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RESPONSE OF RADISH TO INTEGRATED USE OF NITROGEN FERTILIZER AND RECYCLED ORGANIC WASTE

H. N. ASGHAR, M. ISHAQ, Z.A. ZAHIR*, M. KHALID AND M. ARSHAD

Abstract: Recycling of organic wastes could convert them into a value-added product that may be effective even when applied in small quantity compared with the traditional use of their huge quantities. Two field trials were conducted to evaluate the integrated use of recycled organic waste and chemical fertilizers for improving growth and yield of radish. Recycled organic waste (compost) was enriched with an auxin precursor L-tryptohan (@ 6 mg kg^-1 compost) and this enriched compost was tested alone and in combination with recommended nitrogen fertilizer @ 50 and 75%. Enriched compost + 50% recommended nitrogen fertilizer produced significantly better results in almost all the parameters except number of leaves plant^-1 and root length. Other parameters like leaf area, root girth, total biomass plant^-1, and yield ha^-1 were increased by 82, 68, 132.9 and 167.6%, respectively compared to control. Results revealed that enriched compost with 50% recommended nitrogen fertilizer gave almost same results as the 100% N fertilizer alone, thus saving half of the Nitrogen.

Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad-38040, Pakistan.
Corresponding Author: bio@fsd.paknet.com.pk, zazahir@yahoo.com; Phone: 92 41 920 1092, Fax: 92 41 920 1221