Quality Evaluation of Different Forms of Compost and Their Effect in Comparison with Inorganic Fertilizers on Growth and Yield Attributes of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

The core objective of conducting the current study was to evaluate the chemical compositions of different composts and their effect on wheat yield. Mineral matter content, ash and moisture were higher in all enriched composts and vermicompost in comparison to conventional compost whereas as total organic carbon, water soluble carbon and C:N ratio were higher in conventional compost.There was higher variation in the content of nutrients in different composts as that of the conventional one but nitrogen and phosphorus were higher in nitrogen enriched phosphorous-compost and phosphorous enriched vermicompost. Zinc was higher in nitrogen enriched phosphorous-compost, vermicompost and phosphorous enriched vermicompost whereas manganese was higher in vermicompost and phosphorous enriched vermicompost. Biochemical quality stated that conventional compost had lesser amount of total phenol, alkaline and acid phosphatase enzyme activity but higher dehydrogenase activity than those of enriched composts. The more dehydrogenase activity in conventional compost is an indicator of partial decomposition. The time period of decomposition was almost similar (120 ± 5 days) among the enriched composts, whereas in case of conventional compost, decomposition period was 160 ± 10 days.Crop yield was lower in conventional compost but highest yield was obtained by supplying nitrogen enriched phosphorous-compost and phosphorous enriched vermicompost, nitrogen enriched phosphorous-compost provided yield at par to inorganic fertilizer application at 90 kg ha-1 N, 20 kg ha-1 P and 20 kg ha-1 K.