Efficient Microorganism Compost Benefits Plant Growth and Improves Soil Health in Calendula and Marigold
Organic farming needs to be promoted as a means of sustaining soil health and reducing the cost of farming, especially for small farmers. The present study deals with the effect of organic compost, prepared using Efficient Microorganism (EM) consortium and applied along with full or half of the reco...
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Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468014117301711 |
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doaj-45e33b0e37274366a8583b28edf002272021-02-02T09:18:11ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.Horticultural Plant Journal2468-01412017-03-0132677210.1016/j.hpj.2017.07.003Efficient Microorganism Compost Benefits Plant Growth and Improves Soil Health in Calendula and MarigoldAnamika Sharma0Tarak Nath Saha1Anju Arora2Raghubir Shah3Lata Nain4Division of Microbiology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, IndiaDirectorate of Floriculture Research, Shivaji Nagar, Pune 411005, IndiaDivision of Microbiology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, IndiaDivision of Microbiology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, IndiaDivision of Microbiology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, IndiaOrganic farming needs to be promoted as a means of sustaining soil health and reducing the cost of farming, especially for small farmers. The present study deals with the effect of organic compost, prepared using Efficient Microorganism (EM) consortium and applied along with full or half of the recommended dose of chemical fertilizers, on the growth of Calendula and Marigold plants, soil physico-chemical parameters and soil enzyme activities. Soil enzyme activities were improved with the increase in the rate of EM compost application in both Calendula and Marigold. Carotenoid pigment increased by 46.11% and 12.19% with application of EM compost over the control in Calendula and Marigold flowers respectively. Soil humus, available nitrogen and organic carbon content also increased due to the supplementation of EM compost resulting in better soil fertility. For Calendula, treatment T5 (Half dose NPK + EM compost 20 000 kg⋅hm−2) was found to be the most promising in terms of acid phosphatase (82.63 µg p-Nitrophenyl Phosphate⋅g−1⋅h−1), dehydrogenase (10.46 µg Triphenyl Formazan⋅g−1⋅d−1) and β-glucosidase (0.30 IU⋅g−1) activities. In Marigold, treatment C (Half dose NPK + EM compost 5 000 kg⋅hm−2) was the most promising in terms of amendment in soil enzyme activities.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468014117301711calendulamarigoldEM compostsoil fertilityplant growthsoil enzyme activitysoil physico-chemical parameter |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Anamika Sharma Tarak Nath Saha Anju Arora Raghubir Shah Lata Nain |
spellingShingle |
Anamika Sharma Tarak Nath Saha Anju Arora Raghubir Shah Lata Nain Efficient Microorganism Compost Benefits Plant Growth and Improves Soil Health in Calendula and Marigold Horticultural Plant Journal calendula marigold EM compost soil fertility plant growth soil enzyme activity soil physico-chemical parameter |
author_facet |
Anamika Sharma Tarak Nath Saha Anju Arora Raghubir Shah Lata Nain |
author_sort |
Anamika Sharma |
title |
Efficient Microorganism Compost Benefits Plant Growth and Improves Soil Health in Calendula and Marigold |
title_short |
Efficient Microorganism Compost Benefits Plant Growth and Improves Soil Health in Calendula and Marigold |
title_full |
Efficient Microorganism Compost Benefits Plant Growth and Improves Soil Health in Calendula and Marigold |
title_fullStr |
Efficient Microorganism Compost Benefits Plant Growth and Improves Soil Health in Calendula and Marigold |
title_full_unstemmed |
Efficient Microorganism Compost Benefits Plant Growth and Improves Soil Health in Calendula and Marigold |
title_sort |
efficient microorganism compost benefits plant growth and improves soil health in calendula and marigold |
publisher |
KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. |
series |
Horticultural Plant Journal |
issn |
2468-0141 |
publishDate |
2017-03-01 |
description |
Organic farming needs to be promoted as a means of sustaining soil health and reducing the cost of farming, especially for small farmers. The present study deals with the effect of organic compost, prepared using Efficient Microorganism (EM) consortium and applied along with full or half of the recommended dose of chemical fertilizers, on the growth of Calendula and Marigold plants, soil physico-chemical parameters and soil enzyme activities. Soil enzyme activities were improved with the increase in the rate of EM compost application in both Calendula and Marigold. Carotenoid pigment increased by 46.11% and 12.19% with application of EM compost over the control in Calendula and Marigold flowers respectively. Soil humus, available nitrogen and organic carbon content also increased due to the supplementation of EM compost resulting in better soil fertility. For Calendula, treatment T5 (Half dose NPK + EM compost 20 000 kg⋅hm−2) was found to be the most promising in terms of acid phosphatase (82.63 µg p-Nitrophenyl Phosphate⋅g−1⋅h−1), dehydrogenase (10.46 µg Triphenyl Formazan⋅g−1⋅d−1) and β-glucosidase (0.30 IU⋅g−1) activities. In Marigold, treatment C (Half dose NPK + EM compost 5 000 kg⋅hm−2) was the most promising in terms of amendment in soil enzyme activities. |
topic |
calendula marigold EM compost soil fertility plant growth soil enzyme activity soil physico-chemical parameter |
url |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468014117301711 |
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