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Hindi Research Article
Microbially Enhanced Compost Extract: Does It Increase Solubilisation of Minerals and Mineralisation of Organic Matter and Thus Improve Plant Nutrition?
| Karuna Shrestha*, Kerry B. Walsh, and David J. Midmore | |
| Engineering & Health, Faculty of Sciences, Centre for Plant and Water Science (CPWS), Central Queensland University, Australia | |
| Corresponding Author : | Karuna Shrestha Engineering & Health, Faculty of Sciences Centre for Plant and Water Science (CPWS) Central Queensland University, Rockhampton 4702 QLD, Australia Tel: +61 749232315 Fax: +61 749309255 E-mail: k.shrestha@cqu.edu.au |
| Received March 23, 2012; Accepted April 27, 2012; Published April 29, 2012 | |
| Citation: Shrestha K, Walsh KB, Midmore DJ (2012) Microbially Enhanced Compost Extract: Does It Increase Solubilisation of Minerals and Mineralisation of Organic Matter and Thus Improve Plant Nutrition? J Bioremed Biodegrad 3:149. doi: 10.4172/2155-6199.1000149 | |
| Copyright: © 2012 Shrestha K et al. This is an open-a ccess article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. | |
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Abstract
Compost extracts may potentially benefit plant growth through a direct nutritional benefit, through increased mineralisation or solubilisation, through disease protection or by detoxification of the soil environment. Tomato ( Lycopersicum esculentum cv. Tiny Tim) and a subsequent sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor cv. Sweet Jumbo LPA) grown on a ferrosol and a vertisol was treated with soil drenches of a cattle rumen content compost extract (aerated and non-aerated, sterilised or not). Soil type was the primary factor in determining growth rate of crops. Compost extracts produced by either extraction method had similar effects on plant growth, and there was no difference between sterilised and non-sterilised treatments. Thus the noted growth benefit of compost extracts was not directly biological in nature. The positive impact of compost extract application on plant growth was ascribed to a nutritional effect, attributed to the high doses of compost extract application used (2 Lpot -1 , equivalent to 34,000 Lha -1 ), delivering 3.4 g of Npot -1 . There was no evidence of increased mineralisation or solubilisation in this exercise.
