Abstract:
A study was conducted to evaluate effectiveness of organic and inorganic fertilizer
combination on growth and yield of spinach. Vermicompost - Rich husk charcoal mixture
is the tested organic manure. The experiment was carried out during February toMay 2024
at the Faculty of Technology, Eastern University, Sri Lanka. The study was designed with
five treatments and four replicates. Treatments are Tr- Control, Recommended amount of
inorganic fertllizer by Department of Agriculture (RDOA), Tz -114 amount of RDOA +
vermicompost- charcoal mixture, Tt - Il2 amount of RDOA + vermicompost- charcoal
mixture, T q - 3 14 amount of RDOA + vetmicompost- charcoal mixture, Ts - vermicompostcharcoal
mixture. All other agronomic practices were followed based on DOA
recommendation. Plant height, number of leaves, leaf area was measured in weekly
interval. Plant fresh weight and oven dry weight of cutting were measured at the time of
harvesting (6 Weeks after planting). Analysis of variance was performed to determine
significant difference among treatments (p < 0.05).
Highest average plant height, number of leaves per plant, leaf area, fresh and oven dry
weight of plant cutting were observed in spinach plants fertilized with combination of 314
of RDOA and vermicompost - rice husk charcoal mixture. Lowest value was observed
when vermicompost - rice husk charcoal mixture applied alone. Results suggested that
vermicompost - rice husk charcoal mixture combine with inorganic fertilizer enhances
growth and yield performance of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) in sandy regosol.
Usage of vermicompost -rice husk charcoal mixture combined with inorganic fertilizer in
lea$r vegetable cultivation would be a way to minimize the fertilizer requirements and cost of production.3l4 amount of recommended inorganic fertilizer combine with
vermicompost - rice husk charcoal mixture would be suitable application rate for spinach
cultivation in sandy regosol.
