Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: A gricultural wastes have been a major source of pollution in recent years, and the challenges posed by them are receiving attention worldwide (Abdel-Shafy and Mansour, 2018).Agriculture sector generates a considerable number of wastes in the form of crop straw and animal manures which Abstract | Composting is a natural process of decomposing organic wastes into valued fertilizer that enriches plants and soil.The present research was undertaken to prepare composts utilizing organic wastes and to testify their impacts on onion cultivation.Three dissimilar composts with variable recipes viz.banana plants + poultry manure (Compost 1), banana plants + goat manure (Compost 2) and banana plants + cattle manure (Compost 3) in 3:1 ratio were prepared in cemented pits.The prepared composts were sampled and analyzed for selected parameters.Afterwards, a field experiment was executed to study the effect of prepared composts and their integration with inorganic fertilizer on growth and yield of onion (Allium cepa L.).The treatments were: T 1 =Control (No NPK and/or Compost), T 2 =Recommended NPK (120-60-60 kg ha -1 ), T 3 =Compost 1 (15 tons ha -1 ), T 4 =Compost 2 (15 tons ha -1 ), T 5 Compost 3 (15 tons ha -1 ), T 6 =Compost 1 (10 tons ha -1 ) +1/2 NPK, T 7 =Compost 2 (10 tons ha -1 ) +1/2 NPK, and T 8 Compost 3 (10 tons ha -1 )+1/2 NPK.Results showed that in various composts, the ranges of different parameters were EC: 2.50 to 3.34 dS m -1 , pH: 7.9 to 8.4, total C: 13.34 to 32.48%, total N: 0.64 to 1.86%, total P: 1.36 to 1.46%, total K: 1.45 to 3.05%, C:N ratio: 16.85 to 22.20, C:P ratio: 10.39 to 23.56 and C:K ratio: 14.64 to 17.66.All these values were inside the satisfactory limits of a matured compost.In the field trial, the plants treated with T 6 (Compost 1 (10 tons ha - 1 ) +1/2 NPK) significantly improved the growth and yield attributes of onion crop than all other treatments.Compost or NPK application either in integration or alone boosted the NPK levels in onion leaves with respect to control treatment.The upmost content of N (0.91 %), P (0.91 %) and K (2.80 %) were recorded from T 8 , T 2, and T 7 respectively.We suggest that an integration of compost with inorganic fertilizer is a better choice for improved growth, yield and quality of onion crop.
Institutions: Sindh Agriculture University, Government of Pakistan
Language: English
Subfield: Soil Science
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4312433543