International Journal of Agriculture: Research and Review. Vol.

, 2 (4), 395-402, 2012

Available online at http://www.ecisi.com
ISSN 2228-7973 2012 ECISI Journals

EFFECT OF VERMICOMPOST AND MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE COMPOST ON

GROWTH AND YIELD OF CANOLA UNDER DROUGHT STRESS CONDITIONS
MEHDI RASHTBARI1, HOSSEIN ALI A LIKHANI2 , MEHDI GHORCHIANI3
1

M.Sc. Student, Department of Soil Science Engineering , Campus of Agriculture and Natural Resources,
Karaj, Tehran University, Iran, Tel: 09371684968. Email:mehdi.rashtbari@gmail.com.
2
Associate Professor, Department of Soil Sciences Engineering, Campus of Agriculture and Natural
Resources, Karaj, Tehran University, Iran, Tel: 09121057562 Email: halikhan@ut.ac.ir.
3
M.Sc. Student, Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Campus of Abureyhan, Tehran
University, Iran, Tel: 09191638969. Email: mghorchiani@ymail.com.
Corresponding author: mehdi.rashtbari@gmail.com, Mob: 00989371684968

ABSTRACT: In order to study the effect and efficiency of municipal solid waste (MSW) compost and
vermicompost on morpho-physiological properties and yield of canola under drought stress conditions, an
experiment was conducted as factorial arrangement based on randomized complete block design with four
replications. Treatments consisted of three levels of water regimes, including: 75% of the soil field
capacity for well-watered and 55% and 35% for moderate stress and severe stress, respectively, and
biofertilizer combinations in five levels, including: non-application of biofertilizer (control), application
of MSW compost at 2% and 4% levels and application of vermicompost at 2% and 4% levels. Results
showed that interaction of irrigation and biofertilizer had significantly affected on all traits except leaf
area ratio and nitrogen percent. The moderate and severe stress significantly reduced growth, nitrogen
percentage, SPAD index, relative water content (RWC) and grain yield of canola compared to normal
irrigation. Application of 4% vermicompost was resulted in increased growth, biomass and yield of
canola under normal irrigation, moderate and severe drought stress compared to other biofertilizer
treatments, and in generally, the efficiency of vermicompost in increase growth and yield of canola was
more than MSW compost.
Keywords: MSW compost, Morpho- physiological, Sustainable agriculture, Vermicompost, Water stress
INTRODUCTION
Canola (Brassica napus L.) is one of the
most important oil crops of Iran as well as of
many countries of the world. Characteristics and
compatibility of canola plant with different
climatic conditions have increased its
importance as the hopes for the supply of edible
oil in Iran.
The excessive use of chemical
fertilizers has generated several environmental
problems (Gyaneshwar et al., 2002). Changes in
the soil pH, soil acidifications and lower humic
acid contents are some key problems of overuse
of synthetic fertilizers (Suthar, 2009). Some of
these problems can be solved by use of bio
fertilizers such as municipal solid waste (MSW)
composts and vermicomposts, which are
natural, beneficial and ecologically friendly
(Hargreaves et al., 2008; Lazcano et al., 2009).
The application of bio fertilizers has been
recognized as an effective means for improving

soil aggregation, structure and fertility,

increasing microbial diversity and populations,
improving the moisture-holding capacity of
soils, increasing the soil Cation Exchange
Capacity (CEC) and increasing crop yields
(Azarmi et al., 2008; Hargreaves et al., 2008).
MSW compost can also reduce the volume of
the waste, kills pathogens that may be present,
decreases germination of weeds in agricultural
fields, and destroys malodorous compounds
(Hargreaves et al., 2008). Vermitechnology is
the application of surface and subsurface
varieties of earthworm in composting and
management of soil (Ismail, 2005). Earthworms
have an important influence on soil structure,
forming aggregates and improving the physical
conditions for plant growth and nutrient uptake
(Ansari
and
Sukhraj,
2010).
During
vermicomposting, earthworms eat, grind, and
digest organic wastes with the help of aerobic
and some anaerobic microflora, converting them
into a much finer, humified, and microbial

Intl. J. Agric: Res & Rev. Vol., 2 (4), 395-402, 2012

active material. The generated product is stable

and homogeneous; having desirable aesthetics
such as reduced levels of contaminants, and this
converted product can be used as a fertilizer or
as a source of nitrogen for microbial
populations which can be beneficial to plant
growth (Ravindran et al., 2008). Vermicompost
and compost can meet the nutrient demand of
greenhouse and field crops and significantly
reduce the use of fertilizers (Chanda et al.,
2011), and for vermicompost particularly, it
increases soil fertility without polluting the soil,
as well as the quantity and quality of crops
(Hernndez et al., 2010). Moreover, beneficial
effects of compost or vermicompost on plant
growth under water deficit conditions may be
due to better aeration to the plant roots,
increasing amount of readily available water,
induction of N, P and K exchange there by
resulting better growth of the plants (Papafotiou
et al., 2005; Manivannan et al., 2009).
Having regard to the importance of canola in the
supply of edible oil to Iran and the communities
approach to protecting natural resources in order
to reduce the consumption of chemical
fertilizers, bio-fertilizers is considered as an
efficient tool in sustainable agriculture. Hence,
the purpose of this experiment was to compare
and determine appropriate levels of application
both MSW compost and vermicompost, to
improve
the
properties
of
morphophysiological and yield of canola plant under
drought conditions.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
A greenhouse experiment on growth and yield
of canola was conducted during 2010 in the
research greenhouse of College of Agriculture
and Natural Resources of Tehran University
(CANRTU), Iran. The experiment was a
factorial complete randomized block design
with two factors and four replications. The
factors were water regimes (well-watered plants
at 75% of the field capacity of soil (FC) and two
levels of water stress; (2) moderate stress at
55% FC and (3) severe stress at 35% FC),
biological fertilizer (application of 2 and 4
percent MSW compost, application of 2 and 4
percent vermicompost and non-application of
compost and/or vermicompost as control).
Soil moisture at FC was 22 (w/w). Pots were
weighed every days and water was added when
their soil water content dropped to about 10%
below the desired level (Aliasgharzad et al.,
2005). MSW compost and vermicompost
provided by the resumption center of urban

waste, Tehran Municipality and Vermicompost

Research Institute of CANRTU, respectively.
Physico-chemical characteristics of the soil
were: texture-sandy loam, pH 8.1, EC 1.95
dSm-1, total N 0.082 percent and available P and
K 19.9 and 290.0 mg kg-1 soil, respectively, and
some of compost and vermicompost properties
presented also in table 1.
Seeds of canola (Brassica napus L. cv.
Sarygol) were surface-sterilized with 70%
alcohol for half to one hour and placed on
sterilized moist filter paper for germination.
Physical conditions provided was 500 lux for 3
days followed by 2000 lux for 3-10 days, 16 hr
light/8 hr dark cycle 231C. Five seedlings
were transplanted to a plastic pot (15 20 cm)
containing 5 kg soil and compost and
vermicompost mixture. The seedlings were
thinned 30 days after transplanting to three
seedlings per pot. Plants growth was conducted
in the greenhouse with average daytime and
nighttime temperatures of 28 2 C and 20 2 C
respectively, and average day length of 14
hours.
At the end of the experiment (5 months
after transplanting), harvested roots and shoots
were oven-dried at 60 C for 72 h and dry
masses determined. The measurements of plant
height, stem diameter, number of leaves per
plant and grain yield were also recorded at
harvest. N content in plant shoots was measured
by using Kjeldahls method (Ryan et al., 2001).
The leaf RWC was estimated on the fully
opened fourth or fifth leaf from the top of the
plant at the end of the first drought cycle to
assess the relative tolerance plants using the
following formula (Turner, 1986):
RWC= (FW-DW/TW-DW) 100
where, FW is leaf fresh weight, DW is leaf dry
weight after 24 h drying at 70 C, and TW is
leaf turgid weight after submergence in distilled
H2O for 4 h. Green leaf area was measured
destructively by leaf area meter, Delta TDevices UK. ( T Area Meter MK2). Leaf
chlorophyll content (SPAD index) was also
estimated non-destructively, using a SPAD-502
chlorophyll meter (SPAD 502, Minolta, Japan).
The average of five measurements taken on
different plants in each plot was recorded.
Using SAS (Ver. 9.1) data were subjected to
analysis of variance. Mean comparisons were
calculated using Duncans multivariate range
test, at the probability level of 5 percent by
MSTAT-C software.

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Intl. J. Agric: Res & Rev. Vol., 2 (4), 395-402, 2012

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves,
leaf area, LAR
The application of MSW compost and
vermicompost in both 2% and 4% levels
significantly increased all the growth attributes
such as plant height, stem diameter, number of
leaves, leaf area and LAR under well-watered,
moderate and severe stress conditions (Table 1).
Among different levels of compost and
vermicompost, the application of 4%
vermicompost had a positive and significant
effect than other treatments on stem diameter,
leaf area and LAR in all the irrigation
treatments.
Some
researchers
reported
increasing of plant height, shoot and root
biomass, leaf area and number of leaves by
using the MSW compost (Ostos et al., 2008)
and vermicompost (Lazcano et al., 2009). Since
plant growth and development strongly
depended on soil fertility parameters (Chanda et
al., 2011) it seems that improvement the soil

SOV
Irrigation (I)
Biofertilizer (BF)
IBF

Table 1. Significance of Irrigation (I), Biofertilizer (BF), and their interactions (IBF) by ANOVA for all
characteristics studied
Plant
Stem
Number
Leaf
SPAD
N
Shoot
Root
LAR
RWC
height
diameter
of leaves
area
index
content
dry weight
dry weight
**
**
**
**
*
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
*
**
**
ns
**
**
ns
**
**
**significant at P < 0.01,*Significant at P < 0.05, and ns: not significant at P < 0.05.

Shoot N content, SPAD index and RWC

Shoot N content, SPAD index and
RWC of canola were significantly increased by
application
of
MSW
compost
and
vermicompost in both 2% and 4% levels (Table
1). Shoot N content, SPAD index and RWC had
increased with increasing levels of MSW
compost and vermicompost from 2% to 4% in
all the irrigation treatments. However,
application of 4% vermicompost incorporated
significantly increased shoot N content, SPAD
index and RWC compared to the application of
4% MSW compost in all intensities of drought
stress. Brown et al. (2006) showed that drought
stress significantly affected shoot nitrogen
uptake and plants under drought conditions had
significantly lower shoot nitrogen uptake.
Beltrano and Ronco (2008) also suggested that
the content of chlorophyll in leaves of wheat
decreased under both moderate and severe water
stress conditions. Under drought stress,
recovery of material especially nitrogen will
397

physical, chemical and biological properties by

MSW compost (Bachman and Metzger, 2007)
and vermicompost (Chanda et al., 2011) could
be reason of plant growth improving compared
to non-application treatment. The modes of
MSW compost and vermicompost action in
protecting plants against drought stress are
mainly attributed to the beneficial effects of
their application on both soil and plant.
Compost components could synergistically act
in affecting numerous physiological and
biochemical functions, including water and
mineral uptake and transport, photosynthesis,
enzyme activation and osmotic potential, which
play important roles in stimulating metabolic
processes, promoting growth and increasing the
synthesis and accumulation of more metabolites
in plant tissues (Jie et al., 2010; Tartoura, 2010).
Most of the beneficial effects of compost and
vermicompost have been related to their
biological properties (Atiyeh et al., 1999;
Canellas et al., 2002), therefore, these
differences could determine rather different
effects in plant growth and morphology that
need to be investigated.

interrupt and furthermore, chloroplasts need to

nitrogen to generate chlorophyll through
proteins and under nitrogen- or water-limited
condition, chlorophyll production rate become
slower (Paknejad et al., 2007). Uma and
Malathi, (2009) showed that vermicompost has
positive influence on plant nitrogen content of
Amaranthus plant. In this study, high amounts
of shoot N content and SPAD index in
vermicompost compared with MSW compost
treatments under both severe and moderate
stress conditions could be attributed to the
presence of plant growth promoting compounds
elaborated by earthworm promote a significant
increase in N uptake and plant growth (Jat and
Ahlawat, 2006; Suthar, 2009). Rahbarian et al.
(2010) showed that increasing the drought stress
decreased the RWC in plants. Root growth
retardation and the decrease in its activity as
well as the increase in evapotranspiration rate
are known as the causes of the decrease in RWC
(Tarumingkeng and Coto, 2003). Poormoosavi
et al. (2007) reported that the damage to

Grain
yield
**
**
**

Intl. J. Agric: Res & Rev. Vol., 2 (4), 395-402, 2012

cytoplasm membrane under no-drought stress

was 70.63% which decreased to 68.19% with
the application of various compost types. The
likely reason, as he concluded, was the
improvement of physical and chemical
conditions of soil such as water storage capacity

with the increase in organic fertilizer application

level which helped plant not to face such a
severe drought and not to invest on the increase
in membrane stability.

Figure. 1 Plant height (A), Stem diameter (B), Number of leaves (C), Leaf area (D), and Leaf area ratio (E) under
well-watered (75% FC), Moderate water (55% FC), and Severe water (35%FC) conditions at different levels of
biological fertilizer (Ver 2% and Ver 4%, application of 2 and 4 percent vermicompost, respectively; MSW 2% and
MSW 4%, application of 2 and 4 percent MSW compost, respectively; and non-application of compost and/or
vermicompost as control). Mean with different letters are significantly different at the 5% level according to
Duncans multivariate range test.

Shoot and root dry masses, and grain yield

Results of the analysis of variance
indicated a significant effect on shoot and root
dry matter and grain yield (Table 1). Plants with
MSW compost or vermicompost treatments had
significantly higher shoot and root dry matter

and grain yield compared to non-application of

MSW compost or vermicompost. In different
levels of MSW compost and vermicompost, it
was observed that application of 4% MSW
compost and vermicompost had more efficiency
than application of 2% MSW compost and
vermicompost in increasing shoot and root dry
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Intl. J. Agric: Res & Rev. Vol., 2 (4), 395-402, 2012

matter and grain yield. However, application of

4% vermicompost treatment increased shoot
and root dry matter and grain yield more than
the application of 4% MSW compost. In
moderate
stress,
application
of
4%
vermicompost improved the yield of canola
47.19% while application of 2% vermicompost,
2% and 4% compost improved 28.53%, 7.06%
and 33.07% respectively, higher than nonapplication vermicompost or compost, and a
similar trend was also observed under severe
stress. Atiyeh et al. (2002) reported that
amendment of Metro-Mix 360, a standard
commercial greenhouse container medium, with
various volumes of pig manure vermicompost
(e.g. 40%) significantly improved growth and
productivity of marigold plants. Joshi and Pal
Vig (2010) showed that application of
vermicompost affected positively the growth,
yield and quality of tomato (Lycopersicum
esculentum L.). Appears to further increase the
dry matter and grain yield in vermicompost
compared with compost might be due to the
presence of beneficial microorganisms or
biologically active plant growth influencing
substances such as phytohormone that released

vermicompost (Chanda et al., 2011).

Application of vermicompost to soils increased
their microbial biomass and dehydrogenase
activity. Humic materials and other plant
growth-influencing substances, such as plant
growth hormones, produced by microorganisms
during vermicomposting, and produced after
increased microbial biomass and activity in
soils, may have been responsible for the
increased growth and yields, independent of
nutrient availability (Arancon et al., 2008).
Plant and crop physiologists and agronomists
agree that plant growth and development are
strictly dependent on biological fertility factors.
Earthworms stimulate microbial activities and
metabolism and also influence microbial
populations. As a consequence more available
nutrients and microbial metabolites are released
into the soil which in turn increased yield and
yield components. Based on the foregoing
results, compost increased total biomass
production under drought stress conditions. This
indicates that compost helps the plants to cope
with drought stress, probably maintaining its
photosynthetic processes intact (Tartoura,
2010).

by beneficial microorganisms present in the

Figure. 2 SPAD index (A), N Content (B), and Relative water content (C) under well-watered (75% FC), Moderate
water (55% FC), and Severe water (35%FC) conditions at different levels of biological fertilizer (Ver 2% and Ver
4%, application of 2 and 4 percent vermicompost, respectively; MSW 2% and MSW 4%, application of 2 and 4
percent MSW compost, respectively; and non-application of compost and/or vermicompost as control) Mean with
different letters are significantly different at the 5% level according to Duncans multivariate range test.

399

Intl. J. Agric: Res & Rev. Vol., 2 (4), 395-402, 2012

Figure. 3 Root and shoot dry mass (A), and Grain yield (B) under well-watered (75% FC), Moderate water (55%
FC), and Severe water (35%FC) conditions at different levels of biological fertilizer (Ver 2% and Ver 4%, application
of 2 and 4 percent vermicompost, respectively; MSW 2% and MSW 4%, application of 2 and 4 percent MSW
compost, respectively; and non-application of compost and/or vermicompost as control) Mean with different letters
are significantly different at the 5% level according to Duncans multivariate range test.

CONCLUSION
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