Heavy reliance on synthetic fertilizers in intensive vegetable farming has raised severe concerns regarding soil health degradation and long-term agricultural sustainability. To address this challenge and identify sustainable nutrient management alternatives for okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench) production, a field trial was conducted at the Directorate of Agricultural Research, Tarahara, Sunsari, Nepal. The experiment was organized using a Randomized Complete Block Design with nine treatments and three replications. The findings demonstrated that nutrient management strategies significantly influenced crop performance. The 125% RDF (Recommended dose of fertilizer) application (T3) recorded the maximum numerical fruit yield (54.09 t ha⁻¹) and profitability (B:C ratio 1.71, based on 2023 NPR). However, a critical observation was that the integrated nutrient management package (T5: 50% RDF + 50% FYM) produced a yield (46.27 t ha⁻¹) that was statistically at par with T3 and numerically higher than the national RDF (T2: 45.74 t ha⁻¹). Sole organic treatments, such as T4, were more successful for early vegetative establishment because they recorded the highest plant heights during the vegetative stage, which is a result of better soil physical characteristics. T5 is therefore the best approach for attaining high productivity while promoting environmental sustainability in the Terai region, as this research confirms that 50% of synthetic fertilizer load can be substituted with organic sources without any statistically significant yield reduction.
Shah et al. (Sun,) studied this question.
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