Effect of Organic Fertilizers on the Soil Properties and Bacterial Communities of Marigold Rhizosphere Soil

The investigation was undertaken to study the impact of different organic inputs on the soil properties of African marigold rhizosphere soil. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) for RBD with three replications was carried out using OPSTAT. The present investigation was conducted in experimental farm, Department of Horticulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, Assam, between 2020-2021. The African marigold variety ‘Seracole’ was chosen for the experiment consisting of 7 treatment combinations with one treatment comprising of the recommended dose of fertilizers and the other six treatment comprising of various organic manures, rock phosphate with a consortium of Azotobacter, Azospirillum and PSB. It was observed that T7 {Enriched compost (5 t/ha)} exhibited the highest values for soil pH, soil moisture content, organic Carbon, available Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Microbial Biomass Carbon and various soil enzymes followed by T3 {Vermicompost (5t/ha) + Rock phosphate (100 kg/ha) + Microbial consortium}. Considering the positive effect on growth, yield, quality and soil health, T3 and T7 both can be considered best for adopting at the field level to reap good economic yield accompanied by better quality and sustainable soil health.