Abstracts |
Papaya (Carica papaya L.) grows well under tropical and subtropical conditions. The crop deserves attention due to its high nutritive value and production potentiality. In recent years, papaya is being attacked by many devastating pests and diseases particularly ring spot virus and foot rot. Preventive methods work better than curative for these biotic stresses. Hence, a study was undertaken to test the effect of four bio-inoculants on growth and performance of papaya (cv. Solo) seedlings in the nursery stage. The bio-inoculants were Endoroots soluble (1), Mycorrhiza Roots (2), Mycoplex (3) and Trichoderma. Among them, the seed germination was higher (92.18%) in treatment with Endoroots soluble at 20 g/cft of coir pith and Trichoderma 2 g/kg of coir pith, where as the treatment with Mycorrhiza Roots at 20 g/cft of coir pith media influenced most of the characters positively, viz. higher plant height (46.86 cm at 60 DAS), higher stem girth (1.90 cm at 60 DAS), more leaf area (99.53 cm2 at 60 DAS), more number of roots per plant (17.06), higher root length (16.06 cm), higher fresh (4.5 g) and dry weight (0.92 g) of roots per plant. Further, the N, P and K analysis in seedlings after 60 days growth revealed that, the treatment with Mycorrhiza Roots at 20 g/cft of coir pith media accumulated higher N (3.77%), P (8.37%) and K (4.00%) in the seedlings. Thus, it can be concluded that, a combination of these bio-inoculants in the nursery media will help to get strong, healthy, disease free seedlings in the nursery. |