Bioformulation-Mediated Response of Kalmegh ( Wall. ex Nees, Family Acanthaceae) for Growth, Yield, and Quality.

A pot culture experiment with nine treatments and three separate replications was established in a completely randomized design (CRD). It was evaluated at Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya (Agricultural University) in Mohanpur, WB, India, for 2 years in a row from January to June in 2021 and 2022. The experiment comprising nine bioformulation treatments, namely, T: recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF, 20 t FYM + 75:75:50 kg NPK ha), T: farmyard manure (FYM) @ 20 t ha, T: T + 3% panchagavya, T: T + 6% panchagavya, T: T + 9% panchagavya, T: T + 5% jeevamrutha, T: T + 7.5% jeevamrutha, T: T + 10% jeevamrutha, and T: control (no nutrients and bioformulations), was evaluated for the growth, quality, and yield of kalmegh along with the study of soil characteristics for two consecutive years. Pooled results revealed that T had the highest values for plant height (74.45 cm), plant spread (36.36 cm), primary (26.26) and secondary (29.18) branch number per plant, number of leaves (94.01) and leaf area (559.50 cm) per plant, fresh (42.94 g) and dry (18.85 g) herbage yield per plant, total chlorophyll (4.392 mg g), and total andrographolides (2.925%). Out of these, plant height (73.39 cm), primary branch number per plant (25.61), leaf parameters (89.46; 530.83 cm), fresh and dry herb yields (42.00 g and 18.16 g per plant, respectively), and total chlorophyll and andrographolides (3.294 mg g and 2.802%, respectively) were with T. Soil organic carbon (0.84%), available N (274.88 kg ha), P (31.72 kg ha), and K (293.87 kg ha), total count of bacteria (242.50 × 10 CFU g dry soil), fungi (191.33 × 10 CFU g dry soil), and actinomycetes (199.17 × 10 CFU g dry soil) in soil after harvest were the highest in T, followed by T. So, the use of 9% panchagavya or 6% panchagavya in organically grown kalmegh will sustain crop production by improving soil health.