INFLUENCE OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE COMPOST ON YIELD OF TOMATO- APPLIED SOLELY AND IN COMBINATION WITH INORGANIC FERTILIZER WHERE NITROGEN IS THE ONLY VARIABLE FACTOR

Abstract

Municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) is considered as one of the prominent fertilizers that improve soil health and productivity. To evaluate the effects of MSWC on plant growth, an experiment was conducted by using sole MSWC and with a combination of inorganic fertilizer. The sole MSWC was applied at the rate of 0, 5, 10, 15 t ha-1. In case of MSWC with inorganic fertilizer, MSWC was applied equally (5 t ha-1) and phosphorus and potassium fertilizers were applied at 100 and 50 kg ha-1, respectively. Nitrogen was the only variable nutrient. Nitrogen was applied three different doses (25, 50 and 100 kg ha-1) along with control. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) was grown as experimental plant and maximum yield (72.7±6.3 t ha-1) of tomato was found when sole MSWC was applied at 15 t ha-1 and was significantly higher than other treatments. When MSWC was applied in combination with inorganic fertilizer, the combination 5 t ha-1 MSWC +100 kg N ha-1 +100 kg TSP ha-1 +50 kg MoP ha-1 produced maximum yield (79.0±3.2 t ha-1). So, application of sole MSWC in soil enhanced the productivity of soil and side by side, MSWC in combination with inorganic fertilizer reduced the volume of MSWC application.