The present study aimed to assess soil fertility, yield attributes and seed quality parameters of Sesamum indicum L. by evaluating the impacts of inorganic fertiliser and vermicompost treatments. A pot experiment was executed utilising a completely randomised design (CRD) comprising five treatments and four replicates. The soil utilised for the experiment exhibited a sandy loam texture, a slightly alkaline pH of 8.5, negligible salinity with an electrical conductivity of 0.75 EC and low concentrations of available nitrogen at 75 kg ha-1 and organic carbon at 0.22 %. The levels of phosphate, potash, sulfur and micronutrients were within normal ranges, specifically phosphate at 23 kg ha-1, potash at 242 kg ha-1, sulfur at 22.72 ppm, zinc at 1.02 ppm, iron at 4.88 ppm, copper at 0.24 ppm and manganese at 2.28 ppm. After the experiment, the growth parameters were significantly increased in response to the biofertilizer + vermicompost treatment followed by vermicompost alone. The yield attributes were observed highest in the vermicompost treatment but results are not significant (p≥0.05 level) whereas 100 seed weight was significantly improved by biofertilizer + vermicompost treatment (0.34 g). The seed quality parameters including total soluble sugars (5.16 mg g-1) and protein content (192.69 mg g-1) were significantly improved in the biofertilizer + vermicompost treatment and the total phenols was decreased in inorganic fertilizer treatments. A significant amount of oil (45.2 %) was reported in the vermicompost treatment. These results suggest that vermicompost + biofertilizer combination is best for sesame plant growth, seed weight and seed biochemical parameters Total Soluble Sugars (TSS) and protein whereas vermicompost application is beneficial for enhancing yield attributes and oil content as compared with chemical fertilizers. The current investigation is novel and concluded that the combination of vermicompost and biofertiliser was more beneficial for enhancing soil organic carbon and nitrogen levels as well as crop productivity and yield in semi-arid conditions of Rajasthan.
Kusum et al. (Thu,) studied this question.