Effectiveness of vermicompost from cow manure on agronomic parameters of tomato

Abstract

Chemical fertilization inputs for micro-gardens in Senegal increase production costs and decrease the quality of vegetables. Vermicompost could be positioned as an alternative to chemical fertilizers. This study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of vermicompost from cow manure on agronomic parameters of tomato. Six treatments were compared. They are a mixture of sand and vermicompost constituted of four doses (D1, D2, D3 and D4) and chemical (Tr) and neutral (Tn) controls. The vermicompost treatments D1, D2 and D3 gave the highest germination percentages. The highest germination percentage was noted on the D3 dose. On flowering, the D4 dose gave a higher number of flowers compared to the controls. The treatments (D2, D3 and D4) were more efficient compared to the controls on fruiting and fruit weight. The highest weights were obtained with D4. Vermicompost is an alternative to the use of synthetic chemical fertilizers.