Effect of biofertilizers on the performance of sunflower, Helianthus annuus L. cv. CO 4

摘要

Sunflower occupies a predominant place among oilseed crops because of its good quality oil. Compared to world productivity of sunflower seeds, the productivity in India is very low (Hegde, 2002). Judicious and timely application of nutrients is one ofthe agronomic practices to improve the sunflower yield. In this context, as the cost of fertilizers is mounting besides its continuous use results in damaging the soil health and causing environmental pollution, replacing part of the chemical fertilizers with biofertilizers is an apt alternative strategy. The importance of biofertilizers, viz., Azospirillum and Azotobacter in increasing the growth and yield of sunflower was well established (Sivakumar, 1994). Hence a field investigation was carried out to study the effect of Azospirillum and Azotobacter on the growth and yield of sunflower.