 kg N-DS and 45 kg N-IF, 45 kg N-FM and 45 kg N-IF for okra). Experimental results revealed maximum carrot (43.2 t ha-1) and okra (6.58 t ha-1) yield with the application of recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers and it was statistically at par with treatment containing integration of fresh slurry and inorganic fertilizers. The uptake of nutrients by vegetables, and economics was also improved with the integration of organic and inorganic fertilizers. Resultantly, the combination of FS and IF was found best in improving the yield of carrot and okra on sustained basis and it also proved to be cost effective and economical.