EFFECT OF ORGANIC AND CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS ON THE NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION OF Amaranthus spinosus

Abstract

Organic and chemical fertilizers are used in agriculture as they improve the fertility of soil and the growth of plants. So, the present investigation was designed to determine the effect of different fertilizers on the nutritional value of Amaranthus spinosus plant. The quantity of different fertilizers was used as 500 kg h-1. Some selected parameters of soil such as temperature (29.50 C), moisture (3.5 %), Water holding capacity (74%), pH (8.17), organic carbon % (1.90) and organic matter % (3.28) were measured and analysed. There was no significant variation in these parameters under different fertilizers treatment. The phytochemicals of Organic fertilizers treated plant sample had higher concentration of Alkaloid (1.06), flavonoid (0.89), tannin (1.48) and saponin (1.67), ash (7.75), moisture (87.6) and protein (9.1), Fe (0.054), Zn (0.008), Cu (0.001), Na (0.0080), Ca (113) and Mg (93) when compared to the other fertilizer treatments. Inorganic fertilizer did not show any significant effect on plant growth, while the combination of organic and chemical fertilizers was found to have a significant effect. The results reveal that organic fertilizers or their combination with chemical fertilizer are better for the crops than chemical fertilizers.