International Journal of Horticulture, 2024, Vol.14, No.2, 59-65 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/ijh 64 The increased mobilization of photosynthates to developing seeds due to the application of macronutrients could be the reason for the increase in the test weight of the seed. Significant effects were observed on the growth and yield of beans in plots fertilized with a combination of 50% vermicompost supplemented with Inorganic fertilizer. In plots treated with NPK and Vermicompost, pod length, the number of seeds per pod, the number of pods per plant, and pod weight were notably higher (Manivannan et al., 2009). Vermicompost acts as a naturally generated, slow-release supplier of plant nutrients, and incorporating it has been proven to enhance plant dry weight. Combining vermicompost with chemical fertilizer has been found to enhance leaf area index, making plants more photosynthetically active and leading to improvements in yield attributes (Sharma and Mitra, 1988). The inclusion of vermicompost led to a notable positive impact on the growth, yield, and elemental content of plants compared to the control group. Plots treated with vermicompost exhibited a significant increase in plant height, leaf length, and fruit yield of pepper plants (Narkhede et al., 2011). The application of vermicompost improves soil's physical and chemical conditions, leading to enhanced uptake by plants, ultimately resulting in increased growth, yield, and quality of beans (Manivannan et al., 2009). (Kumar et al., 2018) conducted a trial to find out the effect of integrated nutrient management on the growth, yield and economies of chickpeas. Based on experimental results, it was found that the highest grain yield was recorded with the treatment RDF, Vermicompost at 5 tonnes per ha, Rhizobium culture and PSB applied. 3 Conclusion From this study, it is recommended that the recommended dose of NPK fertilizer along with 25% vermicompost may be more beneficial in terms of growth and productivity. The significantly highest grain yield (2,799.73 kg/ha) and stover yield (3,737.65 kg/ha) was obtained under the treatment T4 (RDF + 25% vermicompost) followed by the treatments T3 (2,643.42 kg/ha and 3,568.62 kg/ha) and T5 (2,406.73 kg/ha and 3,321.29 kg/ha) while, significantly lowest grain yield (742.56 kg/ha) and stover yield (1,127.20 kg/ha) were obtained with treatment T12 (control). The significantly highest biological yield of chickpea (6,537.38 kg/ha) was obtained under treatment T4 (RDF + 25% vermicompost) over other treatments followed by T3 and T5. It is suggested that the application of a recommended dose of fertilizer with 25% vermicompost is a more scientific management of nutrients in sandy loam soil for chickpea crops in Madi Valley of Chitwan, Nepal. Authors’ contributions KPU: Contribution to design and implementation of the research, interpretation of the results, writing the manuscript. AC: Implementation of the research, analysis of data, interpretation of the results, writing the manuscript. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript. Conflict of Interest Disclosure The authors affirm that this research was conducted without any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. References Abbo S., Molina C., Jungmann R., Grusak M.A., Berkovitch Z., Reifen R., Kahl G., Winter P., and Reifen R., 2005, Quantitative trait loci governing carotenoid concentration and weight in seeds of chickpea (Cicer arietinumL.), Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 111(2): 185-195. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-005-1930-y PMid:15918010 Alam M.N., Jahan M.S., Ali M.K., Islam M.S., and Khandaker S.M.A.T., 2007, Effect of vermicompost and NPKS fertilizers on growth, yield and yield components of red amaranth, Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 1(4): 706-716. Ali S., and Kashem M.A., 2018, Effect of Vermicompost on the Growth and Yield of Cabbage, Journal of Agricultural Engineering and Food Technology, 5(1): 45-49. Arancon N., Edwards C., Bierman P., Metzger J., and Lucht C., 2005, Effects of vermicomposts produced from cattle manure, food waste and paper waste on the growth and yield of peppers in the field, Pedobiologia, 49: 297-306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedobi.2005.02.001 Atiyeh R.M., Subler S., Edwards C.A., Bachman G., Metzger J., and Shuster W., 2000, Effects of vermicomposts and composts on plant growth in horticultural container media and soil, Pedobiologia, 44: 579-590. https://doi.org/10.1078/S0031-4056(04)70073-6
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