Influence of Organic Substrates and Microbial Consortia on the Physicochemical Properties and Nutrient Profile of Vermiwash

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during 2024 at Vermicompost Unit, Division of Soil Science, College of Agriculture, Pune to study the effect of different substrates along with microbial consortia on composition and quality of vermiwash. The experiment was laid out in completely randomized block design having seven treatments with three replications. The treatments comprised T1-tree litter, T2-button mushroom spent compost, T3-wheat straw, T4-soyabean straw, T5-coconut coir, T6-sugarcane trash and T7-farm yard manure for preparation of vermiwash. The findings of the present investigation revealed that all treatments showed a gradual increased in pH from the 16th to 48th day of harvesting. The significantly higher N, P and K contents were noted in tree litter vermiwash (0.8, 0.74, and 0.5 % respectively). On the 16th day the treatment tree litter recorded higher dehydrogenase activities (18.64 µg TPF ml⁻¹ 24 hr⁻¹). Urease activity was higher in tree litter on both 16th (10.50 µg NH4⁺-N ml⁻¹ day⁻¹) and 32nd days (24.50 µg NH4⁺-N ml⁻¹ day⁻¹). The vermiwash produced from tree litter substrate showed higher macronutrient.