Background: The
task of modern agriculture is to protect the environment, reduce expenses, and
promote social stability while maintaining high agricultural yields. Organic
soil additions, such as vermicompost, can help achieve such a goal by
increasing earthworm populations by providing a nutrient-dense substrate.
However, there is little information on the impact of organic manure or
vermicompost on soil biota, particularly ecosystem engineers such as
earthworms.
Purpose: Rubber
leaves are abundant in agro-waste, and pineapple is Tripura's most economically
important fruit crop. So, in our present study, different amounts of rubber
leaf vermicompost have been applied to the soils of pineapple plantations to
determine their effects on earthworms—the soil ecosystem engineers, coupled
with the vegetative growth and yield of pineapples.
Methods: During
30 months of field trial (2010–2012) in ICAR regional station, Lembucherra,
West Tripura, the control plot (T0) received no fertilizer, while experimental
plots were fertilized with four different amounts of vermicompost viz. T1 (5
tons ha−1 year−1), T2 (10 tons ha−1 year−1), T3 (20 tons ha−1 year−1) and T4
(30 tons ha−1 year−1).
Results: A
significant (p < 0.05) but gradual increase in density (up to T3 treatment)
and biomass (up to T4 treatment) of earthworms were recorded with the
increasing amounts of vermicompost. During the second year, the average length
and width of leaves, number of leaves per plant, plant girth, fruit weight,
fruit yield, and fruiting percentage were highest in the T3 plot compared to
other treated plots and control.
Conclusion: The
present study reveals that crop yield is very much related to the concentration
of vermicompost, beyond the level of which production declines and increase in
vegetative growth, fruit weight, and fruiting percentage of pineapple are
strongly linked with the soil pH, av. P, av. K, clay content, and the earthworm
density of soils.
Author(s)details:-
Dr. Animesh Dey
(Assistant Professor)
Department of Zoology, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar, India.
Prof. P. S. Chaudhuri
(Retd.)
Department of Zoology, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar, India.
Please See the book
here :- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/racas/v9/3694G
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