DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOIL FERTILITY ORGANIC ENHANCEMENT PELLETS BY USING WATER HYACINTH (Eichhornia crassipes), FISH WASTE POWDER AND ERP FOR OKRA

Abstract

Chemical fertilizers cause a slew of societal and environmental problems, and it is urged to explore the potential of locally available substances to supplement major nutrients to the crops. Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) had an environmental effect on the water bodies. Therefore, to effectively control the impact of water hyacinth in agricultural field; this study was initiated to find out the use of water hyacinth ( Eichhornia crassipes) with nitrogen rich fish waste, and ERP as phosphorus source to prepare pellets as a nutrient source for the growth and development of okra. The experiment was conducted at the Eastern University of Sri Lanka in Batticaloa district. For this experiment, the Okra MI-5 variety was used. Research was carried out by using a complete Randomized Design (CRD) with eight treatments and three replicates. Two types of organic pellets by using different ratios of the ingredients were used as organic nutrient sources. Organic pellet A included the 1 :1 :1 ratio (water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes): fish waste powder: ERP) and organic pellet B included the 3:1:2:1/2 (Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) fish waste powder: ERP) ratio. Treatments used were T1- Control (only soil), T2 - Organic pellet A (before sowing and 20 days after Planting), T3 - Organic pellet A (before sowing), T4 - Organic pellet B (before sowing), T5 - Organic pellet B (before sowing and 20 days after Planting), T6 - Organic pellet B (before sowing ,15 and 30 days after Planting), T7 - Organic pellet A (15 days after sowing + 50% urea), T8 - Organic pellet B (after 15 days after sowing+ 50% urea). Black polythene bags with 4 cm height and 30 cm diameter were used in this experiment. From this study, it was found that growth and yield parameters of okra MI 5 variety were increased by using organic pellet B rather than organic pellet A.