Published Paper Details:

Andrographis paniculata is a worldwide known medicinal plant grown mainly in India and China. It is being directly consumed as medicine. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt an organic method of cultivation to maintain human health safety. In this study, water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) was collected from sweet water and water hyacinth (WH) based organic manure was used for the cultivation of Andrographis paniculata using pot assay. Water hyacinth imposes a threat to ecosystem balance and water quality. In the present study, eight treatments were implemented, from which the treatment with 25% water hyacinth and 75% chicken manure application at the rate of 10 tonnes /hectare(ha) provided promising results for growth improvement and yield than others. The maximum dry matter yield was found to be 1180 kg/ha with the application of WH and chicken manure(1:3), followed by 1134 kg/ha with the application of WH and chicken manure(1:1) when compared to other treatments. Also, the water hyacinth based organic manures have been tested for EC, pH, Total Organic Carbon, heavy metals, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to assure their quality before commencing experiments. In the view of the above observations, it is recommended to make use of the water hyacinth based organic manures for medicinal plants especially to ensure good yield and fertility of the soil.