Author(s): Arshad Nawaz Choudhary, Muhammad Shakir Farooq, Muhammad Zeeshan, Ghaffar Khan, Tayyaba Kanwa Choudhary and Muhammad Subtain Abbas
Compost application in soil increases the supply of nutrients to the crops. Compost from different organic materials like municipal solid waste and sugarcane press mud are rich source of nutrients which are essential for plant growth. The application of municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) and sugarcane press mud compost are rapidly becoming popular worldwide to enhance and sustain soil organic matter and crop productivity. A pot experiment was conducted to study the nutrients availability and uptake by the plants by the application of two different composts with spent wash. The treatments was as: T1 Chemical fertilizer N,P,K recommended; T2 Sugarcane press mud compost at 2.5 t ha-1; T3 Sugarcane press mud compost at 5 t ha-1; T4 Municipal solid waste compost at 2.5 t ha-1; T5 Municipal solid waste compost at 5 t ha-1; T6 Sugarcane press mud compost (2.5 t ha-1)+Spent wash (10%); T7 Sugarcane press mud compost (5 t ha-1)+Spent wash (10%); T8 Municipal solid waste compost (2.5 t ha-1)+spent wash (10%); T9 Municipal solid waste compost (5 t ha-1)+spent wash (10%); T10 Spent wash (10%) The experiment was arranged in completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. Compost and soil in all treatments was analyzed for N, P, K, Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn. The information generated from this work was helpful to estimate the importance of municipal solid waste compost and sugarcane press mud compost with spent wash on nutrient availability in soil and plant system and to observe the response of tomato crop to compost application. The results showed that availability of all macro and micro nutrients was high in Treatment receiving MSWC at the rate of 5 t ha-1 with 10% spent wash irrigation.
