Evaluation of vermicomposts from three selected agricultural wastes on seed germination and seedling growth of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum l)

Abstract

An Experiment was conducted in the Laboratory of the Department of Crop Protection, Bayero University Kano (BUK) to evaluate the phytotoxicity effects of vermicomposts on seed germination and seedling growth of tomato. The experiment was laid out in completely randomized design which consisted of three vermicomposts: poultry manure based (POBCO), cow dung based (COBCO) and rice bran based (RIBCO) vermicomposts and loamy soil (control) collected from the Teaching and Research Farms of the Faculty of Agriculture, BUK. The growth media were prepared using 1 kg of top soil and 3 kg of vermicomposts for each treatment. Treatments were replicated five times and data were analysed using analysis of variance with Gensat 17th Edition. Treatment means were separated using LSD. The results of the experiment showed zero phytotoxicity of the vermicomposts with mean values greater than 100% for all the germination indices. Percent relative seed germination of POBCO was 193.3% which differed significantly (P≤0.05) with COBCO (136.3%) and RIBCO (127.9%), respectively. Percent relative root growth (RRG) and germination index (GI) for the vermicomposts was significantly higher than the control. Poultry manure based vermicompost had 205% RRG and 394.8% GI compared to COBCO (136.3%; 207.4%) and RIBCO which recorded 107.3% RRG and 137.2% GI. Though all vermicomposts showed stimulating effect on tomato growth, POBCO exhibited highest germination indices than COBCO and RIBCO. Physical and chemical properties of the vermicomposts were all within the optimum requirements for plant growth. It is concluded that the vermicomposts especially POBCO are not phytotoxic and could be used as bio-fertilizer to enhance tomato seed germination and growth.