Effect of Organic Manures on Growth, Yield and Quality of Papaya (Carica papaya L.) cv. Taiwan Red Lady-786

¹ Amity Institute of Horticulture studies and Research, Amity University, Noida, U.P, India, 201303
² Amity Food & Agriculture Foundation, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India, 201303
³ Sri Konda Laxman Telangana Horticulyural University, Mulugu, Siddipet, Telangana

Abstract

Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is a heavy nutrient-exhaustive crop that needs a continuous and balanced supply of nutrients to achieve optimal growth, yield and fruit quality. But overreliance on chemical fertilizers has a negative impact on environmental sustainability, soil health and long term productivity, highlighting the importance of adopting sustainable organic nutrient management practices. This study was conducted to assess the impact of various combinations of organic manures on plant growth, yield and quality of papaya. This study was conducted with using a Randomized Block Design (RBD), evaluating various organic treatments against the control (T0). The statistical results revealed that the significant differences among the treatments on vegetative, yield and biochemical parameters. T5 shown better performance with regard to the following traits: max. plant height (112.79 cm at 120 DAP), number of leaves, stem girth, number of fruits per plant (28.93), fruit yield per plant (42.46 kg) and yield per hectare (126.85 t ha⁻¹). The papaya fruit quality parameters were also improved on treatment T5, with significant increase in total sugars (9.1%), reducing sugars (6.80%), total soluble solids (11.92 %), lycopene content and fruit firmness (4.7 kg cm⁻²) and a longer shelf life (7.6 days). The three multivariate statistical analysis methods all showed T5 as the most effective treatment, suggesting equal effectiveness on productivity and fruit quality parameters. This is perhaps because of the superior soil fertility, nutrient release, microbial activity and physiological efficiency under integrated organic nutrient management with T5. As per the results of the study, it is recommended for organic manures in the right combinations can be used as a sustainable and environmentally friendly approach to enhance the productivity, quality and sustainability of papaya crop.