Microbe population in biofertilizer with vermicompost as a carrier during the process and storage

Abstract

The main problem with biofertilizer is a short storage life. Carrier materials of biofertilizer include determinants of quality and storage life. This study measured the ability of vermicompost to be used as a carrier of biofertilizers from various beneficial microbes. The study used a factorial randomized block design with 2 factors and 3 replications. The first factor was the worm and microbial application technique consisting of 4 treatments: no worm; worm applied one week after applying microbes; microbial and worm applications were applied simultaneously and microbes applied one week after applying worm. The second factor was the type of beneficial microbes consisting of 4 treatments: Azospirillum sp; Azotobacter chroococcum; Trichoderma asperellum G strains and Talaromyces pinophilus. The results obtained that after 3 and 6 weeks incubation the highest population was found at T.pinophilus (59.5-210.5×1010 CFU mL−1) and at A. chroococcum (83.5-190.5×1010 CFU mL−1, respectively. After 1 year storage, the population of A.chroococum in the carrier biovermi decreased to 50 - 90×105 CFU mL−1, T. asperellum 60 - 210 ×106 CFU mL−1 and Azospirillum 75×107 - 32×108 CFU mL−1, while T.pinophilus 60 ×106 - 45×108 CFU mL−1.