Study the Effect of Integrated Nutrient Management on Growth and Yield of Cauliflower

Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis L.)is one of the most popular cruciferous vegetables among the cole crops grown in India. It is cultivated for its attractive curd which is used for making vegetable curry, soup and pickles. Cauliflower predominant due to its attractive appearance, good taste, source of minerals, protein and vitamins and has high yielding capacity. Hundred-gram edible portion of cauliflower has high quality protein (2.6g), moisture (90.8 g), fat (0.4 g), carbohydrates (4.0 g), calcium (33.0 mg), phosphorous (57.0 mg), iron (1.5 mg), thiamine (0.04 mg), riboflavin (0.10 mg), vitamin C (56.0 mg) and energy (30 kcal). In fact, cauliflower contains calcium nearly ten times as much as meat and four times as much as eggs. India is the largest producer of cauliflower in the world.

There has been substantial increase both in the production and productivity of the vegetables with the adoption of high yielding varieties and improved production technologies. Cauliflower is a heavy feeder of nutrients they’re by the use of chemical fertilizers is increasing day by day and the indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers has simultaneously resulted in many problems like degradation of soil productivity, environment pollution, depletion of non-renewable source of energy etc. Moreover, chemical fertilizers are becoming costlier input in agriculture. Thus, integrated nutrient management refers to the “maintenance of soil fertility and plant nutrient supply at an optimum level for sustaining the productivity through optimization of the benefits from all possible sources of organic, inorganic and biological compounds in an integrated approach.” Nitrogen plays a key role innutrition of the plants. As a matter of fact, the plant life would not be possible without this element. Adequate amount of nitrogen is also required to obtain good yield in vegetable crops. Phosphorous and potassium are considered as major nutrients in crops and they are involved in all the metabolic process in the plant and there is considerable evidence to show that, these element plays an important role in photosynthesis and helps in building up of carbohydrate in the plant. The production of dry matter is further affected by the effect of potassium on rate of respiration. Organic manures and biofertilizers are the important components of integrated nutrient management as supply the trace amounts of micronutrients which are generally not supplied by the farmers to their vegetable crops. Vermicompost is the product of ingested biomass by earthworm after undergoing physical, chemical and microbial transformations and available in the form of cast.