Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
yield of mung bean (
Vigna radiata
) compared to the control (Karme-
gam et al. 1999). Similarly, the fresh and dry matter yields of cowpea
(
Vigna unguiculata
) were higher in soil amended with vermicompost
than with biodigested slurry, (Karmegam and Daniel 2000). Combined
application of vermicompost with N fertilizer gave higher dry matter
(16.2 g plant
-1
) and grain yield (3.6 t ha
-1
) of wheat (
Triticum aestivum
)
and higher dry matter yield (0.66 g plant
-1
) of the following coriander
(
Coriandrum sativum
) crop in wheat-coriander cropping system (Desai
et al. 1999). Vermicompost application produced herbage yields of co-
riander cultivars comparable to those obtained with chemical fertilizers
(Vadiraj et al. 1998). Yield of pea (
Pisum sativum
) increased with the
application of vermicompost (10 t ha
-1
) along with recommended NPK
(Meena et al. 2007). Vermicompost application to sorghum (
Sorghum
bicolor
) (Patil and Sheelavantar 2000), sunfl ower (
Helianthus annuus
)
(Devi et al. 1998), tomato (
Lycopersicon esculentum
) (Nagavallemma
et al. 2004), eggplant (
Solanum melangona
) (Guerrero and Guerrero,
2006), okra (
Abelmoschus esculentus
) (Gupta et al. 2008), hyacinth bean
(
Lablab purpureas
) (Karmegam and Daniel 2008), grapes (Buckerfi eld
and Webster 1998) and cherry (Webster 2005) showed a positive result.
Vermicompost amendment at the rate of 10 t ha
-1
along with 50% of rec-
ommended dose of NPK fertilizer increased the number and fresh weight
of fl owers per plant, fl ower diameter and yield, while at the rate of 15 t
ha
-1
along with 50% of recommended dose of NPK increased vase life
of
Chrysanthemum chinensis
(Nethra et al. 1999). Red Clover and cu-
cumber grown in soil amended with vermicompost showed an increase
in mineral contents viz., Ca, Mg, Cu, Mn and Zn in their shoot tissues
(Sainz et al. 1998). Vermicomposted cow manure stimulated the growth
of lettuce and tomato plants while the unprocessed parent material did
not (Atiyeh et al. 2000b). Similarly, vermicomposted duck wastes re-
sulted in better growth of tomatoes, lettuce, and peppers than the un-
processed wastes (Wilson and Carlile 1989). The enhancement in plant
growth might be attributed to the fact that processed waste had improved
physicochemical characteristics and nutrients, in forms readily available
to the plant as well as the presence of plant growth promoting and an-
tagonistic disease suppressing benefi cial bacteria.
