INTEGRATED USE OF PSB AND ORGANIC FERTILIZERS TO IMPROVE YIELD AND QUALITY OF BELL PEPPER (Capsicum Annum L.) CV. GREEN WONDER

Abstract

Bell pepper is an important Solanaceous crop that is cultivated all around the globe for its economical and nutritional value. In Pakistan, it is cultivated mainly in Sindh and Punjab province of Pakistan. However,   average yield ha-1 is quite low as compared to the rest of the world. One of the main reasons for this low yield is poor phosphorous status. The current study was conducted to estimate the effects of organic application combined with PSB biofertilizers (Phosphorus Solubilizing Bacteria) on growth and yield of bell pepper. Organic amendments included leaf compost (LC), farmyard manure (FYM) and poultry manure (PM). Bell pepper cultivar “Green Wonder” was used as test crop. FYM and PM showed better results as compared to LC in most of the measured parameters. Plant height in FYM and PM was 59.79 and 59.07 cm while PSB application produced 67.84 cm high plants. Maximum leaf area was 176.98 cm2 that for FYM and was further increased up to 204.43 cm2 when supplemented with PSB. Bell pepper yield was also maximum in FYM i.e. 1211.7 g while PM showed a value of 1077.6. g. However, when PSB was applied in combination with these treatments, yield plant-1 was further increased up to 1393.4 and 1227.6 g, respectively. Total soluble solids were statistically at par among all the organic amendments but higher than control. Ascorbic acid was maximum in PM (58 mg 100 g-1) and followed by FYM (55.53 mg 100 g-1). PSB application showed a value of 72.46 mg 100 g-1. It is recommended from these results that application of organic amendments and PSB should be practiced enhancing that yield and quality of bell pepper.