Abstract
Food production and waste recycling are the two major issues faced globally with rapidly increasing population. Recycling organic wastes to crop amendments could be a possible solution to these issues. Earthworms transfer organic waste to compost, which is used to grow crops and increase crop productivity. This study assessed the impact of vermicompost produced from the residues of six desert plant species, i.e., (Ziziphus mauritiana, Aerva javanica, Calligonum comosum, Sacchrum benghalens, Calligonum polygonoides and Prosopis cineraria) combined with farmyard manure (5 t ha-1) on growth, yield and photosynthetic activity of maize crop. Earthworm species Eisenia fetida (Savigny, 1826) was used to prepare vermicomposting of all tested plant species. The desert species were collected from natural habitats, chopped, dried, mixed with FYM and then earthworms were released to prepare the vermicompost. The earthworms were excluded twenty days after release and resultant was considered as compost and used in the experiment. Results revealed that application of P. cineraria vermicompost resulted in the highest plant height (75.33 cm), stem diameter (22.66 mm), cob length (17.66 cm), number of grains/cob (374.67), 1000-grain weight (260.41 g) and grains yield (3.20 t/ha). Application of P. cineraria vermicompost resulted in the highest uptake of macronutrients, i.e., N (91.01%), P (22.07%), K (80.41%), micronutrients, i.e., Fe (19.07 ppm), Zn (40.05 ppm), and phenolic contents (150). Application of P. cineraria vermicompost also resulted in the highest quantum photosynthetic yield (0.42 mole C/mole of photon), chlorophyll florescence (355.18 moles of photon m-2s-1) and electron transport rate (310.18 micro mole m-2s-1). It is concluded that vermicomposting has the potential to improve growth and yield of maize crop. Particularly, application of vermicompost obtained from P. cineraria can be used to improve the growth and yield of maize crop. Nonetheless, field trials are necessary for a wide scale recommendation.
Highlights
Conventional agriculture is reliant on excessive application of pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers and low use of organic fertilizers [1, 2]
Organic farming is being adopted by the environment-sensitive populations in developed countries due to its enormous ecological and economic benefits [11, 12]
The highest values of stem diameter, plant height, cob length, number of grains per cob, 1000-grain weight and grain yield were recorded with the application of P. cineraria vermicompost, whereas control treatment recorded the lowest values of these traits (Table 4)
Summary
Conventional agriculture is reliant on excessive application of pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers and low use of organic fertilizers [1, 2]. Frequent and non-judicious application of chemicals exerts various negative effects on environment [3], causes food pollution [4, 5], decreases soil quality and results in the loss of agricultural biodiversity [6,7,8]. Organic farming is the widely accepted option for maintaining the environmental sustainability and biodiversity [9, 10]. Previous studies revealed that vermicomposting improves nutrient status as well as biological characters of soil [13]. It is highly beneficial as it allows good drainage, improves water storage capacity and soil ventilation [14]
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