Effect of Organic Manures and Biofertilizers on Growth, Flowering and Yield of Papaya (Carica papaya L.)

Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is an economically important tropical fruit crop that requires adequate nutrient availability for optimal growth, flowering and fruit production. Organic manures and biofertilisers offer potential benefits for soil fertility and sustainable crop production. However, information on their individual and combined effects on the growth, flowering and yield of papaya under the agro-climatic conditions of central Uttar Pradesh remains limited. A field experiment was conducted at the Horticulture Farm, Maharishi School of Agriculture, Maharishi University of Information Technology, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, during the kharif season, to evaluate the effect of organic manures and biofertilisers on growth, flowering and yield attributes of papaya cv. Co-5. Ten treatments, viz. untreated control (T₁), farmyard manure (FYM; T₂), vermicompost (T₃), poultry manure (T₄), FYM + Azotobacter (T₅), vermicompost + Azotobacter (T₆), FYM + phosphate-solubilising bacteria (PSB; T₇), vermicompost + PSB (T₈), FYM + Azotobacter + PSB (T₉) and vermicompost + Azotobacter + PSB (T₁₀), were evaluated in a randomised block design with three replications. Treatments significantly influenced all the characters studied (P < 0.001). Vermicompost + Azotobacter + PSB (T₁₀) recorded the maximum plant height (195.41 cm), stem girth (38.65 cm), number of leaves (48.02 plant⁻¹), leaf area (3895.44 cm²), number of fruits (51.40 plant⁻¹) and average fruit weight (1.30 kg), and the earliest flowering (129.85 days), compared with 148.25 cm, 28.41 cm, 31.41 leaves plant⁻¹, 2865.35 cm², 32.45 fruits plant⁻¹, 0.85 kg and 148.55 days, respectively, in the untreated control. T₁₀ was, however, statistically at par with FYM + Azotobacter + PSB (T₉) for plant height, stem girth, number of leaves, leaf area, days to flowering and number of fruits per plant. Estimated fruit yield increased from 27.58 kg plant⁻¹ in the control to 66.82 kg plant⁻¹ in T₁₀. The combined application of an organic manure (vermicompost or FYM) with Azotobacter and PSB was therefore the most effective among the treatments tested for improving the growth, earliness and yield attributes of papaya under the conditions of this study.