INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT IN OKRA

Okra is a fast growing, erect, herbaceous annual and belongs to the family Malvaceae. Okra is an economically important vegetable crop grown in tropical and sub-tropical parts of world. The current global scenario firmly emphasizes the need to adopt ecofriendly agricultural practices for sustainable food production. The cost of inorganic fertilizers is increasing enormously to an extent that they are out of reach of small and marginal farmers. The use of organic liquid products such as beejamrit, jeevamrit and panchagavya results in higher growth, yield and quality of crops. The use of biofertilizer and organic manures in agriculture is becoming popular now a days not only in order to minimize the cost of chemical fertilizers but also to reduce the adverse effects of chemical fertilizer on soil and plant environment and to ensure more crop productivity. Use of biofertilizers to meet the nutrient requirement of crop would be an inevitable practice in the years to come for sustainable agriculture. INM would be a viable strategy for advocating judicious and efficient use of chemical fertilizers with matching addition of addition of fermented liquid organic manure and biofertilizers.