Comparison of the Effect of Vermicompost and Inorganic Fertilizers on Vegetative Growth and Fruit Production of Tomato (<i>Solanum lycopersicum</i>L.)

This study attempted to compare the effect of cow manure vermicompost and inorganic fertilizers on the vegetative growth and fruits of tomato plant (Solanum lycopersicum L.). An air dried sandy loam soil was mixed with five rates of vermicompost equivalent to 0 (control), 5, 10, 15 and 20 t ha-1 and three rates of NPK fertilizer equivalent to 50% (N-P-K = 69-16-35 kg ha-1), 100% (N-P-K = 137-32-70 kg ha-1) and 200% (N-P-K = 274-64-140 kg ha-1). The treatments were replicated three times. The data revealed that shoot length, number of leaves, dry matter weight of shoots and roots, fruit number and fruit weight were influenced significantly (P < 0.05) by the application of vermicompost and NPK fertilizer in the growth media. The highest dose of vermicompost of 20 t ha-1 increased dry weight of shoot of 52 folds and root of 115 folds, number of fruit(s)/plant of 6 folds and mean fruit weight of 29 folds while the highest rate of NPK fertilizer of 200% increased dry weight of shoot of 35 folds and root of 80 folds, number of fruit(s)/plant of 4 folds and mean fruit weight of 18 folds over the control treatment. The growth performance of tomato was better in the vermicompost amended soil pots than the plants grown in the inorganic fertilizer amended soil pots. This study suggested that the vermicompost served as a potential source of nutrients for plant growth.

The wonders of earthworms &its vermicompost in farm production: Charles Darwin’s ‘friends of farmers’, with potential to replace destructive chemical fertilizers

Earthworms and its excreta (vermicast) promises to usher in the ‘Second Green Revolution’ by completely replacing the destructive agro chemicals which did more harm than good to both the farmers and their farmland. Earthworms restore & improve soil fertility and significantly boost crop productivity. Earthworms excreta (vermicast) is a nutritive ‘organic fertilizer’ rich in humus, NKP, micronutrients, beneficial soil microbes—‘nitrogenfixing & phosphate solubilizing bacteria’ & ‘actinomycets’ and growth hormones ‘auxins’, ‘gibberlins’ & ‘cytokinins’. Both earthworms and its vermicast & body liquid (vermiwash) are scientifically proving as both ‘growth promoters & protectors’ for crop plants. In our experiments with corn & wheat crops, tomato and eggplants it displayed excellent growth performances in terms of height of plants, color & texture of leaves, appearance of flowers & fruits, seed ears etc. as compared to chemical fertilizers and the conventional compost. There is also less incidences of ‘pest & disease attack’ and ‘reduced demand of water’ for irrigation in plants grown on vermicompost. Presence of live earthworms in soil also makes significant difference in flower and fruit formation in vegetable crops. Composts work as a ‘slowrelease fertilizer’ whereas chemical fertilizers release their nutrients rather quickly in soil and soon get depleted. Significant amount of ‘chemical nitrogen’ is lost from soil due to oxidation in sunlight. However, with application of vermicompost the ‘organic nitro gen’ tends to be released much faster from the excreted ‘humus’ by worms and those mineralised by them and the net overall efficiency of nitrogen (N) is considerably greater than that of chemical fertilizers. Availability of phosphorus (P) is sometimes much greater. Our study sh ows that earthworms and vermicompost can promote growth from 50 to 100% over conventional compost & 30 to 40% over chemical fertilizers besides protecting the soil and the agro ecosystem while producing ‘nutritive and tasty food’ at a much economical cost (at least 50 75% less) as compared to the costly chemical fertilizers.

Vermicompost, the story of organic gold: A review

Earthworm has caught imagination of philosophers like Pascal and Thoreau. Yet its role in the nutrition of agricultural fields has attracted attention of researchers worldwide only in recent decades. Waste management is considered as an integral part of a sustainable society, thereby necessitating diversion of biodegradable fractions of the societal waste from landfill into alternative management processes such as vermicomposting. Earthworms excreta (vermicast) is a nutritive organic fertilizer rich in humus, NPK, micronutrients, beneficial soil microbes;nitrogen-fixing, phosphate solubilizing bacteria, actinomycets and growth hormones auxins, gibberlins & cytokinins. Both vermicompost & its body liquid (vermiwash) are proven as both growth promoters & protectors for crop plants. We discuss about the worms composting technology, its importance, use and some salient results obtained in the globe so far in this review update of vermicompost research.

Influence of vermicomposting on solid wastes decomposition kinetics in soils

The effect of vermicomposting on kinetic behavior of the products is not well recognized. An incubation study was conducted to investigate C mineralization kinetics of cow manure, sugarcane filter cake and their vermicomposts. Two different soils were treated with the four solid wastes at a rate of 0.5 g solid waste C per kg soil with three replications. Soils were incubated for 56 d. The CO2-C respired was monitored periodically and a first-order kinetic model was used to calculate the kinetic pa-rameters of C mineralization. Results indicated that the percentage of C mineralized during the incubation period ranged from 31.9% to 41.8% and 55.9% to 73.4% in the calcareous and acidic soils, respectively. The potentially mineralizable C (C0) of the treated soils was lower in the solid waste composts compared to their starting materials. Overall, it can be concluded that de-composable fraction of solid wastes has decreased due to vermicomposting.

Vermicompost as an Alternative to Inorganic Fertilizer to Improve Okra Productivity in Côte d’Ivoire

Okra is one of the most popular vegetables in Côte d’Ivoire which is produced by heavy use of inorganic fertilizers. Vermicompost can be an alternative to inorganic fertilizers. This field study investigated the effect of vermicompost on growth and productivity of okra as compared to inorganic fertilizers. The respective treatments were arranged in a complete randomized block design, each at three replications, during three-season cycles on a ferralitic soil. Results showed that the highest rate of germination was obtained with the vermicompost. The tallest plants of Abelmoschus esculentus (1.88 m) and Abelmoschus caillei (1.78 m) were observed with inorganic fertilizer. The number of leaves per plant registered when using vermicompost was 34.5 and 30.74 with Abelmoschus esculentus and Abelmoschus cailli, respectively. With inorganic fertilizer, the number of leaves per plant was 34.21 (Abelmoschus esculentus) and 32.32 (Abelmoschus cailli). Plants took about 60 days to flower in the control plots and about 46 days in the plots fertilized with the vermicompost and the inorganic fertilizer. The highest pod yields of Abelmoschus esculentus and Abelmoschus cailli were 8.7 t⋅ha−1 and 10.58 t⋅ha−1 with vermicompost and 8.85 t⋅ha−1 and 10.7 t⋅ha−1 with inorganic fertilizer, respectively. Vermicompost could be recommended as an alternative to inorganic fertilizer to produce okra on ferralitic soil in Côte d’Ivoire.

Effects of nitrogen, phosphorus and vermicompost on groundnut yield in Babile District, eastern Ethiopia

Groundnut is a major cash crop for smallholder farmers in several districts of eastern Ethiopia with low yield. Little or no fertilizer was applied for the crop possibly because no generic or recommended fertilizer and technology were available. Therefore, field experiments were conducted for 2 consecutive cropping seasons in Babile District, to investigate effects of applying mineral N and P fertilizer and vermicompost (VC) on seed yield and oil content of groundnut using an improved variety ‘BaHa-Gudo’. Treatments consisted of nitrogen (0,23 and 46 kg N/ha), phosphorus (0,46 and 92 kg P2O5/ha) and VC (0,2.5 and 5 t VC/ha). Results revealed that yield attributes, seed yield and seed oil content were significantly (p < 0.01) affected by fertilizers. Seed yield after combined application of 46 kg N, 46 kg P2O5 and 2.5 t VC/ha increased by about 113% compared to seed yield without any fertilizers. Enhancement in seed oil content at the aforementioned rate was 7.0%. It could, thus, be concluded that applying the aforementioned fertilizers would enable farmers to increase seed yield and oil content of groundnut for enhancing their income and livelihoods in the study area.

Vermicompost for Indigo Blue and Congo Red Removal

The data obtained through this work revealed that the vermicompost is a natural adsorbent able to removal two textile dyes from an aqueous medium. The values of maximum adsorption capacity for congo red (23.25 mg/g) and indigo blue (40.39 mg/g) obtained from the Mathematical Langmuir Model reveal it. The conditions of adsorbent mass, stirring time between adsorbent and dyes were optimized. Additionally, the values of Gibbs free energy demonstrate the predominance of physical interaction between both dyes and vermicompost. Through Langmuir constant values, it was possible to identify similar affinities between both dyes and vermicompost. The value of dimensionless constant indicates favorable adsorptions process. Finally, through physicochemical analysis from scanning electron microscopy and Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy, the characteristics of vermicompost were verified revealing essential aspects to efficient adsorbent.

Effects of Different Vermicompost Rates on Growth,2-Acetyl-1-Pyrroline,Photosynthesis and Antioxidant Responses of Fragrant Rice(Oryza sativa L.)Seedling

Vermicompost is an organic fertilizer contains multiple nutrient elements.However,the application of vermicompost in fragrant rice production is rarely reported.In order to study the effects of vermicompost application on fragrant rice(Oryza sativa L.)seedling performances,present study was conducted with two fragrant rice cultivars and four vermicompost rate treatments(0(CK),2.5(Wo1),5.0(Wo2)and 10.0(Wo3)g kg−1).The results showed that vermicompost treatments significantly increased dry weight of fragrant rice seedling by 8.31–32.56%compared with CK.21.10–59.13%higher net photosynthetic rates and 10.66–59.16%higher chlorophyll contents(chlorophyll a,chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll)were recorded in vermicompost treatments than CK.Application of vermicompost also significantly increased 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline(2-AP,the key compound of fragrant rice aroma)content and reduced the transcript level of gene BADH2 which related to 2-AP biosynthesis in fragrant rice seedling.Moreover,compared with CK,vermicompost treatments enhanced activities of superoxide dismutase,peroxidase,catalase by 24.42–28.66%,24.98–25.73%and 22.45–23.57%,respectively.11.54–40.53%lower malonaldehyde contents were recorded in vermicompost treatments in related to CK.In conclusion,vermicompost improved growth,increased 2-AP content and might enhance stress resistant of fragrant rice seedling.

Antifungal Activity of Compounds Isolated from Bamboo Vermicompost against <i>Rhizoctonia solani</i>AG1-IB

Vermicompost has become a promising alternative to chemical pesticide because of its disease suppression effect during these decades. However, the mechanisms by which vermicompost suppress plant disease are not well-understood. Antifungal compounds, which are released by beneficial organisms in the vermicompost, may play an important role in inhibiting plant pathogens;however, these mechanisms have not been widely examined. In this study, Sterilized Water Extracts of bamboo vermicompost (SWE), using a 0.22-μm cellulose acetate filter, significantly (P < 0.05) inhibited the mycelium growth of Rhizoctonia solani AG1-IB on a Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) plate. This suggests that antifungal compounds are present in bamboo vermicompost. The ethanol acetate (EtOAc) crude extracts of bamboo vermicompost showing antifungal activity were further separated. Two compounds were isolated from the EtOAc fraction of bamboo vermicompost and characterized as ergosterol peroxide (1) and (22E, 24R)-5α,8α-epidioxyergosta-6,9(11),22-trien-3β-ol (2). Their chemical structures and mass spectra were determined by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry analyses. Ergosterol peroxide tested at 150, 300, 600, and 900 μg showed 13%, 22%, 34%, and 53% mycelial growth inhibition against R. solani AG1-IB, respectively. Because EtOAc crude extracts of the initial substrate materials of bamboo vermicompost did not inhibit mycelium growth of R. solani AG1-IB, antifungal compounds in the vermicompost may be released by microbes but not from the original substrates during vermicomposting.

Effect of Application of Vermicompost and Conventional Compost Derived from Different Residues on Pea Crop Production and Soil Faunal Diversity in Agricultural System in Garhwal Himalayas India

Sedentary crop-livestock mixed farming is the predominant agricultural land use in Central Himalaya upland and largely rainfed;agrochemicals are not used at all. Farmers focus on increasing yields with poor soil fertility management practices resulted in sharp decline in production of pea crop in the study site. Therefore in present study options are being looked into devising some conservation strategies that increase yields of pea while reducing harm to soil biodiversity at a local scale here. The present study explores the efficiency of P. excavatus as endemic earthworm species for vermicomposting, the potential utilization of Conventional oak based farmyard manure (FM-O);Conventional pine based farmyard manure(FM-P);Earthworm fed ? Cow dung + oak leaves based vermicompost (VC-O);Earthworm fed ? Cow dung + pine leaves based vermicompost (VC-P);freshly fallen leaf litter (LM) on pea crop productivity and soil faunal diversity in agricultural system, and if the changed soil faunal biodiversity scenario in any way affected the crop production. The higher uptake of nitrogen, higher germination percentage enhanced seedling growth, early emergence flower, increase number of pods, seed, husk , and root biomass was significantly higher in plants which received VC-O followed by VC-P as manure input treatments. The change in the diversity of soil micro arthropods in relation to quality change in organic residues input in experimental plots and expressed as the Simpsons diversity index showed that the diversity of soil fauna is related to improvements in soil conditions resulting from nutrient manipulations through vermicompost and conventional compost treatments. This response of soil biota to increased production most likely represents an increase in the availability of resources through addition of vermicompost when compared to other compost treatments. Alternatively, an increase in predators and therefore predation, could, increase the diversity of its prey, thereby decreasing dominant competitors and reducing the possibility of competitive exclusion, but this needs further studies. Chronosequence study during cropping season indicated that the composition and abundance of soil fauna in agricultural fields changed considerably with time under cultivation. This technology has now been adopted by the farmers in the area once again for growing the pea crop.

Animal Manure, Neem Cake, Biochar, Vermicompost or Urea: Choosing the Better Option for <i>Spinacia oleracea</i>Growth and Soil Fertility

Production of safe food through organic farming while maintaining soil sustainability is the crucial challenge of recent time. As such a pot experiment was conducted using animal manure (TAM), neem-cake (TNC), vermicompost (TVC), biochar (TBC) and urea (TU) with control (TC) to assess their capacity to stimulate Spinacia oleracea growth under field condition and their impact on soil fertility. Six treatments: TC, TAM, TNC, TVC, TBC, TU with three replications were used in completely randomized design (CRD). All the plant growth parameters were measured at regular interval up to maturity. Complete chemical analysis of plant tissue, amendments and soil was carried out. Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) under different treatments was calculated at 45 and 60 days. All the treatments showed statistically significant (P < 0.001) increase in yield over control and urea. The highest plant height (24 cm), leaf area index (0.154), and dry weight (1254 kg/ha) were found at TNC which increased respectively 132%, 258%, 450% over control and 125%, 431%, 448% over urea. TVC was the second best treatment followed by TBC for plant growth. NUE was significantly (P < 0.001) higher in treatment TVC than any other treatments and was higher at maturity than vegetative state. TNC had lower NUE than TVC and TBC but the inherent N content was higher in TNC than TVC and TBC. Uptake of certain macro nutrients showed significant (P < 0.05) positive correlation with plant growth parameters i.e., plant height with P (R = 0.887);leaf area with N (R = 0.957) and P (R = 0.985);dry weight with N (R = 0.996), P (R = 0.994) and K (R = 0.860). Significant (P < 0.001) increase in post-harvest soil C and CEC content was found with all the treatments. The highest availability of N, P and S was observed under treatment TNC. For short duration crop like spinach, TNC is the best option followed by TVC as they release nutrient quickly than TBC and TAM.

Effect of Vermicompost on Improving Soil Ecological Environment and Increasing Crop Yield

The status of research on the utilization of vermicompost at home and abroad was reviewed from the aspects of effects of vermicompost on soil in terms of physical,chemical and biological properties,as well as effects of vermicompost as cultivation substrate and organic fertilizer on crop yield and quality improvement.Moreover,some new thoughts and prospects on the application of vermicompost in the development of agricultural and rural ecological recycling industry were put forward.

Coscinium fenestratum: Callus and Suspension Cell Culture of the Endangered Medicinal Plant Using Vermicompost Extract and Coelomic Fluid as Plant Tissue Culture Media

In vitro tissue culture of hard woody, endangered, medicinal plant Coscinium fenestratum is most challenging to plant tissue culturists. In the present study, petiole and leaf explants of Coscinium fenestratum were induced to form callus when cultured on vermicompost extract media along with coelomic fluid. Suspension medium was developed using vermicompost extract and coelomic fluid in 3:1 ratio. Phytochemical analysis of the alkaloid berberine was confirmed from callus, suspension cell culture and suspension medium by Thin Layer Chromatography and High Performance Liquid Chromatography. Vermicompost and its extracts with coelomic fluid have shown maximum (100 per cent) response of callus induction. Callus mass enlarged with increasing concentration of coelomic fluid and callus growth was assessed from the biomass. Incubation of culture tubes in dark supported callus development significantly. The Rf value of 0.36 confirmed the presence of berberine by Thin Layer Chromatography. Qualitative analysis confirmed the presence of alkaloid berberine with the retention time of 2.8 minutes similar to that of standard reference sample from Sigma chemicals, USA. The suspension medium turned deep yellow because of the release of the alkaloid. Vermicompost and its extracts along with coelomic fluid have shown the economical approach for micropropagation of economically and medicinally important plants.

Environmental and Social Advantages to On-Site andLocal Vermicomposting of Food and Agricultural Waste

This paper is a distillation of thirty-plus years of experience,experimentation,and observations,gleaned while designing,setting up,nunning,refining,and training people to run indoor vemicomposting systems.The objectives of this study are to reduce thevolume of food waste going into the waste stream;produce ligh quality organic fertilizer,improve soil heath,reduce waste-haulingcosts;encourage community members to move away from using chemical fertilizers,herbicides,and pesticides,in their gardens.Thishas been,essentially,a long-term,crowd-conducted,wide-ranging.and ongoing experiment.The design of a system is important,butthe way it is run is more important.For some people,prison inmates,for example,leaning to nun a vermicomposting system,can belife-and mind-altering.

Optimizing Yield and Nutrients Content in Tomato by Vermicompost Application under Greenhouse Conditions

Optimizing yield and nutrients content in crop production is the high time demand of arable farming. Vermicompost furnishes one of the most promising alternatives to costly chemical fertilizer. Therefore, a greenhouse experiment was conducted at NARC, Islamabad, to investigate the effect of different levels of vermicompost [having C/N=15/1 and 14 Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR)] on growth, yield and nutrients content in hybrid tomato (National Tunnel Tomato-04-08) under greenhouse conditions during Rabi 2015. The data revealed that different rates (0.5 t·ha-1, 1 t·ha-1, 1.5 t·ha-1 and 2 t·ha-1) of vermicompost produced varied and significant (P -1) at the application of 2.0 t vermicompost ha-1 followed by 3.226 t·ha-1 where vermicompost was applied @ 1.5 t·ha-1. N, P and K content in tomato fruit and plant increased significantly with the application of increasing levels of vermicompost. The highest content of N (3.7%), P (0.67%), K (5.17%) in tomato fruit and N (3.4%), P (0.32%), K (3.2%) in tomato plant respectively were registered with soil application of vermicompost @ 2.0 t·ha-1. This study confirms that the vermicompost has a tremendous potential of plant nutrients supply for sustainable crop production.

Production of Phosphate-Rich Biofertiliser Using Vermicompost and Anaerobic Digestor Sludge—A Case Study

This paper presents the technology and cost effectiveness of production of phosphate rich biofertiliser (called PROM) by bioconversion of phosphate rock ore into soluble phosphates (that are directly assimilable by plants) in presence of an organic manure such as Vermicompost or anaerobic digestor sludge (discharged from biogas manufacturing units) and using a microbial culture of Bacillus megatherium var phosphaticum. PROM has been found to be an excellent, less expensive, substitute to synthetic phosphatic fertilisers such as SSP, MAP and DAP. This is based on real—life field trials. It is also possible to integrate the production of PROM, with biogas generation and the layout of such a more profitable, integrated scheme is also presented in this paper.

Vermicompost:In situ retardant of antibiotic resistome accumulation in cropland soils

The dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes(ARGs)in soil has become a global environmental issue.Vermicomposting is gaining prominence in agricultural practices as a soil amendment to improve soil quality.However,its impact on soil ARGs remains unclear when it occurs in farmland.We comprehensively explored the evolution and fate of ARGs and their hosts in the field soil profiles under vermicompost application for more than 3years.Vermicompost application increased several ARG loads in soil environment but decreased the high-risk bla-ARGs(bla_(ampC),bla_(NDM),and bla_(GES-1))by log(0.04-0.43).ARGs in soil amended with vermicompost primarily occurred in topsoil(approximately 1.04-fold of unfertilized soil),but it is worth noting that their levels in the 40-60 cm soil layer were the same or even less than in the unfertilized soil.The microbial community structure changed in soil profiles after vermicompost application.Vermicompost application altered the microbial community structure in soil profiles,showing that the dominant bacteria(i.e.,Proteobacteria,Actinobacteriota,Firmicutes)were decreased 2.62%-5.48%with the increase of soil depth.A network analysis further revealed that most of ARG dominant host bacteria did not migrate from surface soil to deep soil.In particular,those host bacteria harboring high-risk bla-ARGs were primarily concentrated in the surface soil.This study highlights a lower risk of the propagation of ARGs caused by vermicompost application and provides a novel approach to reduce and relieve the dissemination of ARGs derived from animals in agricultural production.

Feasibility of housefly larvae-mediated vermicomposting for recycling food waste added digestate as additive

The development of methods for the efficient treatment and application of food waste digestate is an important research goal.Vermicomposting via housefly larvae is an efficient way to reduce food waste and achieve its valorization,however,studies on the application and performance of digestate in vermicomposting are rarely.The present study aimed to investigate the feasibility of the co-treatment of food waste and digestate as an additive via larvae.Restaurant food waste(RFW)and household food waste(HFW)were selected to assess the effects of waste type on vermicomposting performance and larval quality.Waste reduction rates of 50.9%–57.8%were observed in the vermicomposting of food waste mixed with digestate at a ratio of 25%,which were slightly lower than those for treatments without the addition of digestate(62.8%–65.9%).The addition of digestate increased the germination index,with a maximum value of 82%in the RFW treatments with 25%digestate,and decreased the respiration activity,with a minimum value of 30 mg-O_(2)/g-TS.The larval productivity of 13.9%in the RFW treatment system with a digestate rate of 25%was lower that without digestate(19.5%).Materials balance shows that larval biomass and metabolic equivalent had decreasing trends as the amount of digestate increased and HFW vermicomposting exhibited lower bioconversion efficiency than that of RFW treatment system regardless of the addition of digestate.These results suggest that mixing digestate at a low ratio(25%)during vermicomposting of foodwaste especially RFW could lead to considerable larval biomass and generate relatively stable residues.