~ 473 ~ The Pharma Innovation Journal 2020; 9(9): 473-476 ISSN (E): 2277- 7695 ISSN (P): 2349-8242 NAAS Rating: 5.03 TPI 2020; 9(9): 473-476 © 2020 TPI www.thepharmajournal.com Received: 12-06-2020 Accepted: 10-08-2020 Mabema Thongbam Department of Horticulture, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Institute of Agricultural Sciences Utlou, Manipur, India Rocky Thokchom Department of Horticulture, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Institute of Agricultural Sciences Utlou, Manipur, India Th. Santosh Singh Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Utlou, Manipur, India Koijam Koiremba Department of Horticulture, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Institute of Agricultural Sciences Utlou, Manipur, India Corresponding Author: Mabema Thongbam Department of Horticulture, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Institute of Agricultural Sciences Utlou, Manipur, India Influence of biofertilizers on growth and yield of winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (L.) DC.) Mabema Thongbam , Rocky Thokchom , Th. Santosh Singh and Koijam Koiremba Abstract The present investigation was carried out during the kharif season of 2018-19 at Horticultural Research Farm, Department of Horticulture, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Utlou. Experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Local seeds of winged bean collected from market were taken for the experimental trial and ten treatments were used. After selection, the seeds were sown at the spacing of 90cm x45cm. From the present investigation biofertilizer mixtures of Rhizobium, vermicompost, Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhiza (VAM) and Phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) (T10) was found significantly superior in terms of yield attributes viz., secondary branches (8.9), pod length (13.4cm), seed per pod (11.6) and pod fresh weight per plant (14.88g). Treatment consisting of Rhizobium only (T2) gave maximum (3467.00 mg) pod dry weight, while T8 (Rhizobium + PSB) produced maximum (17.25 ft.) plant height. Maximum weight of tuber (167.53 g) was recorded with treatment T9 (Rhizobium+ vermicompost + VAM). Least performance in terms of growth and yield of winged bean was recorded with control treatment. Statistical analysis of variance (p=0.05) showed that use of different biofertilizers significantly increased in all growth and yield parameters of winged bean. Hence, the results suggest that biofertilizers enhance the growth and yield of winged bean which should be encouraged for future crop improvement programme. Keywords: Winged bean, Rhizobium, VAM, vermicompost, PSB 1. Introduction Winged bean is one of the most consumed crops in Manipur for its nutritious value and luscious taste (Rahman et al., 2013; Marlene and Valio, 1996) [15, 12] . It has high nutritious value and cultivated for its importance as a protein rich multipurpose crop, thus it is also known as Goa bean, four angled bean, God-sent vegetable and princess pea (Ray et al., 2012) [17] . Winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (L.) DC.) is a dicotyledonous plant belongs to the genus Psophocarpus, which is part of the Fabaceae family, Papilionoideae subfamily having a diploid genome (2n = 2x = 18) (Harder, 1992; Vatanparast et al. 2016) [6, 22] . It is regarded as a crop with cleistogamous floral system which perform autogamy, with self- pollination before the large flowers open in the morning hours (Karikari 1972; Erskine and Bala 1976; Erskine 1980) [9, 4, 5] . Winged bean plant grows as a vine with climbing stems and leaves. It is a herbaceous perennial, but can be grown as an annual in hot, humid equatorial countries such as Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, India, Vietnam, Burma, Sri Lanka and Madagascar. It is commonly grown in southern and north- eastern region, i.e. Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram and adjoining areas of India and is consumed by local peoples (Kant and Nandan, 2018) [8] . All parts of winged bean are rich in protein (Mnembuka and Eggum, 1995) [13] , vitamins and minerals (Mahto and Dua, 2009) [11] and were once identified as the future soybean (National Academy Press, 1981) [4] . Winged bean is a multipurpose crop that can be grown as a pulse, as a vegetable (leaves and pods) and as a root tuber crop (National Academy Press, 1981) [4] . Each part of the plant contains a different nutritional composition; the leaves and pods, commonly used as a vegetable, are a rich source of vitamins, minerals and fibre, the seed are high in protein and the tuber provides a rich source of carbohydrate (Wong et al., 2015) [23] . It is well documented that higher level of nitrogen application not only seems to be uneconomic, but also endanger the basic production system. This situation warrants for a sustainable agro technology, through integrated plant nutrient supply system involving chemical, organic and biofertilizers. Soil is the important and fundamental component of the biosphere that supports all the living and since there is a concerning factor of land degradation observing the production of food and