Leaf litter amendment in forest soil and their effect on the yield quality of red amaranth

Abstract

A pot experiment was conducted at the open net house of the Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, during the period from March to June 2007 using soil collected from the surrounding areas of Gazni sal forest of Jhenaigati upazilla under Sherpur district to study the effect of different forest tree leaf litters on growth, yield, nutrient contents of red amaranth cv. Altapety. Plant height, number of leaves plant-1, dry weight plant-1 and moisture content (%) were significantly influenced by the addition of different forest tree leaf litters and highest values were obtained from the chemical fertilizer treatment which was identical with teak leaf litter in most of the parameters. The lowest values of most of the parameters were obtained from control treatment. Nutrient contents of red amaranth were significantly influenced by the addition of different leaf litters except Mg. The highest and lowest values of most of the nutrient contents and their uptake were recorded from chemical fertilizer and control treatment, respectively. It was also observed that addition of different leaf litters substantially decreased soil acidity and significantly increased the organic matter, total N, available P, exchangeable K, available Ca, Mg contents in the post harvest soil. The performance of these leaf litters with respect to growth, yield, nutrient contents and their uptake by red amaranth and the soil fertility was in the order teak >eucalyptus>acacia>sal. Overall results suggested that leaf litters can be used as an alternative of chemical fertilizer in the surrounding areas of Gazni sal forest for profitable production of leafy vegetables like red amaranth. Keywords: Leaf litter; Red amaranth; Forest soil; Yield quality DOI: 10.3329/jbau.v8i2.7929 J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 8(2): 221-226, 2010