Influence of Vegetable and Fruit Wastes Vermicompost on the Growth and Yield of Black Gram (Vigna mungo L.)

Abstract

Background: Composting is the process of breaking down of organic matter using living organisms which can be used as manure for soil conditioning. Vermicomposting is the rapid decomposition of biowastes using earthworm species which will enhance the growth and yield of plants. Methods: The vermicomposting of vegetable and fruit wastes was carried out during summer season (May-July) and by using the vermicompost a pot culture experiment was conducted in black gram for three months from August to October, 2019. The treatments consist of combinations of vermicomposted wastes and cowdung along with bioinoculants, Soil served as control. The biometric parameters such as root length, shoot length, fresh weight and dry weight on 15, 35, 55 DAS and yield characters like number of pods/plants, number of seeds/pods, pod length, weight of seed/pod, pod fresh weight and pod dry weight were recorded and statistically analysed. The present study has been attempted to convert the vegetables and fruit waste into compost as manure and analyse its effect on vegetative growth and yield parameters of Black gram (Vigna mungo L.). Result: The highest value of shoot length, root length, fresh weigh and dry weight were noted in fruit waste + cow dung + Pleurotus eous (APK1) + Trichoderma asperelloides + Eudrilus eugeniae on 15, 35 and 55 day after sowing (DAS) and the least was reported in control (only soil). The application of T8 treatment reported the highest yield characters which were followed by other treatments and control on 15, 35 and 55 DAS. The study concluded that T8 (F.W + cow dung + P. eous + T. asperelloides + Eudrilus eugeniae) is an effective biocompost for the growth and yield of black gram (Vigna mungo L.) which is eco-friendly.