Effect of Inorganic Fertilizers and Biofertilizers on Growth, Herb Yield and Quality of Japanese Mint (Mentha arvensis L.) var. Kosi

Aim: To study about the effect of inorganic fertilizers and biofertilizers on growth, herb yield and menthol content of Japanese mint. Study Design: The experiment was carried out with 13 treatments in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. Place and Duration of Study: Research trial was carried out at P.G block, College of Horticulture, Rajendranagar, SKLTSHU, Hyderabad during Feb-May 2022 and Aug- Nov 2022. Results: Among the different treatments, the results reported that the T2 (100% RDF + Azospirillum) recorded maximun plant height (55.53 cm and 54.20 cm), number of primary branches (26.40 and 25.73), number of secondary branches (8.27 and 8.13), number of leaves (947.53 and 937.20), leaf area (18.37 cm2 and 18.03 cm2) , fresh herb yield per hectare (225.04 q and 221.34 q) and essential oil yield per hectare (205.69 kg and 184.15 kg) compared to other treatments which was statistically on par with T1 (100% RDF + Azotobacter), T6 (75% RDF + Azospirillum) and T5 (75% RDF + Azotobacter). There by it can be concluded that we can decrease the inorganic fertilizer dose upto 25% by adding azospirillum or azototobacter to get the optimum herb yield and essential oil yield in Japanese mint.