Evaluating growth attributes and soil heath under long term implementation of organic farming in fodder cowpea

A study was conducted to evaluate the impact of organic and conventional production system on fodder cowpea growth and soil health. This study was conducted in a farmers field of Erode, Tamil Nadu in a randomized block design with three replications. For the study, six farmers fields involving organic (ORG) practices and one conventional (CON) production system were selected. Soil and plant samples were collected at the time of harvest and analyzed for growth, and soil health parameters. The results revealed that significant differences were found in the growth parameters of fodder cowpea among the organic and conventional production system. The analyzed chemical properties viz., soil reaction, electrical conductivity (EC), macro nutrients, and biological indicators viz., soil organic carbon (SOC), organic matter (SOM), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), culturable microbes, and yield were found to be higher in organically managed soils than the conventional farming method.