Effect of Green Manuring and Nutrient Management on Soil Fertility, Growth and Yield Sustainability of Assam Lemon (Citrus limon L. Burm.) Orchards

An experiment was carried out at AAU- Citrus and Plantation Crops Research Station, Tinsukia during 2020-2024 to evaluate the efficiency of the use of green manures on Assam Lemon in comparison to Farm Yard Manure (FYM) and inorganic fertilizers. The experiment was conducted with five treatments viz. recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) as control, green manuring (Tephrosia sp), green manuring with 50% RDF, FYM @20 kg/plant and FYM @20 kg/plant with 50% RDF and all the treatments were replicated thrice. Green manuring with 50% of RDF recorded the highest yield (21.35 t ha-1) along with higher values of all the yield parameters viz. number of fruits per plant (98.0) and fruit weight (196.12 g). However, the plant growth parameters did not show any significant difference among RDF, green manuring with 50% RDF and application of FYM with 50% RDF. Fruit volume, fruit juice content and ascorbic acid content were found significantly higher in green manured treatments. The soil properties after one year of application of green manuring with 50 % RDF showed significantly higher soil organic carbon, available nutrients (N, P, K) and water holding capacities over RDF, green manuring alone as well as application of FYM.