Journal of Environmental Biology

Assessment of compost as a bio-fertilizer for the
growth of paddy

J. Jelin^1*, M.S. Dhanarajan²?and V. Mariappan³?

¹Faculty of? Biotechnology, Sathyabama University, Chennai-600 119, India

²Jaya College of Arts and Science, Chennai-602 024, India

³Department of Botany, Govt. Arts College, Ariyalur -621 713, India

*Corresponding Author email : jelinilay@yahoo.co.in

 Publication Data

Paper received:

26 February 2011

Revised received:

20 May 2012

Re-revised received:

30 July 2012

Accepted:

22 October 2012

Abstract

The vegetable wastes were converted into compost by a stepwise degradation and its characteristics were studied and analysed at each stage. The temperature increased from 29⁰C to 60⁰C on 60^th?day and reached 33⁰C on 90^th?day. Shift of pH from 7.6 to 7.3 on 60^th?day caused a shift of microflora? from 12.01?10⁷?to11.13?10⁸?cfu ml^-1?on 30^th?day and63.2?10⁶?on 60^th?day and 36.75?10⁶?on 90^th?day. Shift of microflora caused high decomposition of the waste into compost which were used for enriching the soil as manures. The other characteristics such as moisture, ash content and C:N ratio established the short period required for preparing a complete compost of good quality. The study showed the efficiency of these organisms as plant growth promoting rhizobacteria. Combinations of microorganisms with compost act as a good biofertilizer which improves the fertility of soil and increases plant growth. Better results were produced by organisms in combinations like Azospirillum, Rhizobium and Azotobacter. The least growth in shoot length (64 cm) total fresh weight (151g) and total dry weight (3.994 g) were observed in paddy grown in soil and Bacillus combination, but microbial mixture of compost and soil gave high paddy growth efficiency. The present study concludes that the rhizospheric organisms play well as plant growth promoting agents and gave a better yield and growth of plants in combination with the compost.

Key words

Biofertilizer, Compost analysis, Paddy growth

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