Performance of cauliflower as influenced by organic inputs and microbial consortium

An investigation was carried out during 2013–2014 and 2014–2015 to study the performance of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L. var. botrytis) cv. Pusa Snowball K-1 as influenced by organic inputs and microbial consortium in the Department of Horticulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat. The experiment was conducted in Randomized Block Design and replicated three times. The trial included three different organic manures each at two levels along the microbial consortium and one treatment with recommended dose of fertilizer. The treatment which received recommended dose of NPK along with FYM (T₁) produced the highest curd yield (280.81q ha⁻¹) followed by the treatment which received 5 t ha⁻¹ enriched compost along with microbial consortium (T₈) recorded 209.04 q ha⁻¹. Among the organic treatments, the above treatment showed the highest values like curd size (103.46 cm²), leaf number (18.73) and ash content of curd (6.79%). Quality parameters like ascorbic acid (60.13 mg 100 g⁻¹) was highest in treatment receiving 5 t ha⁻¹ enriched compost and consortium (T₈) and leaf ash content (7.28%) in treatment that received 5 t ha⁻¹ compost with microbial consortium treatment (T₄). Soil parameters revealed that pH, soil organic matter content, N, P, K and MBC were found better in plot treated with enriched compost 5t ha⁻¹ and microbiol consortium (T8).