Evaluation of lac factory waste on flower production: Lac factory waste- A value for floriculture

Two separate experiments were conducted to evaluate the suitability and effectiveness of lac mud on flower production of rose and Chrysanthemum flowers under pot culture. Lac mud is produced during primary processing of lac to a tune of about 2.5 to 4.5% on dry and wet weight basis, respectively, of the raw material processed. Lac mud was grinded in fine particles and treated with lime (@ 25 g per kg of lac mud) followed by enriching with each of N, P and K as per treatments, and azotobacter and PSB each @ 25 g/kg of lac mud. Experimental results revealed that lac mud enriched with 0.2% N + 0.2% P2O5 + 0.2% K2O produced the highest number and weight of chrysanthemum and rose flowers which was significantly superior to all other treatments, except lac mud enriched with 0.2% N + 0.2% K2O for number and weight of rose flowers. The increase in number and weight of flowers with application of lac mud enriched with 0.2% N + 0.2% P2O5 + 0.2% K2O was 47.4 and 38.5 per cent in chrysanthemum and 25.5 and 31.7 per cent in rose over conventional method of manuring (application of vermicompost), respectively. Thus, application of lac mud for manuring in floriculture may give another diversified dimension to lac processing factories along with saving of inorganic fertilizers and improvement in soil fertility status.