Quality of vermicompost from sheep dung and sheep dung compost and effect of their use on vegetative plant cultivation

Abstract

Vermicompost is widely used for planting. However, the cost is higher than that of using general compost. Presently, ruminant animal excrement is widely used for vermicompost production. This research aimed to compare the quality of sheep dung vermicompost (SdV) and sheep dung compost (SdC) and to prove the effect of the application of these fertilizers for growing tomatoes and Chinese kale. A completely randomized design with 6 treatments was used. The treatments concluded SdV application (T1), SdV with nitrogen equal to using chemical fertilizer (T2), SdV+chemical fertilizer (ChF) (T3), SdC (T4), SdC + ChF (T5), and ChF (T6). The rates of SdV and SdC were calculated based on 4,000 kg/rai, whereas 46-0-0 and 15-15-15 were applied at the rate of 100 kg/rai. The results showed that SdV gave available forms of macronutrients higher than those in SdC, whereas the concentration of micronutrients was lower, except for extractable Fe. The application of fertilizers to produce vegetable crops showed that the SdV +ChF treatment gave higher growth and yield of tomatoes than other treatments. Using sole ChF gave the lowest growth and yield. Growing Chinese kale, which is a leaf edible and short-life vegetable, by using SdV or SdC together with ChF, or sole ChF gave a higher yield than using them solely. Thus, SdV should be applied together with ChF to produce vegetable crops. In the case of organic production, it must apply vermicompost of more than 4,000 kg/rai, which might not reach the economic gain.