Yield and Quality Attributes of Cabbage as Influenced by BD-501, Shasyagavya and Farmer’s Production Practice
Amitava Dutta
Biodynamic farming intervened with organic farming denotes ‘working with the energies which create and maintain life’, where energies from cosmos, mother earth, cow and plants are systematically and synergistically harnessed in the farm considering it as a living system itself which interacts with the environment, to build healthy living soil, and to produce food that nourishes, vitalizes and helps to develop humanity that signifies natural resource conservation. On the contrary, Indian farmers who follow conventional system of chemical farming practices were also taken into account in this research study as Farmer’s Production Practice (FPP) in comparison to the BD-cum-organic package of practices. With highlighting on above facts, a field experiment was conducted during Rabi season of 2014-15 at the experimental organic farm of the university, to find out and observe the influence of different concentrations of BD-501 and Shasyagavya on growth, yield and quality of cabbage along with their effects on soil bio-chemical properties. The respective treatments (8+1) were: T1 [BD-501 (1%)], T2 [BD-501 (5%)], T3 [BD-501 (10%)], T4 [Shasyagavya (10%)], T5 [BD-501 (1%) + Shasyagavya (10%)], T6 [BD-501 (5%) + Shasyagavya (10%)], T7 [BD-501 (10%) + Shasyagavya (10%)], T8 [without any organic formulation] and T9 as FPP [conventional chemical farming practices]. All the growth and yield parameters except stem length and quality parameters of cabbage were positively influenced by BD-501 and Shasyagavya applications. The performance of cabbage was not up to the mark in the case of the treatment where no organic input was applied; as a consequence, poor yield and quality was documented from the control treatment (T8). Supplementation of organic sources of manures resulted in higher yield of cabbage heads with higher ascorbic acid (in T5), and protein (in T9) as compared to the control treatment (T8). Considerable increase in available nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, organic carbon and microbial population was observed in experimental soils of biodynamic and organic intervention after harvesting the crop as compared to their initial status or even conventionally growing condition (FPP).
Keywords: Cabbage; (Brassica oleracea var. capitata L); growth characters; yield parameters; quality attributes; BD-501; Shasyagavya; microbial population; soil quality.