Abstract
Recycling of organic wastes enriched with nitrogen and inoculated with plant growth promoting rhizobacteria could convert organic waste material into a value added organic/biofertilizer, which may be effective even when added in substantially small amounts (kg ha-1). In this study, organic waste of fruit and vegetables was collected and composted in a locally-fabricated unit. The composted material was enriched with 25% of full dose (114 kg ha-1) of N fertilizer (95 g kg-1 compost) and inoculated with plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) to convert it into a biofertilizer. Organic/biofetilizer was applied @ 300 kg ha-1 (2 mg pot-1) to the pots fertilized with NPK (114-62-57 kg ha-1), respectively. The P and K fertilizers were applied as basal treatment in all pots, while N was applied in two splits. Two separate pot trials were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of organic/biofertilizers in the presence of 50% chemical N fertilizer. Seeds of tomato cultivars (Money maker and Nagina) were sown. Results of pot trials revealed that organic/biofertilizer supplemented with 57 kg ha-1 (50% of full dose of N fertilizer) was more effective in improving the growth and yield of tomato as compared to full dose of N fertilizers. It increased the root length, dry root/shoot weight, number of fruit pot-1 and fruit weight pot-1 up to 91, 98/62, 71 and 46%, respectively, over control, in 1st trial, while in 2nd trial, an increase up to 63, 115/70, 81and 68%, respectively, over control, was recorded. Similarly, N concentration in dry fruit and straw of tomato plants were significantly improved (35 and 43% over control, respectively) in case of biofertilizer plus 50% N fertilizer in both the trials. These findings may imply that organic waste could be recycled into value added soil amendment (biofertilizer) for improving growth, yield and nutrient uptake of tomato on sustainable basis. Supplementary role of biofertilizer can improve the yield up to a level that otherwise cannot be achieved by the use of chemical fertilizers alone.
M. Tahir,, M. Arshad*,, M. Naveed, , Z.A. Zahir,, B. Shaharoona , R. Ahmad . (2006) Enrichment of recycled organic waste with N fertilizer and PGPR containing ACC-deaminase for improving growth and yield of tomato, The Journal Soil & Environment , Volume 25, Issue 2.
-
Views
314 -
Downloads
39
