Effect of media on lablab (Lablab purpureus var. typicus) for yield and quality under soilless vertical farming system

Lablab (Lablab purpureus var. typicus) is one of the important leguminous vegetable crops known for its highest content of protein. The area under cultivation is shrinking due to conversion of farm land into non-agricultural purposes. Under these circumstances, soilless vertical farming system is the only alternate cultivation system for increasing production of vegetables. Media play a major role in growth and yield of vegetables under soilless conditions. With this background, the present experiment was carried out to study the effect of growing media in lablab for high yield and quality under soilless vertical farming systems.

Two lablab varieties viz., CO 5 (V₁) and Arka Prasidhi (V₂) were raised under five different media combinations viz., 100% cocopeat (M₁), 50% cocopeat + 50% Vermicompost (M₂), 50% cocopeat + 50 % FYM (M₃), 50% cocopeat + 25% vermicompost + 25% FYM (M₄) and Control (M₅) with three replications during 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. This experiment was laid out in FCRD. The growth and yield parameters were recorded and the data was subjected to statistical analysis.

The experimental results revealed that both the varieties and growing media provided significant impact on growth, yield, quality and uptake of nutrients whereas dry matter content exhibited no significant impact among the different media. The pooled season data revealed that variety CO 5 observed for the overall superior performance while the media combination of 50% cocopeat + 50% Vermicompost considered superior for growth and yield characters where 50% cocopeat + 25% vermicompost + 25% FYM showed superiority for the quality parameters and uptake of nutrients.