EFFECT OF ORGANIC NUTRITION ON THE PERFORMANCE OF BETEL VINE (PIPER BETLE L.) 'AMBADI'

Betel vine (Piper betle L.) is a perennial creeper belonging to the family Piperaceae, cultivated in India for its leaves, used mainly for mastication. To study the effect of different nutritional sources on growth, yield and quality of betel vine ‘Ambadi’, a field experiment was conducted at Arabhavi, Gokak taluk, Dist. Belgaum, Karnataka, India, between 2005 and 2007. The experiment was laid out as randomized block design consisting of thirteen treatments replicated thrice. Treatment combinations included organic manures viz., farm yard manure (FYM), neem cake, vermicompost, sheep manure and press mud, as well as the recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) for betel vine of 200:100:100 kg NPK per ha. Foliar spray of 25% vermiwash was conducted monthly. Farmers practice consisted of application of FYM (15 t/ha) and groundnut cake (0.50 t/ha). Application of FYM (25 t/ha) along with RDF recorded higher growth and yield attributes resulting in significantly higher annual leaf yield (588.55 leaves/vine), followed by farmers’ practice + foliar spray of 25% vermiwash (540.17 leaves /vine) and FYM (25 t/ha) + 2 t/ha of neem cake (512.07 leaves/vine). The lowest yield was obtained in the treatment consisting of farmers’ practice alone (279.28 leaves/vine). Maximum leaf size was obtained in the treatment consisting of farmers’ practice + foliar spray of 25% vermiwash (127.30 cm²) followed by FYM (25 t/ha) along with RDF (117.30 cm²) and FYM (25 t/ha) + 2 t/ha neem cake (108.48 cm²). The lowest leaf size was obtained in the treatment consisting of existing farmers’ practice alone (78.27 cm²). Organic nutrition not only produced larger leaf but also recorded higher leaf yield indicating scope for sustainable farming.