Effects of vermicompost and plant growth enhancers on the exo-morphological features of Capsicum annum (Linn.) Hepper

Abstract

Vermicomposting is an environmentally and economically friendly process to decompose organic waste. India’s agro-industrial sector contributes huge resources of plant materials in the form of compost. In this study, 50% of vermicompost was compared with plant growth enhancers on the exo-morphological features of C. annum. A significant plant growth was recorded in plants treated with Vermicompost. The present study aims to promote soil health and its plant growth providing effects further substantiating the use of organic amendments instead of fertilizers. Vermicompost contains a combination of macro- and micro-nutrients and the uptake of the nutrients has a positive effect on plant nutrition, growth, photosynthesis and chlorophyll content of the leaves.

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International Journal of Recycling of Organic Waste in Agriculture
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40093-017-0191-5
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Eects ofvermicompost andplant growth enhancers
ontheexo‑morphological features ofCapsicum annum (Linn.) Hepper
GovindapillaiSeenanRekha1· PatheriKunyilKaleena1· DevanElumalai2· MundarathPushparajSrikumaran1·
VellaoreNamasivayamMaheswari1
Received: 17 February 2017 / Accepted: 20 December 2017
© The Author(s) 2018. This article is an open access publication
Abstract
Purpose Vermicomposting is an environmentally and economically friendly process to decompose organic waste. India’s
agro-industrial sector contributes huge resources of plant materials in the form of compost. In this study, 50% of vermicom-
post was compared with plant growth enhancers on the exo-morphological features of C. annum. A significant plant growth
was recorded in plants treated with Vermicompost. The present study aims to promote soil health and its plant growth provid-
ing effects further substantiating the use of organic amendments instead of fertilizers. Vermicompost contains a combination
of macro- and micro-nutrients and the uptake of the nutrients has a positive effect on plant nutrition, growth, photosynthesis
and chlorophyll content of the leaves.
Methods Pot studies were carried out in ten replicates and four soil amendment treatments: (1) Control, 100ml distilled
water (2) 50% Vermicompost of soil (3) 10ml of Gibberellic Acid +90ml deionised water (GA+100µg/ml)—10ml Indole
Acetic Acid+90ml deionised water. Pots were planted with C. annum and the measurements of studied traits (length of
shoot, length of internode, leaves number and number of branches were determined.
Results The effect of plant growth enhancers like GA, IAA was compared with 50% vermicompost applications. Significant
improvement in all the parameters, like length of shoot, length of inter node, number of leaves and number of branches was
observed in plants at the end of 3rd, 4th and 5th weeks of treatment.
Conclusion Plants treated with 50% vermicompost showed significant growth than Gibberellic acid (GA)- and Indole acetic
acid (IAA)- treated plants. These results clearly indicate that vermicompost can be exploited as a potent biofertilizer.
Keywords Vermicompost· Earthworm· Plant growth regulators· Gibberellic acid· Indole acetic acid
Introduction
India’s agro-industrial sector contributes immense resources
of plants nutrients in the form of wastes like animal manure,
sewage sludge, food wastes and industrial organic wastes
which is either terrified away or buried or burnt causing
environmental pollution. Due to its terrible smell, costs
involved in transport and fear that its appliance might
lead to crust formation, pollution problems, pH variation,
farmers are reluctant to apply it to their land (Karimi etal.
2017). Conventional composting of press mud takes about
6months, does not remove the bad smell completely, has less
nutritive value and is compacted. Vermicomposted pressmud
using Lampito mauritii, Eudrilus eugeniae, Perionyx exca-
vatus, Eisenia foetida can be converted into an eco-friendly
organic fertilizer soil amendment and this pressmud ver-
micompost shows plentiful nutrient content and enzymatic
microbial activities facilitating the easy uptake by the plants
(Parthasarthi and Ranganathan 2002).
Innovative agriculture develops a rich food at reasonable
rate, all year round. They are expected to be harmless and nutri-
tious particularly fruits and vegetables, not having any blem-
ishes. Over the year, growers and farmers have changed the way
they develop food production to meet the anticipation of peo-
ples, supermarket and governments (Ansari and Hanief 2013).
Vermicompost is a nourishing organic ferti-
lizer having high amount of humus, nitrogen—2–3%
* Patheri Kunyil Kaleena
drpkklab@gmail.com; pkkaleena@yahoo.co.in
1 Department ofZoology, Presidency College (Autonomous),
Chennai600005, Tamilnadu, India
2 Department ofZoology, Pachaiyappa’s College forMen,
Kanchipuram631501, Tamilnadu, India

International Journal of Recycling of Organic Waste in Agriculture
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phosphorous—1.55–2.25%, potassium—1.85–2.25%,
micronutrients, more beneficial soil microbes like ‘nitrogen-
fixing bacteria’ and mycorrhizal fungi. Vermicompost has
been scientifically proved as miracle plant growth enhancer
(Chaoui etal. 2003; Guerrero 2010). Ansari and Ismail
(2012) reported that worm’s vermicast contains 7.37% nitro-
gen and 19.58% phosphorous as P2O5.
Microbial population of N2-fixing bacteria and actino-
mycetes increases by the application of vermicompost. The
amplified microbial activities improve the availability of soil
phosphorous and nitrogen. Vermicomposting is an aerobic,
biological method and is proficient to convert eco-friendly
humus like organic substances (Chanda etal. 2011).
Vermicompost stimulates to influence the microbial activ-
ity of soil, increases the availability of oxygen, maintains
normal soil temperature, increases soil porosity and infil-
tration of water, improves nutrient content and increases
growth, yield and quality of the plant (Arora etal. 2011).
Among the insect pests, defoliators and pod borers during
vegetative and post flowering stage are economically impor-
tant causing significant yield loss (Singh etal. 2011); Exten-
sive usage of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture
has lead to environmental issues like pesticide residuum in
food commodities, bioaccumulation and biomagnifications of
pesticides in food web and deprivation of soil health. Owing
to wide spectrum of problems with the use of chemical insec-
ticides, organic farming is fast becoming popular among the
scientists and farming community. Vermicompost and ver-
miwash (a liquid fertilizer) play a vital role in organic-based
unindustrialized system such as organic farming, sustain-
able farming or eco-friendly farming and in numerous ways
account for crop nourishment, pests fighting processes and
soil fertility enhancement (Varghese and Prabha 2014).
Plant growth regulators are known to control plants physi-
ological and biochemical processes. These include control
of dormancy, organ size, crop development, flowering and
fruit set, regulations of chemical composition of plants and
control of mineral soil (Elumalai etal. 2013).
Phytohormones play an important role in inducing and
enhancing, various physiological activities in the plant. Syn-
thetic growth regulators which include promoters as well as
inhibitors have a significant role in raising the yield of the
crop plants by increasing the process of transpiration. Most
widely available plant growth regulator is gibberellic acid,
which induces stem and inter node elongation, seed germina-
tion and fruit setting and growth (Ouzounidou etal. 2010).
Application of foliar spray in agriculture has been a popu-
lar practice with farmers since the 1950s when it was erudite
that a foliar fertilizer was effective (Tejada and Gonzalez
2004). Growth enhancers of plant in general are organic
compounds which bring about an increase or alteration of
plant growth. Growth regulators are new generation of agro-
chemicals; when added in small amount as foliar sprays,
they modify the normal growth, from seed germination to
senescence in crop plants. The use of GA and NAA is of
considerable interest in different fields of agriculture stud-
ies in various crops have inducted the beneficial effects of
growth regulators on crop growth, fruit yield, seed yield and
seed quality (Manjunath Prasad 2008).
Previous studies have reported that GA regulates cell
division and elongation, and also shows growth promot-
ing effects (Naeem etal. 2004). Indole acetic acid, GA and
kinetin increase cell division (Fathima and Balasubrama-
nian 2006). The effect of growth enhancers on the exo-
morphological characters of Abelmoschus esculentus and
various combinations of plant growth enhancers when used
as a foliar spray on A. esculentus plant showed maximum
increase in height, internode length and diameter (Fathima
and Balasubramanian 2006).
Growth and development events in plants are controlled
by growth regulators and these phytohormones are found
naturally in plants. Manufacturing and production of syn-
thetic phytohormones are not economically feasible and
the optimum conditions under which they can function effi-
ciently are also difficult to ascertain (Gemici etal. 2000).
Due to environmental pollution, health problems and reac-
tions caused by artificial growth enhancers and their low bio-
degradability have urged us to search for new bio-fertilizers
with growth regulating activities. In the present investiga-
tion, vermicompost was used to study the growth pattern of
Capsicum annum in comparison with synthetic plant growth
regulators such as GA, IAA.
Materials andmethods
The experimental plant material, Capsicum annum (L) Hep-
per, belonging to family Solanaceae, commonly called chilly
was selected for the study. Seed samples were procured from
Indian Agro centre, Arakkonam, Vellore to raise plants for
the experiments. The plant growth parameters of this plant
have been studied using vermicompost in comparison with
the plant growth enhancers such as Indole acetic acid (IAA)
and Gibberellic acid (GA) administered as foliar sprays.
Preparation ofvermicompost
Vermicompost was prepared in pits with suitable dimen-
sions. The pit was 2m in length and 1m in width and depth.
Base of the pit was filled with layer of broken bricks, fol-
lowed by a layer of sand to restrict the earthworms move-
ment towards the soil, 15cm of the pit was then filled with
loamy soil or garden soil and small lumps of fresh cattle
dung were sprinkled at random. This acts as an active grow-
ing medium for earthworms. About 100–500 earthworms

International Journal of Recycling of Organic Waste in Agriculture
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(Eudrilus eugeniae, Perionyx excavatus, Eisenia foetida)
were introduced in the vermibed. 10cm thick layer of straw,
leaf litter and various farm residues were placed above it.
Slurry of Cow dung was sprinkled. The same set of layers
was continued till a height of 1m and sprinkled with water
to retain in the moisture content. Harvesting was done on
45th day, and the worms were separated from the vermicast.
The young worms and cocoons were separated from the soil
using 3mm sieves. The vermicompost contains macro and
micro nutrients (Ismail 2005).
Experiment
Pot studies with C. annum were carried out by using ver-
micompost and foliar spray as plant growth regulators with
deionized water was used for control to study the differ-
ence in the exo-morphological features in response to their
treatments. Teepol solution of 0.01% was added with foliar
spray, which acts as a surfactant enhancing the adherence
of the spray solution to the leaves. With the help of an
atomizer, spray solution was sprayed. Applications of 50%
vermicompost and plant growth enhancers were used as a
foliar spray for C. annum are given in Table1.
C. annum seedling was raised in broad pots, i.e., width
of 60cm, and changed into small pots. Red soil, sand and
farm yard manure in the ratio of 1:1:1 were filled in the
pots; plants were maintained under the garden land condi-
tions. Ten plant replicates were maintained in three pots
for treated and control groups. Throughout the experimen-
tal period, plants were irrigated by water with well and
uniformly. When the plants were 10days old, the experi-
ment was started since it has a life cycle of 90–100days
only. The spraying was done at the end of each week for
five successive weeks. The following exo-morphological
features were carried out in treated and control groups.
Study ofexo‑morphological features
At the end of every week of spray and at 0h, i.e., just
before giving the spray application, the following exo-mor-
phological data were recorded in the control and treated
plants. Experiments were repeated thrice to make sure that
the results were uniform and the following parameters were
analyzed, (1) length of the plants, (2) inter node length, (3)
number of leaves and (4) number of branches.
Measurements ofplant growth parameters
Length of shoot and inter node (cm) was measured with a
measuring tape and the data were recorded. The number
of leaves and branches was counted manually.
Statistical analysis
Data on morphological parameters were subjected to sta-
tistical analyses. All data were given as mean and standard
error. The differences between the treatment groups and
controls were statistically analyzed. The level of signifi-
cance was set at P<0.05.
Results
The morphological parameters like shoot length, inter-
modal length, number of leaves and number of branches
was recorded at an interval of 1week (7days) for 5weeks
in control and experimental groups.
Length ofshoot
There is a significant difference in shoot length between
control and treated plants. Length of the shoot at the begin-
ning of first week, i.e., at the time of treatment was 8.5cm.
A considerable increase in shoot length was recorded in
treated plants; when compared to control plants length
of the shoot of plants treated with vermicompost 50%
(22.14cm), GA (20.14cm), IAA (18.14cm) was signifi-
cantly higher than in control (10.67) plants (Table2).
Length ofinternode
Average intermodal length at the time of treatment was
0.1cm. After the treatment, significant increase in the
intermodal length of the treated groups was observed
compared to control plants. Maximum intermodal length
was observed in 50% vermicompost treatments (2.97cm)
followed by GA (2.17cm)-, IAA (1.77cm)-treated plants
than in control plants (1.66cm) at the end of fifth week
(Table3).
Table 1 Showing the vermicompost and various plant growth regula-
tors (PGRs)
S. No Treatment (PGRS) Concentration
1. Control 100ml deionised water
2. Vermicompost-(50%) 50% vermicompost+soil
3. IAA (100µg/ml) 10ml IAA+90ml deionised water
4. GA (100µg/ml) 10ml GA+90ml deionised water

International Journal of Recycling of Organic Waste in Agriculture
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Number ofleaves
At the zero hours average number of leaves was 2.0 ver-
micompost 50% treated plants, showed maximum number
of leaves (25.0) and IAA, GA treated plant the numbers
were 14.8 and 14.5 respectively at the end of fifth week of
treatment. The minimum number of leaves was recorded
in control (13.3) plants (Table4).
Number ofbranches
During the experimental period, the number of branches was
increased in all the treated plants when compared to the con-
trol plants at the end of fifth week. The maximum number of
branches was recorded in Vermicompost 50% (25.30), GA
(18.8) and IAA (19.0). The number of branches was less
significant in the control plants (Table5).
NPK percentage in vermicompost-50% treated soil was
observed as N (1.95), P (0.61) and K (0.08) which was
higher than GA-treated soil – N (0.72), P (0.22) and K (0.05)
and IAA-treated soil – N (0.07), P (0.45) and K (0.04). The
minimum NPK percentage was observed in the control soil
samples, N (0.06), P (0.002) and K (0.03).
Table 2 Effect of vermicompost and PGRs on the shoot length (cms) of C. annum
Values are mean±S.E of 10 individual observations. Values in parentheses are percent change over control. Degrees of freedom F≤0.05
a Represents significance of variance between periods
b Represents significance of variance between treatments
Treatment I week II week III week IV week V week
Control 8.09ab±0.38 (+80.9) 8.85ab±0.53 (+88.5) 9.13ab±0.34 (+91.3) 10.32ab±0.20 (+103.2) 10.67ab±0.24
(+106.7)
Vermicompost-50% 10.45ab±0.39 (+104.5) 13.82ab±0.54 (+138.2) 15.87ab±0.50 (+158.7) 17.14ab±0.79 (+171.4) 22.14ab±0.79
(+221.4)
GA 10.05ab±0.29 (+100.5) 12.32ab±0.34 (+123.2) 15.27ab±0.50 (+152.7) 16.74ab±0.79 (+167.4) 20.14ab±0.56
(+191.4)
IAA 10.00ab±0.36 (+100.0) 12.02ab±0.44 (+120.2) 14.67ab±0.50 (+146.7) 16.14ab±0.79 (+161.4) 18.14ab±0.63
(+181.4)
Table 3 Effect of vermicompost and PGRs on internodal length (cms) of C. annum
Values are mean±S.E of 10 individual observations. Values in parentheses are percent change over control. Degrees of freedom F≤0.05
a Represents significance of variance between periods
b Represents significance of variance between treatments
Treatment I Week II week III week IV week V week
Control 1.30ab±0.13 (+13.0) 1.37ab±0.1 (+13.7) 1.49ab±0.19 (+14.9) 1.55ab±0.13 (+15.5) 1.66ab±0.06 (+16.6)
Vermicompost-50% 1.27ab±0.13 (+12.7) 1.47ab±0.09 (+14.7) 1.6ab±0.06 (+16.0) 1.85ab±0.05 (+18.5) 2.97ab±0.15 (+29.7)
GA 1.30ab±0.13 (+13.0) 1.39ab±0.1 (+13.9) 1.49ab±0.19 (+14.9) 1.55ab±0.13 (+15.5) 2.17ab±0.05 (+21.7)
IAA 1.27ab±0.13 (+12.7) 1.4ab±0.07 (+14.0) 1.5ab±0.06 (+15.0) 1.65ab±0.05 (+16.5) 1.77ab±0.11 (+17.7)
Table 4 Effect of vermicompost and PGRs on the number of leaves (n) of C. annum
Values are mean±S.E of10 individual observations. Values in parentheses are percent change over control. Degrees of freedom F≤0.05
a Represents significance of variance between periods
b Represents significance of variance between treatments
Treatment I week II week III week IV week V week
Control 7.9ab±0.7 (+79.0) 10.0ab±0.71 (+100.0) 10.7ab±0.61 (+107.0) 12.1ab±0.78 (+121.0) 13.3ab±0.59 (+133.0)
Vermicompost-50% 8.3ab±0.6 (+83.0) 13.0ab±0.89 (+130.0) 16.7ab±0.96 (+167.0) 17.9ab±0.97 (+179.0) 25.0ab±0.98 (+250.0)
GA 6.8ab±0.0 (+68.0) 7.3ab±0.39 (+73.0) 9.4ab±0.42 (+94.0) 12.8ab±0.44 (+128.0) 14.8ab±0.34 (+148.0)
IAA 7.2ab±0.71 (+72.0) 11.1ab±0.47 (+111.0) 12.2ab±0.41 (+122.0) 13.6ab±0.76 (+136.0) 14.5ab±0.80 (+145.0)

International Journal of Recycling of Organic Waste in Agriculture
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Discussion
In this study, the growth of plants was found to be signifi-
cantly increased in plants treated with vermicompost. Plants
treated with 50% vermicompost showed increased shoot
length than GA- and IAA-treated plants. Studies by Atiyeh
etal. (2002) reported the benefits of vermicompost as bed-
ding media to promote seed germination, seedling growth
and productivity of plants.
Organic amended in the form of vermicompost and ver-
miwash, when added to soil increase the yield and growth of
plants. Length of the internode and diameter were increased
significantly and maximum in vermicompost-treated plants
than in GA- and IAA-treated plants. The increase in the
diameter of internode can be related to increased girth of the
plants. The observations in present study are in accordance
with previous reports (Agarwal etal. (2003). An increase
in the yield of certain vegetable crops such as brinjal,
okra and tomato have been reported by Guerrero (2010),
Gupta (2003), Sinha etal. (2009), Elumalai etal. (2013),
respectively.
In plants treated with earthworm cast, the growth param-
eters of Triticum aesticum such as plant height, number of
leaves and tillers, early ear heading, ear head length and dry
matter per plant was found to be enhanced than the control
plants (Nijhawan and Kanwar (1951). Emergence of tomato,
cabbage and radish seedling was significant in vermicom-
posted soil than in thermophilically composted animal waste
(Edward and Burrows 1988).
Biofertilizers contain a consortium of nutrients which are
needed for plant growth. The NPK content of vermicompost-
amended soil was found to be enhanced when compared to
the other amended soil. The soil amended with vermicom-
post provides the required nutrients, which are not available
in chemically treated soil (Ansari and Ismail 2008). This
increased nutrient uptake by plants may have contributed to
maximum growth in vermicompost treated when compared
to other treatments.
Vermicompost and vermiwash treatments improve the
micronutrient levels in the soil (Jaikishaun etal. 2014). The
carbon content in vermicomposted soil is found to release
the nutrients slowly into the soil and thereby aiding the
plants to absorb the available nutrients (Ansari and Sukhraj
2010).
Remarkable growth obtained in vermicompost-treated
plants may be due to favorable and optimum temperature;
moisture and a balance between organic and inorganic
nutrients in the vermicompost have significantly aided in
increased growth of plants. The enhanced growth in these
plants may be due to improved soil health and the phys-
ico-chemical properties of soil were enhanced leading to
an increase in both microbial activity and macro and micro
nutrients. Vermicompost treatment enhanced the availability
of nutrients in the soil (Singh etal. 2011).
Studies by Chauhan and Joshi (2010) reported a con-
siderable increase of nitrogen in vermicomposted soil. The
improvement of N2 content in the soil may be due to the
nitrogen in the vermicast, which results in nitrogen minerali-
zation aided by microbes in the soil, through the degradation
of the earthworm tissues (Ananthakrishnasamy etal. 2009).
Elimination of pathogens as of wastes like cow manure and
sludge of wastewater treatment plant may be applied for soil
improvement which is very essential in preventing the spread
and transmission of disease (Karimi etal. 2017). The luxuri-
ant growth, flowering and yield of the vegetable crops were
promoted by the worms and vermicompost. The incidence
of ‘yellow vein mosaic; ‘color rot’ and ‘powdery mildew’
diseases was less in worm and vermicompost-treated plants.
Conclusions
The results of this study showed that 50% vermicompost
treatment showed great potential to increase the perfor-
mance, growth of chilly plant and improvement of soil
quality. Chilly plants grown in vermicompost-amended
soil showed enhanced growth rate when compared to plants
Table 5 Effect of vermicompost and PGRs on the number of branches (n) of C. annum
Values are mean±S.E of 10 individual observations
Values in parentheses are percent change over control
a Represents significance of variance between periods
b Represents significance of variance between treatments
Degrees of freedom F≤0.05
Treatment I week II week III week IV week V week
Control 6.9ab±0.27 (+69.0) 7.7ab±0.35 (+77.0) 9.6ab±0.30 (+96.0) 11.3ab±0.63 (+113.0) 12.3ab±0.55 (+123.0)
Vermicompost-50% 8.2ab±0.61 (+82.0) 12.8ab±0.99 (+128.0) 15.8ab±0.99 (+158.0) 18.5ab±0.46 (+185.0) 25.0ab±0.81 (+250.0)
GA 6.8ab±0.24 (+68.0) 11.2ab±0.35 (+112.0) 14.5ab±0.52 (+145.0) 16.5ab±0.54 (+165.0) 18.8ab±0.46 (+188.0)
IAA 8.0ab±0.51 (+80.0) 11.4ab±0.67 (+114.0) 15.7ab±0.73 (+157.0) 17.6ab±0.90 (+176.0) 19.2ab±0.61 (+192.0)

International Journal of Recycling of Organic Waste in Agriculture
1 3
treated with plant growth regulators (PGR). The study posi-
tively highlights the importance of organic farming; there-
fore, vermicompost may be put to good use as a natural ferti-
lizer for cereals and vegetable crops for increased production
and for sustainable agricultural systems.
Acknowledgements Authors are highly thankful to The Principal,
Head of the department, Presidency College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu,
India, for providing the facilities to carry out the work.
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Crea-
tive Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creat iveco
mmons .org/licen ses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribu-
tion, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate
credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the
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