International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science (IJRIAS) |Volume VII, Issue X, October 2022|ISSN 2454-6194
K.M.K. Sandamali, H. Balasooriya, K.W.M.U.P. Gunasekara, K.P. P. Udayagee
Faculty of Technology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
Abstract: Resource use efficiency and food safety are key features of agricultural sustainability. In this study, two sets of experiments were conducted to evaluate the impact of, 1. amending potting media and 2. adding different fertilizers on the growth and yield of gherkin. Two potting media were considered (conventional potting media: M1, field soil: M2) in experiment 1. The corncob (CC); 5%,10%,15% and corncob biochar (CCBC); 5%, 10% were mixed with potting media. Experiment 2 was conducted by incorporating a homemade organic fertilizer (T1), market-available organic fertilizer (T2), and conventional inorganic fertilizer (T3). The experiments were conducted in a controlled environment. In experiment 1, the days taken to first flowering, days taken to first fruit settling, the weight of the harvest, the number of fruits in both media and relative growth rate were comparatively high in 5% CCBC amended potting media. In experiment 2, the best vegetative growth rate was observed in T3and T2 (mean plant height of the last week 148.8 and 147.9 cm, mean leaf growth 4.9 and 5.6 cm, and mean node growth 16 and 15 respectively), whereas the lowest was reported in T1 (97.1, 5.1, 10.5). However, the highest average yields were recorded in T3 and T1 without showing a significant difference. T1; the homemade organic fertilizer resulted in a substantial yield at a low cost.
Keywords: gherkin, corncob, organic cultivation, biochar
I. INTRODUCTION
The world is moving fast; sustainable consumption and the adoption of resources are essential (Jonker & Harmsen, 2012). The resources available on the earth would be enough only for the Global Ecological Footprint equivalent to one Earth (“one planet”). If it were two Earths, we would need twice as many resources as Earth’s capacity. Currently, the Ecological Footprint is equivalent to 1.6 Earths (Zhang et al., 2022). Thus, there is a more significant trend in reusing waste materials in agricultural production (Arfanuzzaman & Atiq Rahman, 2017). However, the quality of products and the environmental cost of production should remain the same while adopting low-cost solutions to agricultural and agronomic practices of agricultural output. Moving toward organic products is another trend in many sectors, including agriculture (Mpanga et al., 2021; Oyetunde-Usman et al., 2021).