Response of biofertilizers and pesticides on yield and quality of cabbage, radish and brinjal in vegetable-based rotation system

Microbial biotechnology has emerged as an effective tool in offering tremendous potential to increase productivity under biodynamic production system. To ascertain the effects of different biofertilizers and biopesticides used in combination with organic nutrient on different vegetable crops viz. cabbage, radish and brinjal, an experiment was planned to find ideal microbial strains for specific crop and suitable biopesticides against major vegetable pests so as to develop a complete package of organic farming. The treatments comprised of five combine sources of microbial fertilizers, including chemical fertilizer, and four sources microbial pesticides including chemical pesticides. Among the tested biofertilizers, Azospirillium bresilence manifested better response for each included crop under mid-hill conditions of Himachal Pradesh, India. Though the yield in organic produce was at par with produce obtained under conventional method but the produce was superior in protein and vitamin C contents with better shelf life under ambient storage conditions. The nitrate content, which has an ill effect on health, was also quite low in these treatments. In case of biopesticides Bacillus thurigenisis (Bio-lap & Elcar) and Neem-based pesticide Neemarin were found equally effective in controlling Diamond moth of cabbage, leaf caterpillar of radish and shoot and fruit borer of brinjal as chemical pesticide Endosulfan.