Effect of Storage Duration in the Quality of Vermicompost

Abstract

A trend of demand for organic products in both domestic and international has dramatically grown in both rate and expansion. Organic agriculture does not only provide rich nutrition and toxic free soil but is also have low in production cost. The use of vermicompost is an alternative way to add organic material in farming and alter the soil properties in a positive way; for instance, by increasing the soil nutrient availability. To make use of vermicompost efficiently, it is important to recognize that the quality of the vermicompost may change due to the duration of its storage. This study utilized vermicompost, which had been maintained for different periods (0, 1 and 3 months) to study changes in its biological and chemical qualities. The study found that the amount of living bacteria and fungi when storing the vermicompost at a 1 month period and the storage would remain stable until the third month. The changes in soil chemistry indicated that the pH and EC values decreased during storage in the first month from 8.53 to 7.50 and from 1.25 ds/cm to 0.84 ds/cm respectively, and increased again during storage in the third month, which were 8.33 and 2.18 ds/cm respectively. The changes in amount of nutrients indicated that nitrogen (TN) and calcium (Ca) were not different throughout the storage period of three months. On the other hand, the amounts of potassium (TK) and magnesium (Mg) decreased during storage in the first month and increased in the third month whereas the amount of phosphorus (TP) increased during the first month of storage period and stabled in the third month. The changes in both biological and chemical parameters proved that the vermicompost could be kept up to 3 months with good quality.