Evaluation of Inhana Rational Farming (IRF) Technology as an Effective Organic Package of Practice (POP) towards Upbringing of Quality Tea Seedlings - A Case Study from FAO-CFC-TBI Project at Maud TeaEstates, Assam, India

摘要

Organic practice from infantile stage of plants is said to be a better option than chemical practice to ensure healthy planting material for post planting survival assurance and high productive potential. But development of healthy nursery under organic management is still considered a challenging job, considering slow or insufficient nutrient mineralization from organic inputs. The present study at Maud Tea Estate (Assam), India was taken up during 2009 -2013 under FAO-CFC-TBI project to evaluate the potential of Inhana Rational Farming (ERF) Technology (a comprehensive organic Package of Practice of Inhana Biosciences) vis-a-vis other available organic packages towards development of quality tea seedlings or planting material. Five different treatment viz. Conventional Organic Practice (CO), Biodynamic Package of Practice (BD), Inhana Rational Farming (IRF) Technology, Microbial Formulations for Soil & Pest mangement (MI), Vermicompost + Conventional Organic Practice (VCO) and control were takenfor the experiment. Growth under different treatments was adjudged using different agronomic parameters and while all round highest growth was noted under IRF treatment, MI was found to perform comparatively better than CO and BD treatments especially w.r.t. parameters like girth, root weight, stem weight and total weight, which reflect the dry matter reserve of the seedlings or in other words nutrient assimilation efficiency. Dickson Quality Index (DQI) and Plant Development Index (PDI) was also calculated under different treatments to score the overall growth and seedling quality by a single value. Both the indices were found to be highest (1.41, 51.2) under IRF Technology, followed by MI (1.27, 36.7), while CO (1.21) achieved 3rd highest value in case of DQI, the same rank was represented by BD package in case of PDI.