Abstract:
The success of organic agriculture is relied on biologically fortified super compost to
sustain the yield potential of high-yielding improved varieties as well as boost the soils that
substantially store water, and nutrients, and suppress soil-borne diseases. Considering the
scenario, an investigation was planned to recycle plant waste into biologically fortified
vermicompost. Four substrates paddy straw, garden waste (banana and maize leaves), sawdust,
and kitchen waste were used as mushroom substrate and then mushroom grown waste was
converted into bio-fortified vermicompost using exotic earthworm Eisenia foetida+ Trichoderma
viride + Pseudomonas fluorescens. Onion growth parameters, yield, and DSI were recorded from
the experiment conducted in a complete randomized design and subjected to ANOVA using SAS
9.1. Turkey’s HSD multiple comparison test and Person-correlation analysis were performed to
identify the best treatment combination at P < 0.05. The results were significant among them
at P < 0.05. Bio-fortified vermicompost’s pH range was 7.28-8.11, C/N ratio was 25.01-9.96,
and OMC was 22.66-51.53. Nitrogen, P and K ranges were 1.06% to 2.1%, 0.73%-1.87%,
0.654% to 1.38%. Trichoderma viride + P. fluorescens enriched showed lower DSI. The highest
growth, yield parameters, and lower Fusarium basal rot incidents were recorded in T.
viride and P. fluorescens fortified paddy straw and kitchen waste-based vermicompost. Actual
yield of the “Poovallarai” onion is higher than the theoretical yield of 15-20 Mt/ha in paddy
straw and kitchen waste-based vermicompost too. C/N ratio and growth parameters were
strongly co-related (R 2 >0.5). These findings could be new eco-friendly low-cost approaches to
manage soil-borne diseases as well as properly manage organic wastes into super compost.
