A novel plant nutrient media was developed from vermicompost through microbial organisms and organic soil obtained from mango orchards. The novel nutrient media was evaluated to assess the efficacy of the novel media as both a sole and integrated nutrient source for flower production of marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) cv. Pusa Basanti in sandy loam soil. The results demonstrated that marigold flower yield was maximized when the novel plant nutrient media comprised 50% of the novel nutrient media combined with the recommended dose of chemical fertilizers, compared to chemical fertilizers alone. Post-harvest soil analysis revealed that treatments with this novel nutrient media, both alone and in combination with inorganic fertilizers, significantly enhanced nutrient availability (NPK), increased soil organic carbon content, and improved microbial activity and soil enzyme function. Principal component analysis identified flower yield per plant, number of flowers per plant, and seed yield as key variables explaining maximum variability, suggesting these traits as primary selection criteria for performance optimization, and the treatments T4 (78.01) and T5 (85.15) had the highest positive scores on PC1, indicating superior performance for yield-contributing traits. These findings indicate that integrating novel nutrient media into agricultural practices could provide developing countries with an effective strategy for addressing the environmental challenges associated with excessive inorganic fertilizer use while maintaining crop productivity.
Kumar et al. (2026) studied this question.