Abstract:
Farmers in Sri Lanka use a higher range of fertilizers to increase the yield of leafy
vegetables and mostly, fields are located near aquatic ecosystems. Hence, a higher
amount of fertilizer use can lead to major health issues, reduced yields, and ecosystem
damage. Therefore, it is essential to find a better fertilizer combination and empower
farmers about the detrimental effects of increased fertilizer application on the crops.
The current study used 9 treatments of different fertilizer applications for the growth of
Alternanthera sesilis in five replicates and was conducted over 10 weeks at a protective
house. Three harvests were made, and on the appropriate days, fertilizer applications
were made. Those were T9 - DOA Recommendation (DOAR), T1 - DOAR+ Inorganic
foliar fertilizer application (IFA), T2 - DOAR + Organic foliar fertilizer application
(OFA), T3 - DOAR + Urea and MOP 4% & 2% liquid, T4 - DOAR basal +IFA, T5
- DOAR basal + OFA, T6 - DOAR basal + Urea and MOP 4% & 2% liquid, T7 -
Total organic fertilizer (TOF) + OFA, T8 - TOF + Organic solid fertilizer application
and DOAR was Urea + TSP + MOP in appropriate amounts. According to the yield,
T1, T9, T2, and T3 are significantly different from T8, T6, and T7 after 10 weeks. T1
had the highest yield, whereas T7 had the lowest. All other treatments received lower
yields than T9. Results show that the ideal fertilizer treatment for increasing the yield of
green vegetables is an inorganic foliar application with the DOAR combination. Results
of this study further reveal that applying too much fertilizer might result in decreased
production and application of organic fertilizer alone would not result in greater yields
of leafy vegetables.
