Role of panchgavya in production and protection of vegetable-crops Chadha Sanjay*, Rameshwar, Ashlesha, Saini JP, Paul YS Department of Organic Agriculture, College of Agriculture, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur-176 062, HP *Email: schadha_113@yahoo.co.in
Online published on 30 January, 2014. Abstract The role of Panchgavya in agriculture is well described in Vedas. The indiscriminate use of pesticides in vegetables has attracted worldwide attention toward ecofriendly plant production and protection technologies. Panchgavya is one of the ancient Indian concoctions used in production and protection of different crops from the time immorial. In Sanskrit, Panchgavya means a blend of five products obtained from cow mainly its dung, urine, milk, ghee and curd. The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the efficiency and efficacy of Panchgavya in supplementing the nutritional needs of the crops and protecting them from diseases. The nutritional and microbial analysis of Panchgavya showed the presence of different macro and micro nutrients and large population of essential microbes including Azotobacter sp., Actinomycetes sp. and phosphate solubilizers. Panchgavya was found quite effective in enhancing the productivity of knol-khol (31.8%), onion (6.3%) and seed yield of pea (33.1%) in comparison to control. Panchgavya was found quite effective as seed treatement in pea. Panchgavya was also noticed to suppressed the growth of various plant pathogens by producing antibacterial and anti-fungal compounds, hormones and siderophores. Panchgavya was found the most effective in controlling (88.9 percent) stalk rot of cauliflower. Top Keywords Panchgavya, Organic farming, disease management. Top |