Hort. Sci. (Prague), X:X | DOI: 10.17221/75/2025-HORTSCI

Integrated nutrient management improves soil fertility, leading to improve the productivity and quality of aonla (Emblica officinalis L.)Original Paper

Soustav Datta ORCID...1, Susmita Dey ORCID...2, Sk Md Asif ORCID...3, Sarthak Bhattacharya ORCID...4, Suddhasuchi Das ORCID...5, Chinmoy Mandal ORCID...6, Kamal Kr. Mandal7, Laila A. Al-Shuraym ORCID...8, Lamya Ahmed Alkeridis ORCID...8, Samy Sayed ORCID...9, Ahmed Gaber ORCID...10, Akbar Hossain ORCID...11
1 Rathindra Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Palli Siksha Bhavana (Institute of Agriculture), Visva-Bharati University, Sriniketan, West Bengal, India
2 Faculty of Agriculture, JIS University, Agarpara, West Bengal, India
3 Department of Agriculture, Brainware University, Barasat, West Bengal, India
4 Department of Horticulture, Neotia University, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India
5 Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Malda, West Bengal, India
6 Department of Pomology and Post Harvest Technology, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India
7 Department of Fruit Science, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Nadia, West Bengal, India
8 Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
9 Department of Economic Entomology and Pesticides, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
10 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia
11 Soil Science Division, Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute, Dinajpur, Bangladesh

Aonla (Emblica officinalis L.) is one of the most nutritious fruits and an excellent source of vitamin C. Chemical fertilisers and insecticides used indiscriminately have negative effects on soil fertility, yield and quality of produce. Given this background, a study was conducted from 2019 to 2021 at the Regional Research Substation, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya in Sekhampur, West Bengal, India, to examine the impacts of managing organic and inorganic nutrients for achievable production of aonla and preserving soil fertility in Red and Lateritic Regions of West Bengal, India. Treatments were: T1: RDF (recommended dose of fertiliser): 600-300-600 g NPK/plant (control); T2: 20 kg farmyard manure (FYM) + 400-200-500 g NPK/plant; T3: 10 kg vermicompost + 400-150-450 g NPK/plant; T4: 40 g Azotobacter + 550-300-600 g NPK/plant; T5: 50 g PSB (phosphate solubilising bacteria) + 600-250-600 g NPK/plant; T6: 40 g Azotobacter + 50 g PSB + 550-250-600 g NPK/plant; T7: 10 kg FYM + 40 g Azotobacter + 50 g PSB + 350-150-500 g NPK/plant; T8: 10 kg vermicompost + 40 g Azotobacter + 50 g PSB + 350-100-450 g NPK/ plant. All treatments were arranged in a randomised complete block design (RCBD) and repeated three times. The observations revealed that the greatest increases in plant growth parameters, maximum fruit physico-chemical characteristics, maximum yield/plant ratio and soil nutrient status were observed with the implementation of treatment T6. Finally, aonla (cv. ‘NA-7’) orchards in Sekhampur, West Bengal, benefit from treatment T6, which improves the soil nutrient status and increases fruit quality and yield.

Keywords: minor fruit crop; biofertiliser; physico-chemical characteristics; soil nutrient status; sustainable production

Received: June 5, 2025; Revised: March 4, 2026; Accepted: March 12, 2026; Prepublished online: October 29, 2026 

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