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Abstract
Coconut-based farming systems are the tradition of tropical and subtropical regions. But, using patchouli [Pogostemon cablin (Blanco)] as an intercrop under coconut is of comparatively recent adoption and no information is absolutely available on the possibility of improving the quality of patchouli through better nutrient supply. A field experiment was, therefore, carried out using different sources of organic manures (M0–control, M1–FYM farmyard manure 20 tonnes ha−1, M2–pig manure 10 tonnes ha−1 and M3–vermicompost 5 tonnes ha−1) versus inorganic fertilizers (No–control, N1 - 60 kg ha−1, N2–80 kg ha−1, and N3–100 kg ha−1) within the interspaces of the coconut plantation on soil taxonomically classified as Orchic Hapludalf under humid tropics of northeast India. Application of treatment M3 alone produced maximum biomass of leaves (11.24 tonnes ha−1) followed by M2 (10.82 tonnes ha−1), and M1 (9.54 tonnes ha−1), all of which were significantly (P < 0.05) superior over M0 (7.54 tonnes ha−1). Among the various levels of nitrogen (N), maximum biomass yield of leaves was observed with N3 (11.63 tonnes ha−1) ≥ N2 (11.64 tonnes ha−1), followed by N1(8.96 tonnes ha−1) with the highest yield (19.97 tonnes ha−1) registered through the combination of M3N3. Treatment combination M3N3 in turn maintained higher fungal (118 × 102 vs. 31 × 102 with M0N0 c.f.u.g−1 soil) and bacterial populations (48 × 105 vs. 31 × 103 with M0N0 c.f.u.g−1 soil) for better nutrient acquisition through improvements in the concentration of soil available nutrients. These responses consequently improved the oil concentration in leaves (3.65% with M3N3 vs. 2.40% with M0N0) and alcohol (49.90% with M3N3 vs. 44.52% in M0N0) as quality indices. This research verified that the quality of patchouli leaves as an intercrop was raised, besides improving coconut yield (40–55 nuts palm−1) as main crop, when utilizing combined treatments of vermicompost enriched with inorganic N under coconut-patchouli farming systems.