Impact of nutrient management on soil properties and yield of organically grown young tea

Abstract

Soil fertility management is one of the major components of organic tea cultivation that can affect the establishment of plants. A field experiment was carried out at the experimental tea field of Tocklai Tea Research Institute, Jorhat, in newly planted tea under virgin field condition to evaluate the efficiency of different organic inputs in improving soil fertility. Newly planted tea was supplied with enriched organic manure in planting pits. Application of P-enriched vermicompost @300g/pit either alone or in combination with phosphate solubilizing bacteria or microbial enriched vermicompost improved the physical, chemical and microbiological properties of soil. However, soil available potash showed a decline from the initial level.