Vermicompost Enhances the Yield and Quality of Red Amaranth Subjected to Acidic Soil

Abstract

The study was conducted to evaluate the vermicompost enhances the yield and quality of red amaranth subjected to acidic soil. Five treatments namely, control (T1), cowdung (T2), compost (T3), vermicompost (T4) and lime+100% recommended inorganic fertilizer dose (T5) were considered in acidic soil for the fulfilment of experimental objectives. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications in the southern part of Bangladesh. All the treatments gave significantly higher yield (p<0.05) while it was compared to the control.  Highest yield of red amaranth was observed from the treatment of vermicompost (7.79 tha-1) followed by lime (5.79 tha-1), compost (5.52 tha-1) and cowdung (4.73 tha-1). The result showed that the effects of vermicompost were more efficient in terms of vigorous production, nutrient contents as well as in the maintenance of soil pH for the potential cultivation of red amaranth compared to the other management. Besides these, the nutrients content of red amaranth was also observed and found that the Ca, Mg, K, P, S and Fe were substantially higher in vermicompost except the Zn and B. Mg, K and P content were highly (r2=>0.9) correlated with the yield. Only vermicompost and lime enhanced 7% and 0.3% of pH over the control. Therefore, in acidic soil the vermicompost would be the best alternative for Red amaranth production.