Abstract

The intensive use of inorganic fertilizer in agriculture for ensuring the world food security caused so many health problems and unrecoverable environmental pollution. In view of this context, a study was conducted during August to November 2019 at Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, India to identify the influences of bio-stimulants on the physiological and quality parameters of bush bean cv. Co (Gb) 14. Bush bean, being a leguminous crop provides the human diet with a good proportion of protein. It also contains various other vitamins and minerals. This crop is gaining importance for its increased market demand, protein content and also for its ability to provide increased production per unit area. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with nine treatments replicated thrice. Bio-stimulants opted for the study include seaweed extract, panchagavya, chitosan and effective microorganism with two different concentrations applied as foliar spray on 30th, 45th and 60th days after sowing. The total pod yield/plant (179.52 g), total pod yield/plot (1.89 kg), dry matter production (3.50 t/ha), total chlorophyll content (45.26 CCI), crude protein (4.18 %) and crude fibre (1.13 %) were found to be maximum in foliar application of seaweed extract. The experiment revealed that the yield, physiological and quality parameters were highly influenced by the application of seaweed extract (5 mL/L) along with recommended dosage of fertilizers which is an environment friendly option for sustainable agriculture.