International Journal of Horticulture, 2024, Vol.14, No.2, 59-65 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/ijh 61 2 Results and Analysis 2.1 Pre-harvest studies The data revealed that different treatments significantly affected the plant height at different growth stages (Table 1). After 30, 60 and 90 days of sowing, the significantly highest plant height was recorded with treatment T4 followed by treatment T3 and T5 respectively whereas, the significantly lowest plant height was observed with control treatment. At harvest, the significantly highest plant height was observed with treatment T4 over other treatments except treatment T3 which was statistically similar to treatment T4 while, the significantly lowest plant height was observed in treatment T12 (control). Similarly, vermicompost amendments were reported to increase the plant heights of potatoes (Alam, 2007). Ali and Kashem (2018) found comparable outcomes regarding cabbage plant height when influenced by the combination of inorganic fertilizer and vermicompost. Similarly, the results indicated that (Table 1), during the growing period, the significantly maximum number of branches, compound leaves, nodules and pods per plant was recorded in treatment T4 over all treatments. The significantly minimum number of such attributes was observed in treatment T12 (control). The growth parameters of chickpeas likely increased due to the higher availability of nutrients from the recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF) combined with vermicompost, facilitating the synthesis of nucleic acids, amino acids, and amide substances in the growing region and meristematic tissue, thereby enhancing cell division and leading to increased growth attributes in these treatments. All integrated nutrient levels outperformed the control group in plant height, branches per plant, seeds per pod, pods per plant, grain weight, stover yield, grain yield, biological yield, and harvest index during the study. The application of vermicompost, either alone or in combination with other organic or chemical fertilizers, has been demonstrated to effectively enhance the growth and yield of various plants, which was supported by (Singh et al., 2011) in French bean and (Javed and Panwar, 2013) in black gram and Soyabean. Plant growth and development are facilitated by the existence of humic acids (Arancon et al., 2005) and the presence of micro and macronutrients within vermicompost (Atiyeh et al., 2000). Atiyeh et al. (2000) demonstrated that vermicomposts have the potential to enhance plant growth when incorporated into soil. The growth and yield of various plants are boosted by vermicompost, which offers high porosity, aeration, drainage, and water-holding capacity along with beneficial microflora (Tomati et al., 1987). Islam et al. (2016) demonstrated that the highest pod number was observed with the vermicompost treatment. 2.2 Post-harvest studies It is clearly evident from the data that the grain yield, stover yield, Biological yield, test weight and harvest index of chickpea were deviated significantly due to various treatments (Table 2). The significantly highest grain yield, stover yield and Biological yield were obtained under the treatment T4, while, significantly lowest results were obtained with treatment T12 (Control). The observed effects could be attributed to the application of RDF alongside vermicompost, which enhanced the physicochemical and biological properties of the soil, thereby promoting vigorous plant growth, increased production of functioning leaves, and greater accumulation of carbohydrates and proteins, which were then translocated to the reproductive organs, ultimately resulting in enhanced crop yield. Similar findings were reported by Verma et al. (2017) in chickpeas. Additionally, Singh and Singh (2014) noted significant differences in harvest index under these treatments, possibly due to proportionately higher grain production compared to straw yield.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ4ODYzMg==