EFFECT OF INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT ON YIELD, QUALITY AND ECONOMICS OF MOTIHAR I TOBACCO ( NICOTIANA RUSTICA ) IN TERAI REGION OF NORTH BENGAL

Abstract

Tobacco is one of the important cash crops grown particularly in northern part of West Bengal. Two cultivated species of tobacco viz., Nicotiana tabacum and Nicotiana rustica locally known as Jati and Motihari tobacco, respectively are grown in Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri districts of West Bengal. Tobacco area in West Bengal is 18,000 ha of which about 14,000 ha is under Motihari tobacco which holds traditional reputation for its quality and strong flavour and is used mainly for hookah as well as chewing purposes. In Motihari tobacco, Hemti and Bitri types are characterized by late and early maturing genotypes/land-races, respectively. Judicious use of organic manures with inorganic fertilizers not only increases the yield of tobacco but also makes the tobacco farming sustainable under North Bengal conditions (Krishnamurthy et al., 1990). The phosphate solubilizing bacteria play a significant role in dissolving interlocked phosphates in the soil into available form (Sharma, 2003). The role of Azotobacter in fixing atmospheric nitrogen by using organic carbon and phosphate has been established (Lehri and Mehrotra, 1972; Shinde et al., 1977; Harishu Kumar et al., 1991). Keeping in view the adverse effect of chemical fertilizers on soil and crop health and also on beneficial effects of microorganisms, the present study was conducted to investigate the role of chemical fertilizers along with promising biofertilizers on yield and quality of Motihari tobacco.