Agricultural Research & Technology: Open Access Journal Review Article Volume 1 Issue 3 - February 2016 Agri Res & Tech: Open Access J Copyright © All rights are reserved by Chandra Shekher Sanwal Integrated Nutrient Management in Brinjal- A Review Study Umalaxmi Thingujam 1 *, Dipa Kundu 2 , Rubina Khanam 3 , Dipa Manik 4 and Victor Thingujam 5 1,2,3,4 Department of Agricultural Chemistry & Soil Science, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, India 5 Department of Forest Product and Utilisation, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, India Submission: January 14, 2016; Published: February 19, 2016 *Corresponding author: Umalaxmi Thingujam, Department of Agricultural Chemistry & Soil Science, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal – 741252, India, Tel: 9002582245; Email: Abstract Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) popularly known as egg plant belongs to family Solanaceae and India is its center of origin and diversity. It is highly productive and usually finds a place as “poor man’s crop”. The growth, yield and fruit quality of brinjal are largely dependent on number of interacting factors. On the other hand egg plant is a long duration crop with high yield which removes large quantities of nutrients from the soil. An egg-plant crop yielding 60t ha -1 of fruit removes 190 kg N, 10.9 kg P and 12 8kg K from soil. Now-a-days demands for brinjal as a fruit vegetable is increasing rapidly among the vegetable consumers in view of its better fruit color, size and taste only one source of nutrients like chemical fertilizers, organic manures and biofertilizers cannot improve the production or maintain the production sustainability and soil health. The integrated nutrient management is very useful in this context. Integrated plant nutrient management is the intelligent use of optimum combination of organic, inorganic and biological nutrient sources in a specific crop, cropping system and climatic situation so as to achieve and to sustain the optimum yield and to improve or to maintain the soil’s physical, biological and chemical properties. Such a crop nutrition package has to be technically sound, economically attractive, practically feasible and environmentally safe. Keywords: Brinjal; Biofertilizers; Integrated nutrient management; Micronutrients; Fertilizers Introduction The egg plant or brinjal is cultivated as one of the leading and the second major vegetable crops next to tomato, Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) popularly known as egg plant belongs to family Solanaceae and India is its center of origin and diversity [1]. It can be grown in almost all states of India except in the higher altitudes. It is a popular and principle fruit vegetable grown in India and other parts of tropical and subtropical world but in temperate regions, it is grown mainly during warm season [2]. It is highly productive and usually finds a place as “poor man’s crop”. Major states growing brinjal are West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and Gujarat. Brinjal is used in a variety of culinary preparations since ancient times. It is a staple vegetable in many tropical countries. Purple fruits have higher amino acid content. Brinjal fruits have medicinal properties Rajan and Markose [3]. Some medicinal use of eggplant tissues and extract include treatment of diabetes, asthma, cholera, bronchitis and diarrhoea, its fruit and leaves are reported to lower certain levels of blood cholesterol. The growth, yield and fruit quality of brinjal are largely dependent on number of interacting factors. On the other hand egg plant is a long duration crop with high yield which removes large quantities of nutrients from the soil. An egg-plant crop yielding 60t ha -1 of fruit removes 190kg N, 10.9kg P and 128kg K from soil [4]. Now-a-days demand for brinjal as a fruit vegetable is increasing rapidly among the vegetable consumers in view of its better fruit color, size and taste. Average productivity of brinjal crop is quite low and there exists a good scope to improve its average productivity in India to full fill both domestic and national needs. Only one source of nutrients like chemical fertilizers, organic manures and biofertilizers cannot improve the production or maintain the production sustainability and soil health. The integrated nutrient management is very useful in this context. Integrated plant nutrient management is the intelligent use of optimum combination of organic, inorganic and biological nutrient sources in a specific crop, cropping system and climatic situation so as to achieve and to sustain the optimum yield and Agri Res & Tech: Open Access J 1(3): ARTOAJ.MS.ID.55562 (2016) 001