Vermicompost as soil supplement to enhance growth, yield and quality of Triticum aestivum L.: a field study

Joshi et al. International Journal Of Recycling of Organic Waste in Agriculture , 2013, : 2:16 http://www.ijrowa.com/content/// http://www.ijrowa.com/content/2/1/16 ORIGINAL RESEARCH Open Access Vermicompost as soil supplement to enhance growth, yield and quality of Triticum aestivum L.: a field study Rakesh Joshi1, Adarsh P Vig1* and Jaswinder Singh2 Abstract Background: Vermicompost (VC) made from cattle dung as raw material was used as soil supplement in the plots of size 4.5 x 4.5 m. Five treatments were given viz. Soil (control), VC@5 t/ha, VC@10 t/ha, VC@20 t/ha and NPK (recommended by PAU, Ludhiana) in triplicates in a Randomized Block Design (RBD). A total of 50 plants were selected randomly for the assessment of growth and yield of wheat Triticum aestivum L.. Results: Most of the growth, yield and quality parameters were found to be maximum in NPK treatment. All the growth, yield and quality parameters in vermicompost treatments varied significantly from control though differences within various vermicompost treatments were not found to be significant. Conclusion: It has been observed that there is no significant difference on applying higher doses of vermicompost and lowest dose (5 t/ha) is as effective as higher doses. So, vermicompost application is cost effective. Keywords: Vermicompost; Plant growth; Earthworm; Triticum; Plants quality Introduction In India, one third of the total food grains production is contributed by wheat and it is second most common crop of the country. At world level, India carries second place among wheat growing countries in terms of area and production. Wheat flour is used to make “chappati” which is its most common consumable form in India. Cattle are fed using wheat straw (ICAR 2009). Agricultural production of India increased remarkably during 60s to 80s as a result of “Green revolution” (Gupta 1996). India could achieve self-sufficiency in agriculture by an increased use of chemical fertilizers. These agrochemicals deteriorate soil health and environment got polluted. Human beings and cattle were adversely affected due to the residues of these agrochemicals in food products (Kumar and Bohra 2006). So, organic manures like vermicomposts can be a good substitude for chemical fertilizers to overcome their adverse effects. Vermicomposts are finely-divided mature peat-like materials which are produced by a non-thermophylic process involving * Correspondence: 1 Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar-143001, India Full list of author information is available at the end of the article interactions between earthworms and microorganisms (Edwards and Burrows, 1988) leading to bioxidation and stablisation of organic material (Aira et al., 2000). Vermicomposts are effective organic fertilizers and biocontrol agents (Edwards and Arancon 2004; SimsekErsahin 2011). Vermicomposts can improve food quality without compromising with food safety (Simsek-Ersahin 2011). Both developed and developing countries are using vermicomposting during last 40 years (Edwards 1995; Simsek-Ersahin 2011). Applications of vermicompost singly or in combination with either other organic fertilizers or chemical fertilizers have been proved effective to enhance growth and yield of various plants like Urad and Soyabean (Javed and Panwar, 2013), Setaria grass (Sabrina et al. 2013), Lilies (Mirakalaei et al. 2013), Marigold (Paul and Bhattacharya 2012), Matricaria chamomomomile (Hadi et al. 2011), Abelmoschus esculentus (Vijaya and Seethalakshmi 2011), Chysanthemum morifolium (Verma et al. 2011), French bean (Singh et al. 2011), Geranium (Chand et al. 2011), Groundnut (Mycin et al. 2010), Okra (Ansari and Kumar Sukhraj 2010), Cucumber (Azarmi et al. 2009; Sallaku et al. 2009), Tomato (Lazcano et al. 2009), Amaranthus sp. (Uma and Malathi 2009), Garlic (Suthar 2009), Andrographis paniculata (Vijaya et al. © 2013 Joshi et al.; licensee Springer. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Joshi et al. International Journal Of Recycling of Organic Waste in Agriculture , 2013, : 2:16 http://www.ijrowa.com/content/// http://www.ijrowa.com/content/2/1/16 Page 2 of 7 100 Mean Plant Height (cm) 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Control (Soil) T1 T2 T3 T4 Treatment Figure 1 Comparison of mean plant height (cm) in different treatments. 2008), Strawberry (Singh et al. 2008), Spinach (Peyvast et al. 2008), Maize (Gutie’rrez-Miceli et al. 2008), Sorghum (Hameeda et al. 2007), Lettuce (Ali et al. 2007) and Potato (Alam et al. 2007). So present study was designed keeping in view the harmful effects of agrochemicals and need for organic farming. The main objectives of the field experiment was: 1) to prepare vermicompost using cattle dung and checking its efficiency as an organic fertilizer for application on wheat. 2) to access the effect of different rates of vermicompost on a) growth b) yield and c) quality of wheat. 3) to compare the growth, yield and quality of wheat using vermicompost and NPK fertilizers. Methods University for vermicomposting of Cattle dung (CD). VC was harvested after 40 days and it was analyzed for physico-chemical characteristics like pH, Total Kjeldhal Nitrogen (Bremner and Mulvaney 1992), Total Available Phosphorus (John 1970), Total Potassium (TK) and Total Sodium (TNa) by Flame photometer, Total Organic Carbon (Nelson and Sommers 1982) and Electric Conductivity (Electrometric Method). Physico-chemical parameters for vermicompost and soil are given in Table 1. Field preparation Experimental field was prepared in the Botanical garden of Guru Nanak Dev University to grow wheat in a two year field trial during Nov-April 2008–09 and 2009–10. Field was ploughed and levelled with the help of tractor. A total of 15 plots of size 4.5 m × 4.5 m were prepared. Preparation of vermicompost Cattle Dung (CD) was used as raw material to prepare vermicompost (VC). Beds of size 5 feet × 2 feet were prepared with the help of bricks under a shed open from all sides in the Botanical Garden of Guru Nanak Dev Treatments of vermicompost and NPK fertilizers Five treatments were made as given in Table 2. All the treatments were given in triplicates in a Complete Randomized Block Design. Mean Stem Diameter (cm) 0.35 0.3 0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 0 Control (Soil) T1 T2 Treatments Figure 2 Comparison of mean stem diameter (cm) in different treatments. T3 T4 Joshi et al. International Journal Of Recycling of Organic Waste in Agriculture , 2013, : 2:16 http://www.ijrowa.com/content/// http://www.ijrowa.com/content/2/1/16 Page 3 of 7 8 Number of leaves/plant 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Control (Soil) T1 T2 T3 T4 Treatments Figure 3 Comparison of number of leaves/plant in different trea (...truncated)