Influence of organic cultivation on growth, yield and quality of Bell pepper (Capsicum annuum var. grossum)

The present experiment was conducted to study the effect of organic manures on growth, yield, seed production and fruit quality of Bell Pepper. Among various treatment combinations, treatment T₁₄ (FYM = 25 t ha⁻¹, 120 kg Nitrogen, 90 kg Phosphorus and 30 kg potash ha⁻¹) significantly increased the plant height (70.20 cm), plant spread (49.25 cm), number of fruits plant⁻¹ (13.20), fruit length (5.90 cm) and fruit width (7.23 cm), average fruit weight (54.67 g), fruit yield plant⁻¹ (0.723 kg), fruit yield plot⁻¹ (17.333 kg), total fruit yield hectare⁻¹ (256.807 q) and seed plant-1 (227.66) as compared to other treatments. T14 also recorded least number of days to first flowering (41.13), days to first fruit set (50.26) and days to first fruit harvest (78.00) after transplanting. However Treatment T₇ (Vermicompost @ 12 t ha⁻¹ + Azotobacter) recorded significantly higher vitamin C content (121.50 mg/100g), dry matter (10.16 g/100g), total chlorophyll content (161.083 mg/100g), total soluble solids (4.98°Brix) and total carotenoids (0.767mg/100g) of Capsicum fruits.