Comparative Assessment of Cow Manure Vermicompost and NPK Fertilizer on the Growth of Zinnia (Zinnia Elegans) Plant

Abstract

A pot experiment was carried out to explore the comparative effect of cow manure vermicompost and NPK fertilizer on the growth of Zinnia (Zinnia Elegans). An air dried sandy loam soil was mixed with three rates of vermicompost equivalent to 5, 10, 20 ton·ha–1

and four rates of NPK fertilizer equivalent to 50% (N-P-K = 69-16-35 kg·ha–1), 100% (N-P- K = 137-32-70 kg·ha–1 K), 200% (N-P-K = 274-64-140 kg·ha–1) and 400% (N-P-K=548-

128-280 kg.ha-1). Two plants were grown in each pot. After blooming of flowers, the plants were harvested at 50 days of growth and leaves and stems were separated. The growth parameters (shoot height, leaf number, leaf length, leaf diameter, fresh and dry weight of flower, leaf, stem and root, root length, total number of flower, flower diameter) increased by the rates of cow manure vermicompost and NPK fertilizer treatments. Among the treatments, growth performance of Zinnia was better with the highest rate of 20 ton·ha–1 vermicompost treatments. The result shows that the growth performance of 5% vermicompost treatment is higher than the 400% NPK fertilizer treatment. Moreover, the result of the present study indicated that 5 ton·ha–1 vermicompost could be used instead of 400% NPK fertilizer to get better yield and to improve soil conditions.