Influence of organic manures on soil properties, nutrient uptake, growth and yield of young tea

Increased use of chemical fertilizers creates many problems for soil health and, therefore, investigations are necessary to develop high-value organic manures and to test their efficacy. A study was, therefore, carried out in a pot experiment to study the effect of four organic manures, viz. cattle manure (CM), vermicompost (VC), decomposed tea waste (TW) and decomposed neem cake (NC) and their combinations on nutrient availability, uptake, growth and yield of young tea plants belonging to the clone TV 23. Vermicompost either alone or in combination with NC or TW (1:1) was superior organic manure for growth, yield, nutrient uptake and availability in soil. Maximum benefits in growth and yield were observed when organic manure application was increased from 2 to 4 t/ha though nutrient uptake and availability continued to increase upto 8 t/ha. Soil pH was maintained within the desired range, even at the highest level of application @ 8 t/ha. Decomposed NC at 8 t/ha decreased the yield of tea.