Comparison of Seed Germination Efficiency of Maize Crop with Different Concentrations of Compost Leachate

Abstract

Composting is the most economical and safest method to treat the organic fractions of waste. The liquid by-product of the compost is known as compost leachate, composed of essential plant nutrients and trace elements including nitrogen (N), carbon source (C) potassium (K), and phosphorus (P). It has the potential to replace the commercial fertilizers to stimulate plant growth. High concentration of compost leachate may result in a delay in seed growth and may damage the plats by phototoxicity.On day 1 about 68±1.2 seeds and on day 7 almost 97±0.5seeds were germinated in 3% leachate sample in each petri dish. The results showed that the higher concentration of compost leachate resulted in decrease in seed germination, as the seed treated with 25% leachate showed the growth about 35±1.2 on first day and 7th day germination index was around 46±0.5.Maximum seed germination and growth was observed in 3% leachate sample and lowest was observed in 25% leachate sample. On the other hand by increasing concentration of   fertilizers from 3% to 25% resulted in increased seed germination on 1st day by 30±1.1-66±1.2 and until last day (7th day) by 66±1.2-75±0.5.This study was planned to check the potential of compost leachate compared with chemical fertilizer. According to the obtainedresults leachate has better fertilizing quality than fertilizer and its use as a liquid fertilizer is an environmentally sound and economically viable option.