# Impact of Nitrogen Dosage and Various Sources on Growth of Dragon Fruit in Mid-Hill Conditions of Nagaland

Kosgi Mounika, Pauline Alila, C S Maiti, A Sarkar

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Kosgi Mounika, Pauline Alila, C S Maiti, A Sarkar. Impact of Nitrogen Dosage and Various Sources on Growth of Dragon Fruit in Mid-Hill Conditions of Nagaland. Journal of Advances in Biology & Biotechnology, In press, 10.9734/jabb/2025/v28i21982. hal-04946019

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# Impact of Nitrogen Dosage and Various Sources on Growth of Dragon Fruit in Mid-Hill Conditions of Nagaland

Kosgi Mounika a*, Pauline Alila a++, C.S. Maiti a++ and A. Sarkar a++

a Department of Horticulture, School of Agricultural Sciences, Nagaland University, Medziphema Campus-797106, India.

## Authors' contributions

This work was carried out in collaboration among all authors. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

## Article Information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.9734/jabb/2025/v28i21982

### Open Peer Review History:

This journal follows the Advanced Open Peer Review policy. Identity of the Reviewers, Editor(s) and additional Reviewers, peer review comments, different versions of the manuscript, comments of the editors, etc are available here: https://pr.sdiarticle5.com/review-history/131237

Received: 08/12/2024

Accepted: 11/02/2025

Published: 13/02/2025

### Original Research Article

## ABSTRACT

**Aims:** To evaluate optimum dose of nitrogen through various sources for growth and development of dragon fruit grown under mid-hill condition of Nagaland.

**Study Design:** Randomized Complete Block Design.

**Place and Duration of Study:** The present experiment was carried out during the year of 2021 and 2022 has been conducted in the research experimental block of Department of Horticulture, School of Agricultural Sciences, Medziphema Campus, Nagaland, India.

**Methodology:** Different levels of nitrogen with and without organic manures were applied to the one-year-old plants to evaluate the optimum dose for growth and development of dragon fruit plants. Ten treatments of different doses of nitrogen and combinations of organic manures (Farm Yard Manure (FYM), Pig manure), common doses of phosphorous and potassium were applied to

<footnote>** Professor;</footnote>

<footnote>*Corresponding author: E-mail: mounikakosgi1@gmail.com;</footnote>
plants. [N₀ Control (T₁); N₁₀₀g/plant (T₂); N₁₂₅g/plant (T₃); N₁₅₀g/plant (T₄); 75% of N₁₀₀g+FYM₁.₀ kg/plant (T₅); 75% of N₁₂₅g+FYM₁.₂₅ kg/plant (T₆); 75% of N₁₅₀+FYM₁.₅kg/plant (T₇); 75% of N₁₀₀g+Pig manure₁.₆₆kg/plant (T₈); 75% of N₁₂₅g+Pig manure₂.₁kg/plant (T₉); 75% of N₁₅₀g+Pig manure₂.₅kg/plant (T₁₀)]

**Results:** The data of two-year study revealed that the maximum cladode length (232.04 cm) and number of areoles/cladode (79.32) were recorded in the treatment with 75% of N₁₅₀g+Pig manure₂.₅kg/plant (T₁₀) whereas maximum cladode diameter (5.02 cm), cladode girth (15.78 cm), distance between areoles (3.30 cm) and area of areoles (0.18 mm²) were recorded in the treatment 75% of N₁₂₅g+Pig manure₂.₁kg/plant (T₉) and minimum values were recorded mostly in treatments supplied with only inorganic manures (T₁ and T₂).

**Conclusion:** The combined application of both organic and inorganic manures (Pig manure + NPK) (T₉ and T₁₀) found to be most superior treatment combination with regard to vegetative growth in *Hylocereus polyrhizus*.

**Keywords:** Dragon fruit; nitrogen dosage; economic value; plant nutrition.

# 1. INTRODUCTION

Dragon fruit (*Hylocereus* spp.), a climbing cactus vine native to tropical regions of Mexico, Central and South America (Mizrahi et al., 2010) is an emerging super crop among farmers for its economic value and rich in nutrient content. It is commonly known as kamalam, strawberry pear, pithaya, night-blooming cereus, Belle of the night, Jesus in the cradle etc. It is a fast-growing, herbaceous, perennial, epiphytic, cacti crop which has been introduced into India in late 90's and is considered as a promising remunerative fruit crop and future crop of India (Arivalagan et al., 2019). With its high nutritional value, resilience against pests and diseases, minimal orchard maintenance, low water needs, frequent yields throughout the year and the potential for high output lasting up to 20 years, this crop has enticed numerous growers to cultivate it. This surge in cultivation has also amplified the fruit's export potential, catering to the growing market demand. The growing importance of dragon fruit cultivation in India, major emphasis should be given to standardize the fertilizer doses in different agro-climatic conditions in order to help farmers take up its cultivation on commercial scale and gain economic rewards as it is a nutrient loving plant.

Plant nutrition is one of the most important factors that plays crucial role in growth, yield and quality attributes in dragon fruit. Indiscriminate and prolonged use of chemical fertilizers without adding organic fertilizers deteriorated the health of soil and increase soil pollution by decreasing the microbial activity (Singh and Kallo, 2000). This calls for a holistic approach to maintain soil health as well as obtain high productivity in the crop grown. A new farming strategy therefore

entails a plant nutritional package, which would provide all elements through both organic, inorganic and biofertilizers, which would not only reduce the soil pollution but also produces quality produce with greater production and productivity and also keep the production cost at bearable level to the average farmer. Several reports show that the integration of organic and inorganic fertilizers proved superior to the sole application (Abusaleha and Shanmugavelu, 1988). Use of biofertilizers along with organic and inorganic fertilizers created a lot of impact in horticulture. Most soils in the North East region of India are acidic in nature where phosphorous content in soil is high but is not be readily available to the plant. Organic acids secreted during organic matter decomposition and phosphobacteria makes the insoluble form of phosphorous to available form and saves up to 30-50 kg of superphosphate (Chen et al., 2006). Nitrogen occupies a conspicuous place in plant metabolism system, and it plays a key role in agriculture aimed at increasing the crop yields. Being as an important constituent of protein, protoplasm, enzymes, the biological catalytic agents, nitrogen has established roles including chlorophyll formation, photosynthesis, and source to sink translocation, which speed up the life processes (Singh et al., 2024). Nitrogen is also present as a part of nucleoprotein, amino acids, amines, amino sugar, polypeptides and other organic compounds in plants and serve as an important structural element.

North Eastern India is considered as a hub of organic products because there is minimal or no use of chemical fertilizers by most farmers. The fertile soil and congenial climatic conditions in the region contribute as positive factor in the growing of several exotic crops including dragon fruit.
Although dragon fruit belongs to cactaceae family, it requires water during critical periods of its growth because unlike other cacti it is from tropical rainforest. According to the studies conducted on dragon fruit for adaptability and production aspects by Karunakaran et al. (2014) it was reported that dragon fruit prefers dry tropical climate with optimum temperature of 20-29°C and can withstand temperatures up to 38-40°C and as low as 0°C for shorter periods. Heavy rainfall during flowering season may lead to flower and fruit drop and high temperatures exceeding 40°C may lead to flower burn. These conditions make the north eastern regions even more suitable for dragon fruit cultivation except during the high rainfall season which may negatively impact flowering and fruit setting. Considering the importance of this emerging crop with high potential in commercialization it was a felt need to conduct the present study which would augment dragon fruit crop cultivation and add fillip to the economy of average farmers.

## 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

The present investigation was carried out during the year of 2021 and 2022 at research experimental block of Department of Horticulture, School of Agricultural Sciences, Medziphema Campus, Nagaland situated at 25° 45' 53' N latitude and 93° 53' 04" E longitudes at an elevation of 310 m above sea level. The established field of dragon fruit with three-year-old plants were used for the phenological studies in the present experiment. The nutrients i.e., nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) were applied in the form of urea, single super phosphate and muriate of potassium, respectively. The different doses of organic fertilizers (Farm yard manure and Pig manure) were applied in the month of March followed by inorganic fertilizers in the month of May. Nitrogen was applied in split doses. Doses of FYM and Pig manure were calculated on basis of N content in the recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF) (N: P: K) -135:78:63g/plant. Common doses of P50g and K75g/plant was applied to every plant in the fields. PSB @ 30 g/pillar was supplied in equal doses to all treatments. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design with three replications.

Various treatments consisting of organic (FYM, Pig manure) and inorganic manures (NPK) were applied. Treatment details: N₀ Control; N100g/plant; N125g/plant; N150g /plant; 75% of

N100g+FYM1.0 kg/plant; 75% of N125g+FYM1.25 kg/plant; 75% of N150+FYM1.5kg /plant; 75% of N100g+Pig manure1.66kg/plant; 75% of N125g+Pig manure2.1kg/plant; 75% of N150g+Pig manure2.5kg/plant. Growth parameters like cladode length, diameter, girth, number of areoles, spines, distance between areoles, area of areoles, fresh weight and dry weight of cladode were observed. The data collected and computed was completed by using SPSS software (Gomez and Gomez, 2010).

## 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Marked variations were observed with respect to morphological characteristics among the different treatments by the application of nitrogen through various sources. The data recorded revealed that the treatment 75% of N150g+Pig manure2.5 kg/plant (T10) recorded the maximum cladode length (232.04 cm) and was found highly significant whereas the minimum was recorded in N0 Control (T1) (82.16 cm) (Table 1). According to Verma et al. (2019) maximum plant height (129.30 cm) in dragon fruit was recorded in the treatment supplied with FYM+NPK+ Azotobactor + PSB whereas in the present investigation pig manure recorded significantly better results compared to the above treatment.This might be due to the high nitrogen content in the pig manure compared to FYM and vermicompost. The combination of inorganic and organic fertilizers might have improved the soil health thus resulting in creating favourable nutrient environment for plant growth (Lodhi et al., 2017). Samant et al., (2023) observed minimum cladode length in treatments supplied with no nitrogen.

Olusegun (2014) supported these findings stating that pig manure in combination with NPK significantly increased the plant height.

The maximum cladode diameter (5.02 cm) and minimum in treatment N100g/ plant (T2) (3.80 cm). Ringphawon (2018) reported that 25% pig manure gave best results regarding the diameter of dragon fruit compared to mineral fertilizers. This might be because of availability of more nutrients due to the addition of organic and inorganic fertilizers (Lodhi et al., 2017).

Cladode girth (15.78 cm) was recorded maximum in 75% of N125g+Pig manure2.1 kg/plant (T9) and treatment 75% of N150g+Pig manure2.5 kg/plant (T10) was found statistically at par with it
<table><caption>Table 1. Effect of various nitrogen sources on physical cladode characteristics of dragon fruit</caption><thead><tr><th>Treatments</th><th>Cladode length (cm)</th><th>Cladode diameter (cm)</th><th>Cladode girth (cm)</th><th>No. of spines/ areoles</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>N<sub>0</sub> Control</td><td>82.16</td><td>3.86</td><td>12.15</td><td>4.00</td></tr><tr><td>N<sub>100g</sub>/ plant</td><td>105.33</td><td>3.80</td><td>12.12</td><td>4.00</td></tr><tr><td>N<sub>125g</sub>/plant</td><td>106.06</td><td>4.00</td><td>12.59</td><td>3.50</td></tr><tr><td>N<sub>150g</sub>/plant</td><td>117.46</td><td>4.35</td><td>13.66</td><td>4.16</td></tr><tr><td>75% of N<sub>100g</sub>+ FYM 1kg /plant</td><td>130.20</td><td>4.44</td><td>13.97</td><td>3.66</td></tr><tr><td>75% of N<sub>125g</sub>+FYM 1.25 kg/plant</td><td>135.27</td><td>4.51</td><td>14.17</td><td>3.50</td></tr><tr><td>75% of N<sub>150g</sub> + FYM 1.5 kg /plant</td><td>154.04</td><td>4.59</td><td>14.43</td><td>3.50</td></tr><tr><td>75% of N<sub>100g</sub>+ Pig manure 1.66 kg/plant</td><td>178.69</td><td>4.87</td><td>15.32</td><td>3.50</td></tr><tr><td>75% of N<sub>125g</sub>+ Pig manure 2.1 kg/plant</td><td>215.65</td><td>5.02</td><td>15.78</td><td>3.50</td></tr><tr><td>75% of N<sub>150g</sub>+ Pig manure 2.5 kg /plant</td><td>232.04</td><td>4.87</td><td>15.33</td><td>3.16</td></tr><tr><td>S Em±</td><td>2.44</td><td>0.05</td><td>0.50</td><td>0.23</td></tr><tr><td>CD at 5%</td><td>7.32</td><td>0.15</td><td>1.51</td><td>NS</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table><caption>Table 2. Effect of various nitrogen sources on areole characteristics of dragon fruit</caption><thead><tr><th>Treatments</th><th>No. of areoles/ cladode (cm)</th><th>Distance between areoles (cm)</th><th>Area of areoles (mm<sup>2</sup>)</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>N<sub>0</sub> Control</td><td>53.32</td><td>1.71</td><td>0.07</td></tr><tr><td>N<sub>100g</sub>/ plant</td><td>66.49</td><td>1.80</td><td>0.07</td></tr><tr><td>N<sub>125g</sub>/plant</td><td>41.45</td><td>2.83</td><td>0.08</td></tr><tr><td>N<sub>150g</sub>/plant</td><td>43.34</td><td>3.11</td><td>0.09</td></tr><tr><td>75% of N<sub>100g</sub>+ FYM 1kg /plant</td><td>49.13</td><td>3.14</td><td>0.12</td></tr><tr><td>75% of N<sub>125g</sub>+FYM 1.25 kg/plant</td><td>62.14</td><td>2.26</td><td>0.13</td></tr><tr><td>75% of N<sub>150g</sub> + FYM 1.5 kg /plant</td><td>72.46</td><td>2.28</td><td>0.13</td></tr><tr><td>75% of N<sub>100g</sub>+ Pig manure 1.66 kg/plant</td><td>68.02</td><td>3.41</td><td>0.14</td></tr><tr><td>75% of N<sub>125g</sub>+ Pig manure 2.1 kg/plant</td><td>67.00</td><td>3.53</td><td>0.18</td></tr><tr><td>75% of N<sub>150g</sub>+ Pig manure 2.5 kg /plant</td><td>79.32</td><td>3.26</td><td>0.15</td></tr><tr><td>S Em±</td><td>2.76</td><td>0.31</td><td>0.01</td></tr><tr><td>CD at 5%</td><td>8.27</td><td>0.94</td><td>0.03</td></tr></tbody></table>

whereas minimum was recorded in the treatment N<sub>100g</sub>/ plant (T<sub>2</sub>) (12.12 cm). The results are in agreement with Awosika et al. (2014) and Iren et al. (2016) where the combination of NPK and pig manure significantly increased the stem girth. This might be due to the increase in soil nutrients because of addition of organic manures, which helped in modifying the soil properties and boosted the soil health. The maximum number of spines (4.16) were recorded in treatment N<sub>150g</sub>/plant (T<sub>4</sub>) and minimum in 75% of N<sub>150g</sub>+Pig manure<sub>2.5 kg</sub>/plant (T<sub>10</sub>) (3.16). Rawat et al. (2022) reported similar results, where number of spines were found statistically non-significant with the different nutrient sources.

The distance between areoles (0.53 cm) and area of areoles (0.18 mm<sup>2</sup>) (Table 2) were recorded highest in treatment supplied with 75% of N<sub>125g</sub>+Pig manure<sub>2.1 kg</sub>/plant (T<sub>9</sub>) and lowest in N<sub>0</sub> Control (T<sub>1</sub>) (1.17 cm and 0.07 mm<sup>2</sup>). The results showed that the dragon fruit responded

well to the application of pig manure when combined with chemical fertilizers. Abo Sedera et al. (2009) stated that nitrogen fertilizer when used along with compost had enhanced the vegetative growth. This might also be due to the availability of chemical fertilizers in the initial stages and organic manures in latter stages which might have helped in improving the soil organic matter, total nitrogen and soil carbon (Kumar et al., 2016 and Reza and Jafar, 2007). The least supply of N, P and K in control might have resulted in limited plant growth and development altering photosynthesis and carbohydrate production (Zekri and Obreza, 2003).

## 4. CONCLUSION

From the above experiment it can be stated that pig manure with highest amount of nitrogen along with inorganic manures resulted in rapid growth of cladode length, diameter, girth,
distance between areoles, area of areoles stating
that the combined application of pig manure with
inorganic fertilizers (NPK) found to be most
superior treatment combination with regard to
vegetative growth in *H. polyrhizus*. As dragon
fruit is important source of rich nutrients, growing
it by using naturally available manures helps to
produce organic fruit compared to growing with
chemical fertilizers. Hence the study is useful for
the environment also as it helps to lower the use
of chemical nutrients.

DISCLAIMER (ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE)

Author(s) hereby declare that NO generative Al
technologies such as Large Language Models
(ChatGPT, COPILOT, etc) and text-to-image
generators have been used during writing or
editing of this manuscript.

COMPETING INTERESTS

Authors have declared that no competing
interests exist.

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