Effect of farmyard manure and Azotobacter on the nutritional quality of high-altitude-grown cruciferous vegetables: an exploratory study

Communities residing in extreme high altitude (HA) regions frequently face food and nutritional security challenges due to technological backwardness and uncertain transport connectivity leads to poor health conditions due to nutritional deficiencies. Thus, the current study has been uniquely designed to compare the nutritional quality of selected HA and low altitude (LA) grown cruciferous vegetables [ i.e. cabbage ( Brassica oleracea var. capitata), cauliflower ( Brassica oleracea var. botrytis), knol-khol ( Brassica oleracea var. gongylodes), and radish ( Raphanus sativus L.)] using organic treatments viz. farmyard manure (FYM) and Azotobacter . A study has been conducted as a two-factorial experiment in a randomized block design. The first factor was agri-treatment (T 1 -FYM, T 2 - Azotobacter , T 3 -FYM + Azotobacter and T 4 -control) while second factor being study location (HA vs. LA). Among the treatments T 3 demonstrated highest effectiveness in improving proximate matter at both the locations. However, the effect of T 3 treatment on nutritional quality of cultivated vegetables was significantly ( p ≤ 0.001; p ≤ 0.01 and p ≤ 0.05) pronounced under the harsh climatic condition of HA. It was observed that none of the cruciferous vegetables consistently exhibited the highest values across all the analyzed parameters instead resulted in non uniform dominance i.e ., total carbohydrate content (cabbage), total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity, crude protein and dietary fiber contents (knol-khol). Macro nutrient analysis showed higher content of nitrogen (knol-khol), potassium and sodium (radish) in HA samples while, magnesium (knol-khol) was found higher in LA samples of T 3 . Among the micro nutrients manganese content was significantly higher in HA samples (knol-khol) whereas, iron, copper and zinc (radish) were found higher in T 3 treated LA samples. Additionally, T 3 demonstrated significant improvement in the soil fertility with respect to other treatments. These preliminary studies propose that the combination of organic treatments i.e. FYM & Azotobacter is a viable mean to boost proximate matter and nutritional enrichment of food crops at HA. • Application of organic fertilizers is key in improving the crop quality at extreme climatic condition. • The combination of FYM and Azotobacter significantly enhance the proximate nutrient content in cruciferous vegetables. • Abiotic factors of HA has contributed in enhancing the cumulative effect of FYM and Azotobacter treatment.