Growth Response of Indian Spinach to Biogas Plant Residues

A pot experiment was conducted to study the growth response of Indian spinach (Basella alba L) to biogas plant residues. There were seven treatments comprising of control, recommended NPK fertilizer and biogas plant residues (BPR) @ 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 ton ha -1 . The treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Results indicated that number of leaves; plant height and root length and dry weight of shoot and root obtained with recommended NPK fertilizer were statistically similar to those with control treatment except for number of leaves at 60 DAS. Application of biogas plant residues up to 30 ton ha -1 produced similar number of leaves and plant height compared to control and recommended NPK fertilizer at 30 DAS. At 60 DAS, a significantly higher number of leaves and root length was found with above 20 ton ha -1 biogas plant residues and plant height with above 10 ton ha -1 biogas plant residues than control and recommended NPK fertilizer. Fresh weight of shoot and root found with recommended fertilizer dose were significantly higher than that with the control but lower than that with biogas plant residues above 30 ton ha -1 and 10 ton ha -1 , respectively. Biogas plant residues at 30 ton ha -1 and above gave higher shoot and root dry weight than control and recommended NPK fertilizer. However, there were no significant differences between BPR40 and BPR50 for growth parameters of Indian spinach. The study recommends 40 ton ha -1 of biogas plant