Bio-efficiency of compost extracts on the wet rot incidence, morphological and physiological growth of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus [(L.) Moench])
TL;DR: Use of Trichoderma-enriched compost extracts would be more beneficial in environmentally friendly okra cultivation and may be used as an alternative to inorganic fertilizers/fungicides to enhance plant growth and reduce disease incidence subsequently, resulting in higher yield.
About: This article is published in Scientia Horticulturae.The article was published on 2008-06-12. It has received 75 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Choanephora & Compost.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors define humic substances in a horticultural context and present a general schematic model of plant-humic responses, highlighting the relationship between the chemical properties of humified matter and its bioactivity with specific reference to the promotion of lateral root growth.
547 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of vermicompost tea on crop growth is largely attributed to mineral nutrient uptake by plants, and this effect was most prominent under organic fertilisation and synthetic fertilisation.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Multiple studies have been reported on the effect of compost tea on suppression of certain plant diseases. However, relatively little work has been done to investigate the effect of vermicompost tea on yield and nutritional quality of vegetable crops. In this study, experiments were conducted to determine the effect of extraction method on vermicompost tea quality and subsequent effects on growth, mineral nutrients, phytonutrients and antioxidant activity of pak choi plants grown under organic (vermicompost) and synthetic (Osmocote) fertilisation. Three vermicompost teas obtained by different extractionmethods,namelynon-aeratedvermicomposttea(NCT),aeratedvermicomposttea(ACT)andaeratedvermicompost tea augmented with microbial enhancer (ACTME), were applied to the plants. Aerated water served as control. RESULTS: Mineral nutrients were significantly higher in ACTME compared with other teas, but total microbial population and activity did not differ with extraction method. All vermicompost teas similarly enhanced plant production, mineral nutrients and total carotenoids, and this effect was most prominent under organic fertilisation. Antioxidant activity and total phenolics were higher under organic compared with synthetic fertilisation. Vermicompost teas generally decreased phenolics under organic fertilisation and increased them under synthetic fertilisation compared with the control. CONCLUSION: The effect of vermicompost tea on crop growth is largely attributable to mineral nutrient, particularly N, uptake by plants. Non-significant differences among extraction methods on plant response within fertiliser regimes suggest that aeration and additives are not necessary for growth promotion and nutrient quality under the conditions reported here. c � 2009 Society of Chemical Industry
183 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of different percentages of biochar (BC) and/or humic acid (HA) on the physical and chemical characteristics of composted green waste (CGW) and on the growth and nutrition of the ornamental plant Calathea insignis were investigated.
110 citations
TL;DR: The inoculation of composts with biological control agents, manipulation of compost tea production process, and the use of new techniques for organic matter characterization and microbial community profiling may improve the efficacy and reliability of disease control obtained.
Abstract: Numerous studies have demonstrated the potential of composted organic wastes not only as substitutes for peat as a growth substrate but also to stimulate plant growth and suppress soil-borne diseases. The major impediment to the use of compost as substrates or biocontrol agents has been variation in physical and chemical characteristics and disease suppression levels across and within compost types, sources, and batches. Compost tea, a product of compost, has also been shown to suppress soil-borne diseases including damping-off and root rots (Pythium ultimum, Rhizoctonia solani, Phytophthora spp.) and wilts (Fusarium oxysporum and Verticillium dahliae). Although the mechanisms involved in disease suppression are not fully understood, sterilization of composts and compost teas has generally resulted in a loss in disease suppressiveness. This indicates that the mechanism of suppression is often, or predominantly, biological, although chemical and physical factors have also been implicated. The inoculation o...
102 citations
TL;DR: The review provides an insight into the dynamics of ecological interactions as the guiding principles of EM formulation with respect to plant growth promoting microbes, and the beneficial roles of effective microbial formulations in crop wellbeing and productivity enhancement.
Abstract: The host-microbe interaction established through natural evolution in plants sets the basis of plant growth and productivity benefits from a single microbe or a consortium. Select algal, fungal, bacterial (particularly LABs), actinomycetes and yeast groups are potential effective microbes (EMs) in agriculture. As environmental probiotics, EMs help in crop growth and wellbeing by fixing N2, solubilising K and P, unlocking soil trace elements, secreting exopolysaccharides, transforming organic matter into usable nutrients, enhancing soil water-holding capacity and improving the overall soil health. They also release bioactive compounds like vitamins, hormones and enzymes to stimulate plant growth, secrete biocontrol agents and enhance drought tolerance. As the soil profile and its intrinsic microbial ecology along geographical regions vary, a universal ‘one-size-fits-all’ effective microbial formulation cannot be envisaged. Although minerals cycling is majorly accomplished by specialised microbes, their activity is positively or adversely impacted by the interacting biotic community (microbe-microbe, microbe-plant or microbe-animal/human) and abiotic constituents. Crops benefit by positive associations with beneficial microbes as mutualism, symbiosis, commensalism, amensalism, photocooperation, etc., and by negative association against the harmful microbes like antagonism. The plant-growth-promoting role of microbes and the scope to formulate EM are the basis on these facts. EMs are applied for crop growth in the form of consortia which usually include phototrophs, lactic acid bacteria, actinomycetes, fermentative fungi, yeasts, etc. along with an effective carrier substrate (prebiotic) as formulations. The rDNA technology in plant growth promoting microbe (PGPM) with enhanced performance is also discussed. The review provides an insight into the dynamics of ecological interactions as the guiding principles of EM formulation with respect to plant growth promoting microbes, and the beneficial roles of effective microbial formulations in crop wellbeing and productivity enhancement.
93 citations
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TL;DR: The ways in which plant growth promoting rhizobacteria facilitate the growth of plants are considered and discussed and the possibility of improving plant growth promotion by specific genetic manipulation is critically examined.
Abstract: The ways in which plant growth promoting rhizobacteria facilitate the growth of plants are considered and discussed. Both indirect and direct mechanisms of plant growth promotion are dealt with. Th...
2,529 citations
"Bio-efficiency of compost extracts ..." refers background in this paper
...Certain microorganisms present in the compost and compost extracts such as Trichoderma, Rhizobacteria and fluorescent Pseudomonas are known to stimulate plant growth (Hoflich et al., 1994; Glick, 1995; Sylvia, 2004)....
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Book•
31 Dec 1995
TL;DR: A comprehensive reference to present current data on the chemistry, biochemistry, and distribution of chlorophylls and carotenoids, the two major classes of vegetable pigments, can be found in this paper.
Abstract: This book is a comprehensive reference to present current data on the chemistry, biochemistry, and distribution of chlorophylls and carotenoids, the two major classes of vegetable pigments. The text explores the nutritional values and the possible role of carotenoids in the prevention of human cancer
349 citations
268 citations
247 citations
TL;DR: Compost tea was used to drench soilless container medium inoculated with P. ultimum; effect on damping-off ranged from not suppressive to consistently suppressive depending on the method used to produce the tea, and evidence suggests that residual nutrients can interfere with disease suppression.
Abstract: Scheuerell, S. J., and Mahaffee, W. F. 2004. Compost tea as a container medium drench for suppressing seedling damping-off caused by Pythium ultimum. Phytopathology 94:1156-1163. Compost tea is being used increasingly in agricultural production to control plant diseases. However, there has been limited investigation relating disease control efficacy to various compost tea production methods, particularly compost tea produced with active aeration and additives to increase microbial population densities in compost tea. Aerated compost tea (ACT) and nonaerated compost tea (NCT), produced with or without additives, was investigated for the suppression of damping-off of cucumber caused by Pythium ultimum. Compost tea was used to drench soilless container medium inoculated with P. ultimum; effect on damping-off ranged from not suppressive to consistently suppressive depending on the method used to produce the tea. The most consistent formulation for damping-off suppression was ACT produced with kelp and humic acid additives. Producing ACT with a molasses-based additive inconsistently suppressed damping-off; evidence suggests that residual nutrients can interfere with disease suppression. Heating or diluting compost tea negated suppression. Across all compost tea samples, there was no significant relationship of bacterial populations, measured as active cells, total cells, or CFU, to disease suppression. However, for all ACT produced without the molasses-based additive, there was a threshold of bacterial population density (6 log10 active cells per ml, 7.48 log10 total cells per ml, or 7 log10 CFU per ml) above which compost teas were suppressive. Compost tea is being used increasingly as an alternative plant disease control measure in commercial horticulture (13). Compost tea is produced by mixing compost with water and incubating for a defined period, either actively aerating (aerated compost tea, ACT) or not (nonaerated compost tea, NCT) and with or without additives that are intended to increase microbial population densities during production (13,14). Compost tea applied to foliage has been demonstrated to suppress a range of foliar diseases (reviewed in literature citations 14 and 19); however, the use of compost tea as a soil drench for seed or root rot suppression has received very little attention. The control of damping-off disease of seedlings, commonly caused by Pythium spp. in Northern latitudes, is of particular interest to greenhouse growers (15,16). Damping-off can be a severe problem when peat-based medium, which is naturally conducive to the pathogen, is used (5). The only investigation to date involving Pythium spp. and compost tea determined that pea seeds soaked in NCT, dried, and sown 2 days later had reduced disease symptoms on seedlings caused by P. ultimum (17). Heat treating the NCT negated all suppression of pathogen growth in vitro, indicating the likely role of the NCT microflora in disease suppression (17). The microflora of both NCT (19) and ACT (6) are typically described as being dominated by bacteria, and therefore the bacterial population of compost tea could be a useful parameter to measure in relation to plant disease suppression. It has been proposed that increasing the population of total and active bacteria in ACT will generally increase the level of plant disease sup
223 citations