www.tjprc.org editor@tjprc.org DRY MATTER OF CYMBOPOGON MARTINI STAPF AND NUTRIENT STATUS OF THE PLANT AND SOIL AS INFLUENCED BY FLY ASH AND VERMICOMPOST G SHARON ROSE 1 , K VENKATALAXMI 2 , K SADHANA 3 & P SRINIVAS 4 1, 2, 4 Department of Plantation, Spices, Medicinal and Aromatic Crops, College of Horticulture, Sri Konda Laxman Telangana State Horticultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Telangana, India 3 Department of Horticulture, College of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara, Kerala, India ABSTRACT Different levels of fly ash and vermicompost in soil were tried and their effect on dry matter (%), plant N, P and K content (%) in Cymbopogon martini Stapf and available soil N, P and K (kg/ha) were observed for a period of two harvests during 2014-2015 at CIMAP, Boduppal, Hyderabad. The perusal of the data revealed that treatment T 7 with 6 t/ha of fly ash + 4 t/ha of vermicompost recorded maximum dry matter content (50.95% and 40.76%), plant N (2.14% and 2.03%), P (0.32% and 0.30%) and K (4.23% and 3.79%) content at both harvests. The treatment T 1 receiving 10 t/ha of vermicompost recorded maximum soil available N (414.61kg/ha and 372.42 kg/ha) and P (29.32 kg/ha and 21.56 kg/ha) at both harvests. Maximum soil available K (558.25 kg/ha and 542.13 kg/ha) was recorded by the treatment T 11 receiving 10 t/ha of fly ash alone. From the investigation, it can be concluded that 6 t/ha of fly ash with 4 t/ha of vermicompost as best treatment as it recorded maximum dry matter and nutrient status in palmarosa, followed by treatments T 8 , T 9 , T 10 and T 11 that were on par with the treatment T 7 for dry matter and nutrient status in palmarosa. KEYWORDS: Fly Ash, Vermicompost, Palmarosa, Dry Matter & N, P, K Received: Jun 30, 2017; Accepted: Jul 15, 2017; Published: Jul 19, 2017; Paper Id.: IJASRAUG201743 INTRODUCTION Palmarosa (C. martini Stapf var. motia), an aromatic perennial grass, also referred as East Indian geranium or Russa grass is native of subtropical India, known for its essential oil for a long time. Palmarosa oil has been distilled commercially for more than 100 years in India. Oil has many industrial applications viz., perfumes, cosmetics, bath products, medicinal, household purposes and flavouring tobacco. The use of oil is reputed in aromatherapy. It is a colourless to pale yellow volatile oil possessing a sweet scented rose like aroma with high content of compounds called geraniol (70.1-85.3%) and geranyl acetate (4.3-14.8%). The oil is extracted from inflorescence (2%), leaf lamina (1.4%), whole herb (0.75%) and leaf sheath (0.33%) (Rajeswara Rao et al., 2009). Plant nutrition is one of the important factors that control growth and development. Plant nutrition through organic farming is gaining momentum especially in the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants for quality of produce that gets premium price. In addition to premium price, application of nutrients through organic sources like vermin compost and fly ash will be cost effective in palmarosa production. Integrated use of fly ash, organic and inorganic fertilizers saved N, P, and K fertilizers to the range of 45.8, 33.5 and 69.9%, respectively and gave higher fertilizer use efficiency than chemical fertilizers alone or combined use of organic and chemical fertilizers in a rice- groundnut cropping system (Mittra et al, 2003). Fly ash is a by-product of pulverized coal fired thermal power stations and the disposal of fly ash is a serious Original Article International Journal of Agricultural Science and Research (IJASR) ISSN (P): 2250-0057; ISSN (E): 2321-0087 Vol. 7, Issue 4, Aug 2017, 347-354 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.