PERFORMANCE OF COORG HONEY DEW PAPAYA UNDER ORGANIC FARMING REGIMES IN THE HILL ZONE OF KARNATAKA

The urge to obtain increased production and higher returns have lead to indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers in papaya production that has resulted in depletion of soil fertility. It has therefore become imperative to adopt of organic farming practices for sustainable production of quality fruits. In the present investigation, effect of organic manures on growth, yield and quality of Coorg Honey Dew papaya was evaluated through seven treatments with three replications during 2004-2007. The treatments consisted of T₁ - check (intensive farming with 250:250: 500 g NPK/plant/year in six split doses), T₂ - organic farming with FYM 20 kg/plant, T₃ - urban compost 13.5 kg/plant, T₄ - sun hemp 25 kg/plant, T₅ - sun hemp 40 kg /plant + rock phosphate 300 g/plant and T₆ - neem cake 4 kg + wood ash 2.5 kg/plant, T₇ - rural compost 35 kg/plant. The organic treatments were imposed in two splits with interval of once in six months. The treatment, intensive farming with 250:250:500 g NPK/plant/year recorded maximum plant height, stem girth, number of leaves, yield/tree, number of fruits per tree, fruit weight, pulp thickness and number of seeds which were significantly superior to all other treatments. The results indicated that growth and yield characters as influenced by organic manures were on par with the intensive farming of chemical fertilizers. Further, application of FYM 20 kg/plant recorded maximum total soluble solids, ascorbic acid, total sugar and the least value of titrable acidity as compared to intensive farming and other organic treatments. Significant influence of different organic manure treatments on growth and yield characters was observed and it can be inferred that application of organic manures influenced growth, yield and quality characters in Coorg Honey Dew papaya.