Response of Dragon Fruit [Hylocereus costaricensis (Web.) Britton and Rose] to Combined Application of Vermicompost and Bio-fertilizers: Yield and Quality Perspectives

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at the Garden, Department of Fruit Science, Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, from March to December 2025 to study the effect of organic nutrient sources on the yield and biochemical quality of the dragon fruit cultivar Pink-fleshed. The experiment comprised nine treatment combinations of Vermicompost, Azotobacter, and phosphate-solubilising bacteria (PSB) applied at varying doses, along with an untreated control. Among the treatments, the combination of Vermicompost at 1.00 kg/plant with Azotobacter at 100 g/plant and phosphate-solubilising bacteria (PSB) at 100 g/plant recorded the best performance in yield (2.86 kg/pillar) and quality attributes. This treatment produced the highest fruit weight (219.90 g), fruit length (10.29 cm), fruit diameter (8.14 cm), fruit volume (183.16 cc), specific gravity (1.20 g/cc), and pulp weight (187.05 g), along with the most favourable pulp-to-peel ratio (5.71) and the lowest peel weight (32.85 g). With respect to biochemical parameters, the same treatment recorded the highest total soluble solids (13.68 °Brix), reducing sugar (7.02%), non-reducing sugar (5.20%), total sugar (12.22%), and ascorbic acid content (11.11 mg/100 g pulp), together with the lowest titratable acidity (0.56%). The findings suggest that the integrated use of Vermicompost with nitrogen-fixing and phosphate-solubilising biofertilisers can substantially improve dragon fruit yield and quality in organic cultivation, offering a sustainable alternative to chemical fertilisation.