Poornima vs control
Introduction
A bio-capsule is a novel method of storing and delivering agriculturally important microbes through capsules. It’s a novel patented bio-capsule technology developed by ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode, Kerala and being used as effective fertilizer for organic farming. The technology involves encapsulation of the microorganisms of interest in a gelatin capsule for delivery to the agricultural crops for the enhanced soil nutrient solubilization, growth and yield. The recently patented product is used for cultivation of spices, vegetable and other crops.
Objectives:
- Effect of Poornima Kit on microbial activity in soil and soil health during each phase of rice Cultivation.
- Effects of Poornima Kit on the growth and development of rice, yield attributing characters and yield.
TREATMENT DETAILS: –Treatment No. Treatment details 1st Dose (before sowing) T1 Control T 2 Poornima kit
NPK consortia, zinc solubilizing bacteria, Humigrow (humic acid) PGP/PGR, Cropforce PGP/PGR and mycorrhiza.
The rate of application of different components of Poornima cycle Kit was as follows:
(i) NPK consortia: 2 capsule per acre
(ii) Zinc solubilizing bacteria : 1capsule per acre
(iii) Humigrow :120g per acre
(iv) Cropforce : 120g per acre
(v) Mycorrhiza : 100g per acre
A. Soil:-
- pH Acidity
- Organic carbon
- Residual NPK content in soil
- Microbial Population (cfu/gm soil)
B.Plants :-
- Plant Height (cm) at 30,60,90 days after transplanting.
- No. of tillers 60,90 days after transplanting.
- No. Panicles at 60,90 days after transplanting
- Dry weight of shoot(g)
- Seed weight of plant(g)
- Test weight (g)
- Grain yield (q ha‾¹) per plot
- Straw yield (q ha‾¹) per plot
C.Plant:-
- NPK content in grain & straw
- NPK uptake by crop at harvesting
- Soil properties as influenced by application of Poornima Kit :- i. Soil pH:-The changes in soil reaction (pH) were studied in three different stages of crop (30, 60 DAT & at post-harvest) (Table-01). In all three stages a non-significant variation was observed among treatments. No definite trend in increase or decrease of pH was noticed due to application of Poornima kit. Table -01. Effect of Poornima Kit on soil pH of paddy grown Vertisol under Chhattisgarh plain:
Treatment No. Treatment Details pH 30DAT 60DAT At harvest T1 Control (No Fertilizer) 7.47 7.47 7.43 T2 Poornima Kit 7.50 7.57 7.47
(ii) Soil Organic matter:- The soil organic carbon was estimated at different growth stages of paddy crop which was presented in (Table-02). The data revealed that at 30 DAT all the Poornima kit treatments significantly increased the soil organic carbon in comparison to control. At 60 DAT comparatively higher organic matters accumulation in soil was observed in comparison to 30 DAT. Highest accumulation of soil organic carbon was attributed to treatment T2 (Poornima Kit) which has an accumulation of 0.59% organic carbon in soil. However, at 90 DAT also the treatments exhibited increase in soil organic carbon over control. Table -02. Effect of Poornima Kit on soil organic carbon content of paddy grown Vertisol under Chhattisgarh plain.
| Treatment No. | Treatment Details | Soil Organic Carbon (%) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30DAT | 60DAT | At harvest | ||
| T1 | Control (No Fertilizer) | 0.43 | 0.48 | 0.46 |
| T2 | Poornima Kit | 0.52 | 0.59 | 0.56 |
(iii) Variation in residual nutrient content in soil due to application of Poornima Kit :- The residual nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content in soil were determined at harvest of crop which is presented in Table-03. The values shown that all the three major nutrients found in maximum quantity in soil due to application of Poornima Kit.
Table -03.Effect of Poornima Kit on residual soil nutrient content of paddy grown Vertisol under Chhattisgarh plain.
| Treatment No. | Treatment details | Residual soil nutrient content (kg/ha) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | P | K | ||||||||
| 30DAT | 60DAT | At harvest | 30 DAT | 60 DAT | At harvest | 30 DAT | 60 DAT | At harvest | ||
| T1 | Control (No Fertilizer) | 242.52 | 242.52 | 225.79 | 18.91 | 18.55 | 17.39 | 465.70 | 450.02 | 431.98 |
| T2 | Poornima Kit | 246.70 | 255.06 | 238.34 | 21.39 | 22.46 | 20.37 | 476.22 | 465.55 | 446.32 |
(iv) Variation in microbial growth in paddy rhizosphere due to application of Poornima Kit:- A study on the growth of bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes in paddy rhizosphere was performed at 30, 60 DAT and at harvest (Table- 04, Plate- 01). The population of bacteria increased significantly in Poornima kit treatment over control at 30, 60 DAT and at harvest. Similar to bacteria, fungal population was affected significantly in above three stages of crop.
Table -04.Effect of Poornima Kit on Microbial Population in paddy grown in Vertisol under Chhattisgarh plain
| Treatment No. | Treatment details | Microbial Population (cfu/gm soil) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bacteria(x107) | Fungi (x104) | Actinomycetes(x106) | ||||||||
| 30 DAT | 60 DAT | At harvest | 30 DAT | 60 DAT | At harvest | 30 DAT | 60 DAT | At harvest | ||
| T1 | No application | 44.33 | 47.33 | 40.33 | 14.33 | 16.33 | 10.33 | 32.7 | 38.00 | 35.67 |
| T2 | Poornima kit | 52.67 | 60.67 | 48.33 | 17.33 | 20.67 | 15.00 | 43.33 | 50.33 | 52.00 |
Plate 01: Microbial population study of experimental field soil
(2) Study of plant growth parameters as influenced by application of Poornima Kit:
(i) Plant height: –
The plant growth of paddy was recorded in three different stages of the crop which was tabulated in Table-05 and presented in Plate-02. The data recorded at 30, 60, 90 days after transplanting (DAT) were found significant over control due to application of Poornima kit .
Table-05.Effect of Poornima Kit on height of paddy grown in vertisol under Chhattisgarh plain.
| Treatment No. | Treatment Details | Plant Height (cm) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30DAT | 60DAT | 90DAT | ||
| T1 | Control(No Fertilizer) | 52.82 | 81.65 | 84.21 |
| T2 | Poornima Kit | 55.39 | 88.90 | 90.47 |
(ii) Variation in tiller number of paddy due to application of Poornima kit :-
The number of tillers was influenced by Poornima Kit at different growth stages of Plant development, notably at 60 & 90 days after transplanting (DAT) Table-06. At 90 DAT two treatments were found significantly superior over control to increase the tiller numbers per plant..
Table -06. Effect of Poornima Kit on number of Tillers of paddy grown in Vertisol under Chhattisgarh plain
| Treatment No. | Treatment Details | Number of Tillers/plant | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 DAT | 90 DAT | ||
| T1 | Control (No Fertilizer) | 3.93 | 4.23 |
| T2 | Poornima Kit | 4.40 | 4.50 |
(ii) The number of panicles was influenced by different treatments as recorded in 60 days after transplanting (DAT) (Table-07). The result revealed that at 60 DAT treatments 2 (Poornima Kit) found effective to influence the number of panicles significantly over control.
Table -07. Effect of Poornima Kit on number of Panicles of paddy grown in Vertisol under Chhattisgarh plain
| Treatment No. | Treatment Details | No. of panicles/plant |
|---|---|---|
| 60 DAT | ||
| T1 | Control (No Fertilizer) | 3.73 |
| T2 | Poornima Kit | 3.83 |
3)Study of crop yield attributing parameters:
(i) Changes in shoot dry weight of paddy due to application of Poornima Kit:-
The shoot dry weight of paddy is a good indicator of plant growth which also determines the crop yield. In this study the shoot dry matter of paddy was quantified at harvest stages (Table-08). In this stage most of the treatments showed significant increase in shoot weight over control.
Table -08. Effect of Poornima Kit on shoot dry weight and seed weight biomass of paddy grown in Vertisol under Chhattisgarh plain
| Treatment (no.) | Treatment details | Grain yield | Straw yield | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kg/plot | q/ha | kg/plot | q/ha | ||
| T1 | Control(No Fertilizer) | 3.93 | 18.71 | 5.1 | 24.29 |
| T2 | Poornima Kit | 8.46 | 40.29 | 11.51 | 54.81 |
(ii)Crop yield:- The crop yield study was conducted after harvest of crop. Different parameters related to crop yield was measured (Table-09) to justify the efficacy of Poornima Kit applied on crop.The grain and straw yield per plot were measured and further converted the quantity of yield to quintal per hectare on the basis of plot wise data.
Table -09.Effect of Poornima Kit on yield parameters of paddy grown in Vertisol under Chhattisgarh plain
| Treatment No. | Treatment Details | Dry Shoot Weight | Seed Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| (gm/plant) | (gm/plant) | ||
| T1 | Control (No Fertilizer) | 5.63 | 3.00 |
| T2 | Poornima Kit | 7.87 | 3.53 |
(4)Nutrient content in paddy as influenced by Poornima Kit . (i) NPK content in grain: Nutrient content in paddy at harvest of crop is presented in Table-10. The nitrogen content in grain was significantly affected by application of poornima kit. Maximum nitrogen content in grain was found in treatment T2 (Poornima Kit) in which 1.20% nitrogen was quantified in paddy grains.
Table -10.Effect of Poornima Kit on nutrient content in grain and straw of paddy grown in Vertisol under Chhattisgarh plain.
| Treatment No. | Treatment Details | Nutrient content (%) (At harvest) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | P | K | |||||
| Grain | Straw | Grain | Straw | Grain | Straw | ||
| T1 | Control (No Fertilizer) | 0.75 | 0.59 | 0.416 | 0.129 | 0.2 | 1.13 |
| T2 | Poornima Kit | 1.2 | 0.69 | 0.591 | 0.133 | 0.29 | 1.77 |
(5) Variation in nutrient uptake by paddy due to application of Poornima Kit . (i) Uptake by straw and grain: The uptake of three major nutrients by paddy was influenced by poornima kit treatment which is presented in Table-11. Table -11.Effect of Poornima Kit on nutrient uptake by grain and straw of paddy grown in Vertisol under Chhattisgarh plain
| Treatment No. | Treatment Details | Nutrient Uptake (kg/ha) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | P | K | |||||
| Grain | Straw | Grain | Straw | Grain | Straw | ||
| T1 | Control (No Fertilizer) | 14.04 | 14.33 | 7.79 | 3.13 | 3.74 | 27.44 |
| T2 | Poornima Kit | 48.34 | 37.82 | 23.81 | 7.29 | 11.68 | 97.01 |
The study titled “Evaluation of Poornima Kit: Biofertilizer, Efficacy Testing Using Paddy as a Model Crop” draws conclusions suggesting that the application of the Poornima Kit presents a viable alternative for partially replacing synthetic (chemical) fertilizers. The study encompassed treatments, with the Poornima Kit .The findings are as follows:
- The utilization of the Poornima Kit demonstrated the most significant increase in bacterial population in the soil at different growth stages of crop and was more effective during the most active stage of crop growth (60 days after transplanting). However, the highest fungal and actinomycetes populations were also observed at the same growth stage.
- The Poornima Kit’s composition suggests potential mechanisms for increased soil organic carbon (SOC) through enhanced plant growth, improved residue decomposition, and atmospheric nitrogen fixation.
- Application of Poornima Kit demonstrated the most significant increase in crop growth, yield attributing parameters, and overall crop yield .
Recommendation – Poornima kit:-
- Improves soil structure and fertility and maintains soil pH .
- Helps to increase soil organic carbon.
- Long term regular use of Poornima kit aims to enhance soil nutrient efficiency.
- Helps in soil aggregation process and stimulate microbial activity.