Compost and vermicompost engineering for the growth of BISI 18 variety of maize on coastal Entisols

Department of Soil Science, University of Bengkulu, Bengkulu, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: riwandi@unib.ac.id

Abstract

The main issue of Entisols was the deficiency of macro-essential nutrients such as Carbon (C), Nitrogen (N), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), and Magnesium (Mg), causing maize to be dwarfed. This study aimed to increase the growth of maize, BISI 18 variety, mainly for height, leaf area, wet weight of maize stover, and dry weight of maize stover. This experiment used Completely Randomized Block Design (CRBD) with two factors: dosage levels as first factor and types of organic fertilizers (compost and vermicompost) as second factor, with three replications. Stages of organics were 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20-ton ha ^-1 each other, whereas there were 30 experimental units. Dimensions of the experimental unit were 3m x 1m and length 75 cm x 20 cm with 20 plants per plot. Observations of soil and plant variables involved soil, compost, and vermicompost before experimentation and growth of maize (such as height, leaf area, wet weight stover, and dry weight stover of BISI 18 variety). The results showed optimum height (210.27 cm and 201.15 cm) on vermicompost with 15and 20-ton ha ^-1 dosages. Great leaf area (739 cm ² and 812 cm ² ) on 20-ton ha ^-1 of vermicompost and 5-ton ha ^-1 of compost. The highest wet stover (710.5 g per plant) on 20-ton ha ^-1 of vermicompost and dry stover (228.8 g per plant) on 5-ton ha ^-1 of vermicompost and 20-ton ha ^-1 of compost. This experiment concluded that vermicompost had a better impact than compost for supporting maize growth on coastal Entisols.