RESPONSE OF INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT ON SOIL PROPERTIES AND GROWTH OF CHINA ASTER (Callistephus chinensis L. Nees) CV. ARKA ARCHANA
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: A field experiment was conducted at the Flower and Ornamental Nursery, College of Horticulture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand, during the Rabi season of 2025 to evaluate the response of integrated nutrient management on soil properties and growth of china Aster (Callistephus chinensis L. Nees) cv. Arka Archana. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with ten treatments and three replications. The treatments comprised varying combinations of chemical fertilizers, organic manures and the Bio NPK consortium. The results revealed that the integrated application of 75% RDF + 25% Vermicompost + Bio NPK consortium (T6) recorded significantly increase in terms of all vegetative growth parameters, including plant height (15.52, 28.64 and 39.28 cm at 30, 60 and 90 DAT, respectively), number of branches per plant and plant spread (E-W), plant spread (N-S) across all growth stages. Furthermore, post-harvest soil tracking indicated that treatment T6 significantly enhanced soil fertility status, recording the highest residual available nitrogen (284.37 kg/ha), available phosphorus (48.46 kg/ha) and available potassium (332.86 kg/ha), along with a massive proliferation in the microbial count (3.3 x 1010 CFU/g). These findings demonstrate that integrated nutrient management strategy can successfully optimize crop growth while simultaneously sustaining post-harvest soil health.
Source: PLANT ARCHIVES
Institution: Anand Agricultural University
Subfield: Soil Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDGs: Zero hunger, Life on land
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7204239089
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