Abstract
A field experiment was conducted on cotton crop to evaluate the effect of farm manure (FM) alone and in combination with
the mineral fertilizers. FM was treated with the 1% application of effective microorganism prepared with molasses to enrich
the status of FM as FM-Fermented. Cotton Varity Krishma was cultivated in field with treatments viz. control, FM @ 20Mg
ha-1, FM-Fermented@ 20 Mg ha-1, ½ NPK+FM (20 Mg ha-1), ½ NPK+ FM-Fermented (20 Mg ha-1) and NPK (175-85-60 kg
ha-1). The experiment was laid out according to randomized complete block design with four replications. At flowering stage
fully expanded younger leaves were collocated and analysed for N, P and K contents. Growth and yield parameters of cotton
like plant height, sympodial branches, no. of boll plant-1, seed cotton boll plant-1 and seed cotton yield kg ha-1 were recorded.
Soil was analyzed after the harvest of crop for N, P, K and organic matter contents. Data were analysed statistically. The
results of the experiment indicated that application of recommended dose of NPK produced higher seed cotton yield (2660 kg
ha-1) and followed by ½ NPK+FM-Fermented (2523 kg ha-1) and differed significantly from other treatments. There was
positive increase in the N, P and K concentration in cotton leaves and in soil due to the combined application of ½ NPK+FMFermented