Studies on the effect of organic manures on growth, yield and quality of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) under black soils of northern transition zone of Karnataka

A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of organic manures and their combinations on growth, yield and quality of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) at Main Agricultural Research Station, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad during kharif 2005–06. The experiment was laid out in RBD with four organic sources and their combinations. The RDF with and without FYM kept as control. Application of FYM + 100% RDF (772.2 kg/ha) recorded significantly higher fruit yield over sole application of organics and RDF alone. However, the different combinations of organics viz., FYM (50%) + poultry manure (50%) (727.6 kg/ha), vermicompost (50%) + FYM (50%) (713.51 kg/ha), FYM (50%) + neem cake (50%) (710.6 kg/ha) and poultrymanure @ 7.5 t/ha (708.2 kg/ha) also recorded on par yield that of FYM + 100 per cent RDF. The growth and yield components at harvest also followed the same trend as that of fruit yield. The quality parameters like oleoresin per cent increased by 13.89, 6.6, 3.7 and 2.3 per cent with application of poultry manure @ 7.5 t/ha, vermicompost 10 t/ha, FYM (50%) + vermicompost (50%), FYM (50%) + neem cake (50%) as compared RDF alone. The ascorbic acid also increased substantially due to application of organics, FYM (50%) + neem cake (50%) (133.32 mg/100 g) recorded significantly higher over rest of the treatments.