Vol. 12, Issue 9 (2023)

Author(s):
Rachel Vanlalhruaii, SR Dhiman, Puja Sharma, Rajesh Kaushal, Ashu Chandel and Shreedhar Beese

Abstract:
The increasing demand for cut flowers has led to the excessive use of chemical fertilizers and other agrochemicals. While chemical fertilizers provide immediate nutrient availability and promote plant growth, organic fertilization offers long-term soil health and environmental sustainability. Hence, there is a need to explore alternative and eco-friendly supplements to minimize the use of chemical fertilizers. Limited scientific research exists on the use of Jeevamrit, an organic input, in flower crops like carnations. The investigation was conducted at Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, H.P. during 2020-2022 to evaluate the performance and profitability of different carnation genotypes under organic and inorganic fertilization modules. It was found that the organic fertilization module (Jeevamrit @ 20 ml/plant plant as drenching at 30 days interval) performed better in terms of number of flowers per plant and per square metre (5.55 cut flowers per plant and 133.20 cut flowers per m2) and profitability, as it consistently yielded higher net returns and benefit cost ratios for different genotypes. Among the different genotypes tested, ‘Bizet’ performed the best under organic fertilization module with highest b:c ratio of 2.38. However, under inorganic fertilization module, ‘Bizet’ and ‘Raggio-de-Sole’ (b:c ratio of 2.02) performed better over the rest of the genotypes. This suggests that organic cultivation practices can act as an alternative for chemical fertilizers in consideration to the low input cost along with improving soil health and have the potential to contribute to better financial outcomes in carnation cultivation compared to inorganic fertilization.