Effect of graded levels of N through FYM, inorganic fertilizers and biofertilizers on growth, herbage yield, oil yield and economics of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.)

Field experiments were conducted at ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru during kharif season of 2015 and 2016 with nine treatments and three replications in a randomized block design to find out the effect of different levels of N through FYM (100, 75 and 50% of the recommended N along with and without bio-fertilizers), recommended dose of NPK (160: 80: 80 kg/ha), recommended dose of FYM (10 t/ha) + NPK (160: 80: 80 kg/ha) and recommended does of FYM (10 t/ha) as a control on growth, herbage yield, oil yield and economics of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.). The pooled data results revealed that the conjunctive use of inorganic fertilizer along with FYM increased the growth, herbage yield and oil yield of sweet basil. Application of recommended FYM (10 t/ha) along with recommended NPK (160: 80: 80 kg/ha) registered the highest plant height (81.22 and 60.20 cm), number of branches (30.25 and 24.10), leaf area (16.35 and 9.80 cm²), fresh herbage yield (39.95 and 19.37 t ha⁻¹), dry herbage yield (8.43 and 3.76 t ha⁻¹) and oil yield (199.7 and 107.58 l/ha) in the main crop and ratoon crops, respectively. Highest B: C ratio (5.49) was obtained with application of full dose of recommended NPK fertilizer during 2015. While in 2016, the maximum B: C ratio (3.71) was recorded with application of recommended dose of NPK (160: 80: 80 kg/ha) + FYM (10 t/ha).