Effects of sugarcane pressmud on agronomical characteristics of hybrid cultivar of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) under field conditions

Purpose The field experiments were conducted to utilizethe sugarcane pressmud in the farming of Solanum melongenaas an organic fertilizer.Methods For growing of S. melongena, six agriculturalfields were selected for the six amendments of sugarcanepressmud, viz., 0 % (garden soil as control), 20 % (20 %sugarcane pressmud 80 % garden soil), 40 % (40 %sugarcane pressmud 60 % garden soil), 60 % (60 %sugarcane pressmud 40 % garden soil), 80 % (80 %sugarcane pressmud 20 % garden soil) and 100 %(100 % sugarcane pressmud). S. melongena was grown insugarcane pressmud-amended soil till harvest and impactof sugarcane pressmud on the soil and agronomical characteristicsof S. melongena were determined.Results The results showed that the sugarcane pressmudwas rich in various nutrients and produced significant(P.05/P.01) changes in the soil characteristics inboth seasons. Among various treatments, the maximumagronomic performance of S. melongena was observed dueto 40 % treatment in both the growing seasons. The contaminationfactor (Cf) of various metals were recorded inorder of Zn[Mn[Cd[Cu[Fe[Cr for the soil andFe[Mn[Cu[Zn[Cd[Cr for S. melongena in bothgrowing seasons after treatment with sugarcane pressmud.Conclusions This study concluded that application ofsugarcane pressmud treatments increased the soil fertilityand as a result agronomical performance of S. melongena.Therefore, it can be used for the soil amendments in thelower proportion (up to 40 %) to improve the yield of S.melongena.