Effects of sewage sludge vermicompost and mineral fertilizer application on the aboveground biomass and yield of maize (Zea mays)
Biological agriculture concept has been recently introduced to solve problems related to the continuous and excessive application of mineral fertilizers for crop production. This concept emphasizes the importance of combined use of organic and mineral fertilizers. Thus, this research was conducted...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2015
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/8704/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/8704/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/8704/1/44_1_07.pdf |
| Summary: | Biological agriculture concept has been recently introduced to solve problems related to the continuous and excessive application
of mineral fertilizers for crop production. This concept emphasizes the importance of combined use of organic and mineral
fertilizers. Thus, this research was conducted to investigate the potential of sewage sludge vermicompost to substitute mineral
fertilizer in maize planting. Treatments involved were mixture of vermicompost (VC) and mineral fertilizer (MF) in the
following ratios of VC and MF: 100% VC (T1), 75:25 (T2), 50:50 (T3), 25:75 (T4), and 100% MF (T5) along with T6
(without fertilizer) as the control. Standard laboratory procedures were used to analyze nutrient and heavy metal concentrations
in the vermicompost. The fresh yield and total aboveground dry matter biomass of T5 (239.34 gm plant-1 and 75.00 gm
plant-1) were not significantly different with T3 (201.15 gm plant-1 and 73.61 gm plant-1) and T4 (226.49 gm plant-1 and
70.00 gm plant-1), respectively. These results showed that mixing 25% and 50% sewage sludge vermicompost with mineral
fertilizer (T4 and T3) produced similar yield as the conventional rate of mineral fertilizer application (T5). Therefore, the
amount of inorganic fertilizer for maize cultivation could be reduced. |
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