ROLE OF MANURES AND FERTILIZERS ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF SWEET BASIL (
Ocimum basilicam)
A study on effect of organic
manures, nitrogen and sulphur on sweet basil growth and yield was conducted at Agricultural College and Research Institute, Killikulam. Application of farm yard
Manure @ 12.5 t/ha, Wettable Sulphur @ 20 kg/ha and urea @ 60 kg/ha increased the plant height (58 cm), branches per plant (34.63) and inflorescence per plant (68). The higher plant height, number of branches per plant and number of inflorescence per plant observed in this treatment might be due to higher dose of nitrogen that contributes the higher vegetative growth. Maximum wet and dry herbage yield per hectare was observed with application of farm yard manure @ 12.5 t/ha, Wettable Sulphur @ 20 kg/ha and urea @ 60 kg/ha. This treatment registered 732 q/ha of wet herbage yield and 247.5 q/ha dry herbage yield. The same treatment showed the maximum seed yield of 779 kg/ha.