Efficacy of Neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) and Bael (Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa) Leaf Extracts as Biofertilizers in Cultivation of Mung Plant (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek)

摘要

Biofertilizers are the need of the modern conventional agriculture and have given promising results in past studies while adding significant positive impact on soil. Our work was based on finding a new biofertilizer through different blends of extracts derived from leaves of neem and bael and to study its efficacy in the cultivation of mung plant. The analysis of biochemical parameters of leaves of mung plant suggested that the blend of neem : bael leaf extracts in the ratio of 1 : 2 produced the best results for the total chlorophyll content (0.723 mg/g), carotenoid content (0.098 mg/g), carbohydrate content (1.98 mg/g), amino acid content (13.26 μg/g) and protein content (0.53 mg/g). The soil samples from the same setup also gave highest values for the enzymatic activities with respect to invertase (7.62 μg glucose/g dry wt./h) and protease (0.266 mg tyrosine/g dry wt./h). The other blends of the leaf extracts also showed a significant higher value with respect to the biochemical parameters of leaves, physico-chemical properties and enzymatic activities of soil as compared to the control setup. A significant positive correlation between the invertase and protease activities (r = 0.952) of soil derived from the different blends suggests the same. This highlights the fact that the extracts derived from the leaves of neem, bael and their blends have good potential to serve as biofertilizers.