INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT OF PASSIONFRUIT ON ALFISOL

Passionfruit, a perennial climber of Passiflora, is a crop that is highly responsive to nutrients. INM (integrated nutrient management) is recognized as a viable solution to address suboptimal production and multiple nutrient constraints. A total of 13 INM treatments were evaluated for their effect on yield of the Kaveri variety and changes in soil fertility on manure-treated Alfisol (29°45’43” N latitude; 93°53’04” E longitude): 100% NPK (T₀), 75% NPK + Azospirillum (T₁), 75% NPK + Azotobacter (T₂), 75% NPK + Phosphotica (T₃), 50% NPK + Azospirillum (T₄), 50% NPK + Azotobacter (T₅), 50% NPK + Phosphotica (T₆), 25% NPK + Azospirillum (T₇), 25% NPK + Azotobacter (T₈), 25% NPK + Phosphotica (T₉), Azospirillum + Phosphotica (T₁₀), Azotobacter + Phosphotica (T₁₁), Azospirillum + Azotobacter + Phosphotica (T₁₂). The highest fruit yield per plant was observed with T₇ (10.0 t ha^-1 with fruit weight of 94 g fruit^-1) followed by T₆ (9.5 t ha^-1 with fruit weight of 100 g fruit^-1) and T₁₂ (8.14 t ha^-1 with fruit weight of 81 g fruit^-1) compared to T₀ (2.7 t ha^-1 with fruit weight of 54 g fruit^-1). The studies, provided a strong evidence that a starter dose of inorganic fertilizers is necessary to harness the efficacy of microbial transformations vis-a-vis nutrient availability for improved fruit yield.