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Indian Journal of Pure & Applied Biosciences (IJPAB)
Year : 2020, Volume : 8, Issue : 2
First page : (501) Last page : (504)
Article doi: : http://dx.doi.org/10.18782/2582-2845.7668

Standardization of Organic Amendments on Yield of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera L.)

Suresh, V.^1*, C. Ciba¹, P. Irene Vethamoni², R. Kousalya³, R. Karthikkannan³, R. Keerthana³, R. Logesh³, M. Lokesh Kumar³ and P. Poomari^3
1Assistant Professor (Hort.), ³M.Sc. Scholar (Hort.)
RVS Padmavathy College of Horticulture, Sempatti, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, India
²Professor (Hort.), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
*Corresponding Author E-mail: sureshboss122@gmail.com
Received: 24.07.2010  |  Revised: 29.08.2019   |  Accepted: 8.09.2019 

 ABSTRACT

The present investigations were carried out at RVS Padmavathy College of Horticulture, Sempatti during 2018-2019. The experiment was laid out in Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) with a total of eight treatment combinations with three replications. The organic sources as soil application viz., FYM @ 25 t ha^-1, Vermicompost @ 2.5 t ha^-1, VAM @ 25 kg ha^-1 and Phophobacteria @ 2 kg ha^-1 and foliar application viz., Humic acid @ 0.3 per cent and Panchakavuya @ 3 per cent. The two way interactions between soil application and foliar nutrients had highly significant influence on fresh root yield, dry root yield, root length and root width. The treatment S₂F₁ (vermicompost @ 2.5 t ha^-1 + humic acid @ 0.3 per cent) registered the highest fresh root yield (104.98 g plant^-1), fresh root yield (3.89 t ^-1),  dry root yield (72.40 g plant^-1), dry root yield (2.68 t ha^-1) root length (13.58 cm) and root width (1.12 cm).

Keywords: Vermicompost, Humic acid yield and Ashwagandha.

Full Text : PDF; Journal doi : http://dx.doi.org/10.18782

Cite this article: Suresh, V., Ciba, C., Vethamoni, P.I., Kousalya, R., Karthikkannan, R., Keerthana, R., Logesh, R., Kumar, M.L., & Poomari, P. (2020). Standardization of Organic Amendments on Yield of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera L.), Ind. J. Pure App. Biosci. 8(2), 501-504. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.18782/2582-2845.7668

INTRODUCTION

Ashwagandha is generally known as ‘Indian Ginseng’ belongs to the family Solanaceae. It is found in wild state in the Mediterranean region of North Africa. In India it is mainly cultivated in Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh, adjoining villages of Kota district of Rajasthan and Karnataka. Ashwagandha roots and occasionally its leaf and seeds are used in ayurvedic and unani medicines preparations (Majumdar, 1955). The total alkaloid content present in roots is reported to vary between 0.13 to 0.31 per cent. Apart from roots, alkaloids have also been reported in leaves and berries (Sreerekha et al., 2004). The roots are prescribed in medicines for hiccup, several female disorders, bronchitis, rheumatism, dropsy and stomach, lung inflammation and skin diseases. They are mostly used for curing general and sexual disabilities. Roots are having anti-aging property (Savitha et al., 2009). In Gloriosa superba, Gupta et al. (2013) reported that the treatment vermicompost @ 4 t ha-1 +1/3 NPK at 120:50:75 kg ha-1 which has higher recorded value of plant height (144.96 cm), number of leaves plant (172.03), number of branches plant (4.35), number of flower plants (30.50), number of fruit plant (10.10) and seed yield (4.47 g). Denre  Monas et al. (2014) reported that higher plant height, number of leaves per plant, leaf area, number of branches per plant, number of fruits per plant, fruit length, total chlorophyll content, reducing sugars and starch content were recorded by application of humic acid @ 0.05 per cent + zinc @ 0.05 per cent + boron @ 0.02 per cent in pepper. The integration of organic manures will lead to the buildup of soil fertility, increased in crop productivity with concomitant nutrient balances besides minimizing the pollution hazards.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The field experiments were carried out at RVS Padmavathy College of Horticulture, Sempatti, Dindigul during 2018-2019. The experiment was laid out in Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) with a total of eight treatment combinations with three replications. The data were subjected to statistics analysis as the method suggested by Panse and Sukhatme, 1985.

Treatment details

Factor I	Factor II
S1 – FYM (25 t ha-1) S2 –  Vermicompost (2.5 t ha-1) S3 –  VAM (25 kg ha-1) S4 –  Phosphobacteria (2 kg ha-1)	F1 –  Humic acid (0.3 per cent) F2 –  Panchakavuya (3 per cent)

Treatment combinations

S 1F1	FYM (25 t ha-1) + Humic acid (0.3 per cent)
S1F2	FYM (25 t ha-1) + Panchakavuya (3 per cent)
S2F1	Vermicompost (2.5 t ha-1) + Humic acid (0.3 per cent)
S2F2	Vermicompost (2.5 t ha-1) +  Panchakavuya (3 per cent)
S3F1	VAM (25 kg ha-1) + Humic acid (0.3 per cent)
S3F2	VAM (25 kg ha-1) +  Panchakavuya (3 per cent)
S4F1	Phosphobacteria (2 kg ha-1) + Humic acid (0.3 per cent)
S4F2	Phosphobacteria (2 kg ha-1) +  Panchakavuya (3 per cent)

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

In the present study the organic amendments had a highly significant effect on fresh root yield (g plant-1), fresh root yield (t ha-1), dry root yield (g ha-1), dry root yield (t ha-1) root length (cm) and root width (cm) of ashwagandha (Table 1, 2 and 3).
Among the four different soil application the treatment S2 (Vermicompost
@ 2.5 t ha-1) recorded highest fresh root yield (104.40 g plant-1), fresh root yield (3.82 t ha-1), dry root yield (71.17 g ha-1), dry root yield (2.64 t ha-1) root length (13.41 cm) and root width (1.10 cm) and it was followed by the treatment S3 (VAM @ 25 kg ha-1) respectively.  The least fresh root yield (74.13 g plant-1), fresh root yield (2.75 t ha-1),  dry root yield (51.13 g plant-1), dry root yield (1.89 t ha-1) root length (10.02 cm) and root width (0.77 cm) was registered in S1 (FYM @ 25t ha-1).
The two different foliar application revealed that the treatment F1 (humic acid @ 0.3 per cent) registered the higher fresh root yield (86.87 g plant-1), fresh root yield (3.22 t ha-1),  dry root yield (59.91 g ha-1), dry root yield (2.22 t ha-1) root length (11.54 cm) and root width (0.92 cm)  while the treatment F2 (panchagavya @ 3 per cent) recorded the least fresh root yield (84.56 g plant-1), fresh root yield (3.13 t ha-1),  dry root yield (58.32 g ha-1), dry root yield (2.16 t ha-1) root length (11.33 cm) and root width (0.90 cm).
The two way interactions between soil application and foliar nutrients had highly significant influence on fresh root yield (g plant-1), fresh root yield (t ha-1), dry root yield
(g plant-1), dry root yield (t ha-1), root length (cm) and dry root length (cm) of ashwagandha. The treatment S2F1 (vermicompost @ 2.5 t ha-1 + humic acid @ 0.3 per cent) registered the highest fresh root yield (104.98 g plant-1), fresh root yield (3.89 t ha-1),  dry root yield (72.40 g ha-1), dry root yield (2.68 t ha-1) root length (13.58 cm) and root width (1.12 cm) respectively and it was followed by the treatment S2F2 (vermicompost @ 25 t ha-1 + Humic acid @ 0.3 per cent) with the fresh root yield (101.40 g plant-1), fresh root yield (3.76 t ha-1),  dry root yield (69.93 g ha-1), dry root yield (2.59 t ha-1) root length (13.24 cm) and root width (1.08 cm)  respectively. The lowest fresh root yield (73.04 g plant-1), fresh root yield (2.71 t ha-1),  dry root yield (50.37 g        ha-1), dry root yield (1.87 t ha-1) root length (9.97 cm) and root width (0.75 cm)  was recorded in the treatment S1F2 (FYM @ 25 t ha-1+  panchakavuya @ 3 per cent).
Among the different organic manures, vermicompost @ 2.5 t ha-1 + humic acid @ 0.3 per cent (S2F1) showed significantly higher fresh root yield, dry root yield, root length and root width. Vermicompost improve the soil physical condition and promotes organic matter, which in turn, produce organic acids, which inhibits particularly IAA oxidase enzyme, resulting in enhancing the promotive effect of auxin-IAA, which has direct effect on plant growth, herbage yield. In cucumber, Rauthan and Schnttzer (1981) proved that application of humic acid had improved the growth of foliage and roots by increased cell elongation and increased water uptake by increased plant roots as well as root systems and increased nutrients uptake, increased leaf surface area.
In the present study among the organic manures recorded significantly higher root length and root width. Among the different organic manures, vermicompost @ 2.5 t ha-1 + humic acid @ 0.3 % (S2F1) showed significantly higher root length and root width. vermicompost improve the soil physical condition and promotes organic matter, which in turn, produce organic acids, which inhibits particularly IAA oxidase enzyme, resulting in enhancing the promotive effect of auxin-IAA, which has direct effect on plant growth, herbage yield. In cucumber, Rauthan and Schnttzer (1981) proved that application of humic acid had improved the growth of foliage and roots by increased cell elongation and increased water uptake by increased plant roots as well as root systems and increased nutrients uptake.

Table 1: Effect of organic amendments on fresh root yield (g plant-1) and fresh root yield
(t ha-1) of ashwagantha

Treatment	Fresh root yield (g plant-1)			Fresh root yield (t ha-1)
	F1	F2	Mean (S)	F1	F2	Mean (S)
S1	75.22	73.04	74.13	2.79	2.71	2.75
S2	104.98	101.40	103.19	3.89	3.76	3.82
S3	87.58	84.49	86.03	3.24	3.13	3.19
S4	79.71	79.30	79.51	2.95	2.94	2.94
Mean  (F)	86.87	84.56		3.22	3.13
	SEd	CD (0.05)		SEd	CD (0.05)
S	0.049	0.121		0.06	0.137
F	0.026	0.061		0.005	0.01
SF	0.062	0.149		0.05	0.11

Table 2: Effect of organic amendments on dry root yield (g plant-1) and dry root yield
(t ha-1) of ashwagantha

Treatments	Dry root yield ( g plant-1)				Dry root yield ( t ha-1)
	F1		F2	Mean (S)	Treatments		F1	F2		Mean (S)
S1	51.88		50.37	51.13	S1		1.92	1.87		1.89
S2	72.40		69.93	71.17	S2		2.68	2.59		2.64
S3	60.40		58.27	59.33	S3		2.24	2.16		2.20
S4	54.97		54.69	54.83	S4		2.04	2.03		2.03
Mean  (F)	59.91		58.32		Mean  (F)		2.22	2.16
	SEd	CD (0.05)				SEd			CD (0.05)
S	1.37	2.75			S	0.0001			0.005
F	0.09	0.19			F	0.0007			0.003
SF	1.10	2.21			SF	0.0101			0.050

Table 3: Effect of organic amendments on root length (cm) and root width (cm) of ashwagantha

Treatments	Root length ( cm)			Root width ( cm)
	F1	F2	Mean (S)	Treatments	F1	F2	Mean (S)
S1	10.06	9.97	10.02	S1	0.79	0.75	0.77
S2	13.58	13.24	13.41	S2	1.12	1.08	1.10
S3	11.94	11.63	11.79	S3	0.94	0.95	0.95
S4	10.57	10.48	10.53	S4	0.82	0.81	0.82
Mean  (F)	11.54	11.33		Mean  (F)	0.92	0.90
	SEd	CD (0.05)			SEd		CD (0.05)
S	0.44	0.22		S	0.04		0.02
F	0.40	0.20		F	0.04		0.02
SF	0.45	0.22		SF	0.04		0.02

Acknowledgement

This study was supported by RVS Padmavathy College of Horticulture, Sempatti and thankful to Dr. P. Irene Vethamoni, Ph.D. (Dean) who provided expertise that greatly assisted the research and approve with in this paper.

REFERENCES

Majumdar, D.N. (1955). Withania somnifera Dunal. Part II Alkaloid constituents and their chemical characterization. Indian J. Pharm. 17(8), 158.
Panse, V.G., & Sukhatme, P.V. (1985). Statistical methods for agricultural works. Fourth Edn., ICAR, New Delhi.
Rauthan, .B.S., & Schnttzer, M. (1981). Effects of a Soil Fulvic Acid on the Growth and Nutrient Content of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). Plant and Soil 63, 491-495.
Savitha, M.M., Mamatha, B., & Shivananda, T.N. (2009). Phytochemistry and medicinal uses of Withania somnifera (L.). Biomed. 4(2), 123-129.
Sreerekha, M.V., Patel, K., Bhatnagar, R., & Sriram, S. (2004). Distribution of total withanolides in various plant parts of ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) accessions as influenced by light and dark cycle. J. Med. Arom. Pl. Sci. 26, 681-683.