Abstract:
When combined with biofertilizers and Albert's Solution, it provides an innovative approach to
reduce costs and environmental impact while simultaneously providing a strategy to encourage
plant growth and yield. The unidentified growth-promoting factors in biofertilizers lead to
improved nutrient uptake and ultimately higher plant yields. Therefore, this experiment was
conducted to evaluate the best ratio of Sanjeewani biofertilizer and Albert’s fertilizer on better
growth and yield performance of curry chili grown under hydroponic conditions. The experiment
was carried out in the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Kamburupitiya from July to
October 2023. Vigorously grown 21-day-old curry chili plants were transplanted on open-top
grow bags filled with coconut coir dust media. Sanjeewani biofertilizer was prepared by mixing
cow dung, cow urine, and rice wash water 1:1:2 ratio. The treatments were T1-Albert’s solution
100%, T2-Albert’s solution 90%+Sanjeewani biofertilizer 10%, T3-Albert’s solution
80%+Sanjeewani biofertilizer 20%, T4-Albert’s solution 70%+Sanjeewani biofertilizer 30% and
T5-Albert’s solution 60%+Sanjeewani biofertilizer 40%. The experimental design was
Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with five replicates. Plant height, internode length and
number of leaves/plant were measured at 50% flowering stage and number of pods/plant, pod
weight and pod length were recorded at harvesting. The collected data were statistically analyzed
using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) from SAS 9.1.3 version. Subsequently, differences among
treatment means were compared by Duncan’s New Multiple Range Test at the 5% probability
level. According to the results, significantly higher plant height (126.2±1.9a cm), number of
pods/plant (28±2.5a) and weight of pods (135.1±2.6a g) were recorded from T2 compared to
other treatments. A significantly higher number of leaves/plant were obtained from T1
(158±1.7a), T2 (166±0.9a), T3 (145±2.3ab), and T4 (147±2.1ab). Further, length of the pods was
significantly higher in T2 (13.3±0.3a cm), T3 (12.7±1.4a cm), T4 (12.9±1.1a), and T5 (12.8±1.1a).
There was no significant effect on internodal length. Therefore, the study suggests that Albert’s
solution 90% + Sanjeewani biofertilizer 10% (T2) optimizes the growth and yield of curry chili
under hydroponic conditions. Further, research could be done to examine the performances of the
combination of inorganic fertilizers with biofertilizers under different growing media and
environmental conditions.
