Effect of Organic Manures and Bio-Fertilizers on Growth, Yield and Quality of Kharif Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.)]

A field experiment was conducted at Agronomy Instructional Farm of SDAU, Sardarkrushinagar, Gujarat, India during kharif season of 2020-2021. The experiment consisting nine treatments viz., T1-Absolute control, T2-100% RDF (20 kg N + 40 kg P2O5 ha-1), T3- FYM @ 5.0 t ha-1, T4-FYM @ 2.5 t ha-1 + Rhizobium + PSB, T5-vermicompost @ 2.0 t ha-1, T6-vermicompost @ 1.0 t ha-1 + Rhizobium + PSB, T7-castor cake @ 2.0 t ha-1, T8-castor cake @ 1.0 t ha-1 + Rhizobium + PSB, T9-Ghan Jeevamrut @ 250 kg ha-1 at sowing time + Seed treatment with Beejamrut @ 200 ml kg-1 seed+ Jeevamrut @ 500 lit ha-1 with irrigation at sowing and 30 DAS were tested in randomized block design with four replications. The result revealed that the application of T8-castor cake @ 1.0 t ha-1 + Rhizobium + PSB showed significant improvement on plant height, number of branches per plant, dry matter accumulation, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, length of pod and seed yield per plant whereas, application of T4-FYM @ 2.5 t ha-1 + Rhizobium + PSB gave significantly higher number of root nodules per plant, fresh and dry weight of root nodules. it is concluded that higher yield from kharif cowpea could be obtained by applying either castor cake @ 1.0 t ha-1 or FYM @ 2.5 t ha-1 along with Rhizobium + PSB in loamy sand soils of North Gujarat.