effect of new organic supplement (panchgavya) on seed germination and soil quality

Effect of new organic supplement (Panchgavya) on seedgermination and soil quality

Paras Jain & Ravi Chandra Sharma &

Pradip Bhattacharyya & Pabitra Banik

Received: 27 November 2012 /Accepted: 28 October 2013 /Published online: 14 November 2013# Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Abstract We studied the suitability of Panchgavya(five products of cow), new organic amendment, appli-cation on seed germination, plant growth, and soilhealth. After characterization, Panchgavya was mixedwith water to form different concentration and wastested for seed germination, germination index, and rootand shoot growth of different seedlings. Four percentsolution of Panchgavya was applied to different plantsto test its efficacy. Panchgavya and other two organicamendments were incorporated in soil to test the changeof soil chemical and microbiological parameters.Panchgavya contained higher nutrients as compared tofarm yard manure (FYM) and vermicompost. Its appli-cation on different seeds has positively influenced ger-mination percentage, germination index, root and shootlength, and fresh and dry weight of the seedling. Water-soluble macronutrients including pH and metal werepositively and negatively correlated with the growthparameters, respectively. Four percent solution ofPanchgavya application on some plants showed superi-ority in terms of plant height and chlorophyll content.Panchgavya-applied soil had higher values of macro andmicronutrients (zinc, copper, and manganese), microbialactivity as compared to FYM, and vermicompost

applied soils. Application of Panchgavya can be gain-fully used as an alternative organic supplement inagriculture.

Keywords Cereals .Germination index .Root and shootlength . Soil nutrients .Water solubility . Metal content

Introduction

Fertilizers are the substances that supply nutrients toplants and/or amend soil fertility. They are the mosteffective means of increasing crop production. Mod-ern chemical agriculture or more precisely the Greenrevolution has made an adverse impact on environ-ment, biodiversity, and soil and human health. Theproductivity of crops has shown decline trends.Many insects and pests are becoming resistant topesticides. The use of organic residues representsan environmentally, agronomically, and economical-ly sound alternative, since it provides a locally avail-able source of nutrients. In this scenario, there is aneed to adopt ecofriendly agricultural practices tosustain the crop productivity and soil health.

Organic matter is an important attribute of soil qual-ity, as it regulates the physicochemical, biochemical,and microbiological properties of soil. Tropical soilsare low in organic matter, primarily due to climate andonly secondarily because of cultural practices. Organicrecycling is vital for optimizing crop yield and restoringsoil health (Chakrabarti et al. 2001). So, any manage-ment practices, tending to counter act the gradual deple-tion of soil organic matter by cropping is always to beencouraged. Spiraling cost of fertilizers, scarcity of

Environ Monit Assess (2014) 186:1999–2011DOI 10.1007/s10661-013-3513-8

P. Jain : R. C. Sharma : P. Banik (*)Agricultural and Ecological Research Unit, Indian StatisticalInstitute, Kolkata, Indiae-mail: [email protected]

P. Bhattacharyya (*)North-East Center, Indian Statistical Institute, Tezpur, Assam,Indiae-mail: [email protected]

traditional manures, and the concern for efficient use ofenergy and natural resources kindle interest in poolingof all the available resources in agriculture.

Traditional organic manure like cow dung has longbeen used as a beneficial organic material to soils.However, dumping of this manure in non-scientificways creates several problems in the environment. Ac-cording to the US Environmental Protection Agency,one of the main reasons of water pollution is the agri-cultural runoff from cow manure. Runoff from cowmanure increases nitrogen and phosphorus levels inwater bodies. This increases the algae population whichis responsible for the decrease in fish and plant growth,leading to the formation of aquatic dead zones. Cowmanure is also responsible for the emission of atmo-spheric nitrous oxide, one of themajor greenhouse gases(Davidson 2009). Therefore, this material should beused carefully; otherwise, it can cause ecosystemdamage.

According to Vedic scriptures, Panchgavya is a San-skrit word; Pancha means five and Gavya means sub-stance obtained from cow (milk, ghee, curd, urine, anddung). In other words, it is a mixture of all these fiveproducts of cow. It has good medicinal propertiesagainst cancer, tuberculosis, cold, diabetes, asthma, pso-riasis etc. In 1950, James FMartin fromUSA developeda solution with cow lactate, dung, seawater, and yeastsand that was capable of greening degraded land (Yadavand Lourduaj 2005). Nene (1999) and Singh (1996)reported that cow dung contained undigested fiber, or-ganic matter, various nutrients, and microorganisms.Cow urine is rich in urea, minerals, and hormone(Reddy 1998). Cow milk is an excellent source ofsticker and spreader (casein) and a good medium ofmicroorganism (Nene 1999). Cow ghee contains vita-mins, minerals, fat etc. (Nene 1999) and curd is a richsource of microbes (Yadav and Lourduaj 2005). Coco-nut water has growth hormone that increases crop bio-mass and yield (Mamaril and Lopez 1997). Panchgavyaspray at 1 % reduced the flower drop, increased fruitsize, retained freshness, and enhanced taste, preventedfruit drops in peach trees from green worm attack(Yadav and Lourduaj 2005). Agricultural suitability ofPanchgavya as organic amendment requires that thepotential for plant growth is predictable after incorpora-tion into soil.

Earlier studies showed that application ofPanchgavya can control the insects, pest, and disease,increase crop productivity, self-life, and quality of the

products and found to be more profitable than recom-mended fertilizer application (Natarajan 2002). Fromearlier studies, scanty information has so far been avail-able on the application of Panchgavya on seed germina-tion and soil quality. This study was undertaken to seethe effect of aqueous extracts of Panchgavya, newbioresource/organic amendments, on seed germinationpercent and germination index of different seeds, sincegermination and seedling development are the pioneersteps for plant growth. Therefore, the present work wasconducted with the following objectives:

1. To find out the effect of Panchgavya on seed ger-mination and germination index, root and shootlength of seedlings on some field crops

2. To note the impact of Panchgavya application onplant growth and chlorophyll content

3. Comparative assessment of Panchgavya applicationon some soil properties with other organic amend-ments like FYM and vermicompost

Material and methods

Preparation of Panchgavya

Five hundred grams fresh cow dung was mixed thor-oughly with 50 g of ghee and kept in a plastic containerfor 3 days, stirred twice a day. On the fourth day, cowurine (300 ml), milk (200 ml), and curd (200 ml) wasadded and after that coconut water (300 ml), sugarcanejuice (300 ml), and mashed ripe banana (2 nos.) weremixed thoroughly into the mixture and kept for 15 days.The mixture was covered with a Muslim (perforated)cloth and stirred twice in a day for 20 min each time tofacilitate aerobic microbial activity. On day 19,Panchgavya was ready to use.

Seed germination

We have taken seeds of rice (Oryza sativa), wheat(Trit icum aestivum) , yard long bean (Vignaunguiculata), gram (Cicer arietinum), lentil (Lensculinaris), moong (Vigna radiata), moth bean (Vignaaconitifolia), pea (Pisum sativum), dry bean (Phaseolusvulgaris), and soybean (Glycine max) for germinationexperiment.

Different concentrations of aqueous extracts (2, 4, 6,and 10 % w/v) of the Panchgavya were prepared by

2000 Environ Monit Assess (2014) 186:1999–2011

shaking with distilled water at 200 rpm for 1 h using arotary shaker at 22 °C and filtering through Whatmanno. 42 filter paper. The treatments tried were as listed:control (distilled water); Panchgavya: distilled water(1:50, w/v); Panchgavya: distilled water (1: 25, w/v);Panchgavya: distilled water (1:16.6, w/v); Panchgavya:distilled water (1:10, w/v). Germination study of seedswas carried out following the method of Panjabi andBasu (1982). Petri plates were washed with 70 % ethylalcohol followed by distilled water. Twenty-five seedsof each crop were placed in each plate, which wascovered by blotting paper to protect them from foreignelements. Distilled water was used as a control withthree replicates for each treatment. All the plates wereplaced in growth chamber with a light–dark cycle of 16–8 h and a temperature of 25±4 °C. Distilled water wasused to maintain the moisture as and when required. Thenumber of seeds germinated, root length, and the shootlength of the germinated seeds were recorded after10 days. The following method was used to calculatethe germination percentage:

Germination percentage ¼ Number of seeds germinated

Number of seeds sownx 100

Germination index was determined according to theformula as given by Keeling et al. (1994).

Germination index ¼ shoot length in treatment

shoot length in controlx 100

Root and shoot fresh and dry weight

Samples were subjected to oven dry at 60±5 °C till theconstant weight reached.

Plant performance

Soil (Typic Endoaquepts) from the institute campus wascollected, crushed to sieve (2-mm mesh), and weighed600 g to fill in the each pot. Sixteen to 20-days-oldseedling of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), brinjal (So-lanum melongena), and kochia (Kochia scoparia) weretransplanted in soil filled pots. Four percent solution ofPanchgavya was applied at 6 and 20 days aftertransplanting. Water was applied as and when required.After 60 days survival percentage, plant height andchlorophyll content was measured (Sadasivam andManikam 1992). Chlorophyll content in leaf was

measured after 60 days by SPAD-502plus and datapresented in the unit of SPAD.

Soil properties

An experiment was designed to carry out the compara-t ive assessment of Panchgavya, FYM, andvermicompost on soil properties. We have taken fourtreatments viz., control (soil only), soil+Panchgavya,soil +vermicompost, soil +FYM. For this study,vermicompost and FYM was applied to the soil (TypicEndoaquepts) collected from institute campus. To checkthe efficacy of the Panchgavya application, experimentswere also carried out using vermicompost and FYM, themost popular and traditional form of organic supple-ments in India. The experiments were performed infactorial modes with a completely randomized blockdesign by changing the organic amendments. Soil sam-ples (1 kg each) were prepared on plastic sheets, andamended with Panchgavya, vermicompost, and FYMapplied in a quantity to supply the 100 kg N/ha, andmixed thoroughly. The soil–organics mixtures were tak-en into different containers (2 l), brought to the requiredwater regimes (60 % water holding capacity), and incu-bated at 30 °C under dark condition for up to 60 days.The incubation duration and temperature were chosen assuch in order to fit the typical growing period of rice andthe ambient condition, respectively. To maintain thewater conditions, requisite quantities of sterile distilledwater were added to each plastic container periodically.Each treatment was replicated three times. After 60 days,the incubated soils in each container were sampled andanalyzed. Basal soil respiration and microbial popula-tion was determined from fresh soil. The remaininganalyses such as pH, electrical conductivity, nitrogen,phosphorous, potassium, micronutrient (Zn, Cu, andMn), and organic carbon were carried out with air-dried sieved soils (sieved through 2-mm mesh). Allphysicochemical, micronutrient, and microbial parame-ters were measured according to the method of Pageet al. (1982).

Statistical calculation

Statistical analysis such least significant difference(ANOVA) were carried out using SPSS 13.0 statisticalpackage to evaluate the difference between the vari-ables. A Pearson correlation analysis was carried out

Environ Monit Assess (2014) 186:1999–2011 2001

to check the significances of the linear relations betweenobtained variables.

Results

Comparative study of Panchgavya, FYM,and vermicompost

Physicochemical properties of Panchgavya, vermicompost(VC), and farm yardmanure (FYM)were given in Table 1.pH of Panchgavya was lower than VC and FYM. OrganicC and total N was higher in Panchgavya compare to theother amendments (Table 1).

Seed germination and plant health

Various proportions (control, 2, 4, 6, and 10 %) ofPanchgavya was tested on some cereals (wheat and rice)and legumes (pea, gram, green gram, black gram, drybean, lentil, moth bean, and soybean) to explore their effecton germination, germination index, root and shoot length,and fresh and dry weight per plant (Figs. 1, 2, and 3).

Rice

Rice germination decreased with increase in concentra-tion of Panchgavya and it was maximum at control.Longest root and shoot was noted at 10 % concentrationof Panchgavya. Similarly, fresh and dry weight was alsonoticed maximum at the same concentration (10 %)(Figs. 1, 2, and 3).

Wheat

Wheat germination increased with increases in concen-tration of Panchgavya up to 6 % and then decreased.Maximum germination (90 %) was recorded at 6 % andminimum (66 %) in control. Root and shoot length wasmeasured longest at 10 % concentration of Panchgavya.Similar trend was also noticed in case of fresh and dryweight (Figs. 1, 2, and 3).

Yard long bean

Seed germination increased as Panchgavya concentra-tion increases and maximum value was recorded at 6 %concentration and then decreased. Root and shoot lengthwas maximum at 6 % concentration of Panchgavyatreatment. Same trend was noted in the case of freshand dry weight (Figs. 1, 2, and 3).

Gram

Four percent Panchgavya solution showed highest germi-nation (100 %). Shoot and root length of gram increasedwith increase in concentration of Panchgavya up to 4 %and then decreased, and their values were maximum at4 %. Maximum fresh and dry weight was obtained at 4 %Panchgavya but minimum in control (Figs. 1, 2, and 3).

Lentil

Panchgavya solution at lower concentrations did nothave any effect on germination, but higher concentration

Table 1 Physicochemical prop-erties of organic amendments(mean value ± standard deviation)

PG Panchgavya, VCvermicompost, FYM farmyardmanure

Parameters PG VC FYM Soil

Moisture (%) 80±5.6 – – –

pH 6.0±0.3 8.0±0.3 8.1±0.4 7.83±0.5

Organic C (g/kg) 68±2.2 28±2.4 22±3.1 5.85±0.5

Total N (g/kg) 6.9±0.8 2.6±0.5 1.8±0.3 0.6±0.04

Total P (ppm) 48.2±4.2 – – 26.46±3.1

Total K (ppm) 3560±23.6 – – 2980±19.8

Av. N (%) 0.09±0.02 – – 36.4±1.1

Av. P (%) 0.004±0.003 – – 2.65±0.3

Total Zn (ppm) 56.8±6.2 – – 116.6±6.7

Total Cu (ppm) 22.9±3.6 – – 49.6±5.8

Total Mn (ppm) 40.5±4.1 – – 18.9±1.2


(6 and 10 %) showed negative effect on seed germi-nation. Root and shoot length was maximum at 2 %concentration of Panchgavya and then decreased as

concentration increases. As the concentration ofPanchgavya increased, fresh and dry weight of lentilalso increased (Figs. 1, 2, and 3).

Fig. 1 Germination (%) and germination index of some seeds as influenced by the application of different concentrations of Panchgavya.Error bars represent standard deviation. (LSD least significant difference)


Fig. 2 Root and shoot length of some seedlings as influenced by the application of different concentrations of Panchgavya. Error barsrepresent standard deviation. (LSD least significant difference)


Fig. 3 Fresh and dry weight (g) with respect to plant weight of some seedlings as influenced by the application of different concentrations ofPanchgavya. Error bars represent standard deviation. (LSD least significant difference)


Moong

Hundred percent seeds were germinated when 2 %solution of Panchgavya was applied and then germi-nation was decreased with in increasing rate ofPanchgavya. The same strength of solution also reg-isters the highest root and shoot length. Maximumfresh and dry weights of green gram were recordedwhen grown with 2 % solution of Panchgavya(Figs. 1, 2, and 3).

Moth bean

Panchgavya application increased germination. Its ap-plication also increased root and shoot length and freshand dry weight up to 4 %. Values of those parameterswere recorded maximum when plant received 4 %Panchgavya solution (Figs. 1, 2, and 3).

Pea

Two percent Panchgavya solution showed highestpea germination (86 %). However, germination per-cent was least at 10 %. Seven times root length andfive times shoot length was recorded, where 2 %Panchgavya solution was applied over the control.Root and shoot length was equal at 10 % andcontrol. Fresh and dry weight also followed similartrend as recorded in case of shoot and root length(Figs. 1, 2, and 3).

Dry bean

Seed germination increased up to 4 %. Germinationpercentage was maximum at 4 % concentration ofPanchgavya. Root and shoot length as well was highestat 4 % Panchgavya solution. Same was also true in caseof fresh and dry weight (Figs. 1, 2, and 3).

Panchgavya application decreased germination per-centage of soybean in turn shoot and root length. But itsapplication increased fresh and dry weight of plant(Figs. 1, 2, and 3).

Water-soluble contents of the macro and micronutrients

Growth promoting parameters like pH, water-soluble C,N, P, and K were significantly different among theconcentrations (Table 2). All parameters showed anincreasing trend with the addition of Panchgavya in

water extract. pH, water-soluble C, N, P, and K arepositively and significantly correlated with germinationpercentage, germination index, and root and shootgrowth (Table 3). Among the growth promoting pa-rameters, N content has the most prominent effect onthe seed germination which is supported by the correla-tion coefficient. Water-soluble micronutrients (Zn, Cu,and Mn) were studied to see their phytotoxic effect.Water soluble Zn, Cu, and Mn contents (in milligramsper liter) in the water extracts were in ranges of 2.57 to4.14, 2.31 to 4.57, and 4.32 to 6.23, respectively(Table 2). All the metals showed an increasing trendwith the addition of Panchgavya in water extract. Water-soluble micronutrients showed negative correlation withthe germination parameters (Table 3). From correlationcoefficient, it is clear that the Cu exhibits the mostnegative impact on seed germination.

Plant growth

Plant height of Panchgavya-applied plants is significant-ly higher than the without applied plants except brinjal(Fig. 4). Survival percentage was also higher forPanchgavya-applied tomato plants. Panchgavya appli-cation also significantly improved the chlorophyll con-tent of plants.

Soil properties

There was slight decrement in pH values with the appli-cation of Panchgavya, but other sources of organicmanures increased pH over the initial soil pH. Organiccarbon as well maximum in Panchgavya-applied soilcompare to vermicompost and FYM. Macronutrientsinclude available nitrogen; phosphorous and potassiumwas estimated higher in Panchgavya applied soil ascompare to vermicompost and FYM (Fig. 5). Organicmanures treated soil had higher nutrients than soil alonein general. Panchgavya applied soil had maximum mi-cronutrient contents embraced Zn, Cu, and Mn compareto FYM and vermicompost applied soil. However, organ-ic manures applied soil contained higher micronutrientsthan soil alone. Panchgavya applied soil contained manytimes higher bacterial and fungal population as compareto FYM and vermicompost. Nonetheless, least microbialpopulation was recorded in without treated soil. Soilrespiration followed the same trend as recorded in thecase of microbial population.


Discussion

Water is a good extractant for evaluating the organicmaterial and also the essential nutrients required by seedsduring the germination process. There was a significantpositive relationship between pH and growth parameters.pH increased with increasing compost content in thewater extract. Similar kind of findings was reported byOkuda and Takahasi (1961) and Saikh andChattopadhyay (1996). Shoot length, root length, % ger-mination, and GI of seeds were positively correlated withwater-soluble nutrients. The positive correlation betweenorganic carbon with shoot length and root length of seedscould be explained by the positive effect of water-solubleorganic compounds, particularly the more condensed orhumified, on the germination index that combines germi-nation and root growth (Zucconi et al. 1981). Panchgavyacontains various types of growth hormones like ABA,IAA, GA etc. (Chauhan et al. 2009). This could be thereason of enhanced germination percentages and health-iest plant. Panchgavya spraying also acts as an effectivepest repellent (fruit fly). These may be the reason forrecording superior plant height and chlorophyll content.

The higher root and shoot length with Panchgavya appli-cation may be due to the presence of easily availableorganic C, N, P, K. There was positive and significantcorrelation between the water-soluble nutrients with theseed germination. This availability is very much requiredfor plant nutrition. The germination index values of mostof the seeds were greater than 100%, which indicated thedisappearance of phytotoxicity in the Panchgavya (Tiquaet al. 1996).

The water-soluble micronutrient (trace element) isreadily available by plants (Bloomfield and Pruden1975). Sometimes, very low concentration of trace ele-ment may inhibit root elongation and delay seed germi-nation of a large variety of plants. In this study, metalswere negatively correlated with all the growth parame-ters. Among the trace elements studied, Cu was mosttoxic as reflected by high correlation value. This indi-cated that soil extract from Panchgavya exerted harmfuleffects on root growth of the three crops. When thesetrace elements are in a mixture, they behave synergisti-cally or additively (Beckett and Davis 1978).

Panchgavya applied soil had higher nitrogen, phos-phorous, potassium, micronutrients, organic carbon,

Table 2 Physicochemical parameters of water extract of Panchgavya (mean value ± standard deviation) (LSD least significant difference)

Concentration pH OCmg/100ml

N Pmg/L

K Zn Cu Mn

Control 6.5±0.2 – – – – – – –

2 % 6.7±0.2 77±3.1 29±0.8 3.4±0.3 120±4.5 2.57±0.6 2.31±0.4 4.32±0.6

4 % 6.7±0.3 89±2.8 32±0.6 4.5±0.6 131±5.6 3.11±0.6 2.78±0.5 4.68±0.5

6 % 6.5±0.2 101±2.4 38±1.1 5.2±0.5 145±3.9 3.46±0.5 3.35±0.5 5.4±0.4

10 % 6.3±0.2 130±3.5 49±0.6 6.6±0.8 178±6.2 4.14±0.6 4.57±0.5 6.23±0.5

LSD at 0.05P 0.05 3.5 2.1 0.9 5.6 0.31 0.39 0.31

Table 3 Correlation coefficients among studied parameters

Parameters Germination GI Root length shoot length fresh dry

pH 0.67** 0.52* 0.59** 0.61* 0.53* 0.57*

OC 0.71** 0.69** 0.68** 0.64** 0.55* 0.54*

N 0.78** 0.75** 0.71** 0.69** 0.64** 0.68**

P 0.69** 0.61* 0.59* 0.57* 0.53* 0.55*

K 0.67** 0.60* 0.61* 0.59* 0.48 0.43

Zn −0.44 −0.48 −0.46 −0.42 −0.39 −0.36Cu −0.53* −0.50* −0.50* −0.43 −0.46 −0.44Mn −0.49 −0.42 −0.38 −0.29 −0.33 −0.27

* Significant at 5 % level, ** significant at 1 % level


microbial population, and microbial basal respiration,which might be due to that Panchgavya contained allthese higher parameters in higher quantity over theFYM and vermicompost. The organic C content of thesoil was significantly increased with the addition oforganic amendment. A distinctly higher increase in thevalue of OC was observed in the case of Panchgavyaand FYM addition to soil. Earlier studies showed thatthe addition of other organics like rice mill waste alsoincreased the OC content of soil, which also supportsour findings (Schulz et al. 2003). The OC content of thesoil was also found to increase remarkably by the appli-cation of FYM, in a study by Mitra et al. (2005) in arice–peanut cropping sequence.

The available N content of the amended soils showedsignificant differences from control (Fig. 4). The in-crease in available N content with the addition of

organic manures might be due to the release of Nthrough the decomposition of organic manures (Narwaland Antil 2005). Such enhancement in available Ncontent by the application of organic amendments hasbeen reported in several studies (Schulz et al. 2003;Abbasi et al. 2007). The highest value for available Nwas recorded in soils treated with Panchgavya. Higherconcentration of available N present in Panchgavyamight be nitrified after its addition to the soil (Walkerand Bernal 2008). Low N mineralization fromvermicompost and FYM can be attributed to the factthat most of the easily convertible N is lost during thecomposting process, and the remaining N is in a morestable form (Eghball 1999).

Soil available phosphorus showed a significant in-crease with the application of all the different types oforganic amendments (Fig. 5). Similar results have also

Fig. 4 Effect of Panchgavya on chlorophyll content, plant height, and survival percentage of some seeds. Error bars represent standarddeviation. (LSD least significant difference)


been reported by Schulz et al. (2003) showing apprecia-ble increase in available P level due the addition of ricemill husk to soils. The results are further supported bythe findings of Warman and Termeer (2005) andBhattacharyya et al. (2007), reporting higher extractableP levels in soils receiving composts compared withcontrol. Addition of organic manures increase availableP of the soil may be due to the mineralization of organicP; the production of organic acids, which solubilizes soilP and organic amines, thus retards the fixation of phos-phorus in soil (Narwal and Antil 2005).

Application of organic manures significantly in-creased available potassium (K) content of the soil(Fig. 5). This findings are also supported by the otherresults obtained, which showed the similar increase ofpotassium content after application of compost and

other organics to soil (Warman and Termeer 2005;Bhattacharyya et al. 2007).

Proliferation of microorganisms was increased with theapplication amendments which may be due to the pres-ence of organic matter. This increase was significantlyhigher among each other. Panchgavya applied soil showedsignificantly higher microorganisms like bacteria and fun-gi than the other two due to the presence of higher avail-able nutrients (Alexander 1976). Measurement of basalrespiration is a dependable procedure for the assay ofgeneral metabolic activity of soil microorganisms(Nannipieri et al. 1990). The basal soil respiration dependson autochthonous microorganisms, which inhabit the soiland are slow-growing microorganisms (Pal et al. 2007).Incorporation of carbon substrates through the addition ofPanchgavya, VC, and FYM instantaneously increase

Fig. 5 Soil properties as influenced by the application of Panchgavya (PG), vermicompost (VC), and farmyard manure (FYM). Error barsrepresent standard deviation. (LSD least significant difference)


basal respiration. Soils enriched with Panchgavya showedsignificantly increased basal respiration compare to theother organic amendment due to the presence of highermicroorganisms.

Conclusions

Panchgavya application increased all the studied growthparameters of seeds and plants. Application of Panchgavyaincreased macro and micronutrients and microbial activitycompare to FYM and vermicompost applied soil. Positiveeffect of the nutrient content in Panchgavya compensatesthe negative impact of water-soluble metal. There is nooptimum ratio of Panchgavya/water for seed germinationas different seeds prefer to grow in different ratio. So oneshould be careful while applying Panchgavya in fields andalways try to maintain the optimum level at which theparticular seeds can germinate properly.

References

Abbasi, M. K., Hina, M., Khalique, A., & Khan, S. R. (2007).Mineralization of three organic manures used as nitrogensource in a soil incubated under laboratory conditions.Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 38,1691–1711.

Alexander, M. (1976). Introduction to soil microbiology (2nd ed.).New Delhi: Wiley.

Beckett, P. H. T., & Davis, R. D. (1978). The additivity of the toxiceffects of Cu, Ni and Zn in young barley. New Phytologist,81, 155–173.

Bhattacharyya, R., Chandra, S., Singh, R. D., Kundu, S.,Srivastava, A. K., & Gupta, H. S. (2007). Long-term farm-yard manure application effects on properties of a silty clayloam soil under irrigated wheat–soybean rotation. Soil andTillage Research, 94, 386–396.

Bloomfield, C., & Pruden, G. (1975). The effects of aerobic andanaerobic incubation on the extractabilities of heavy metalsin digested sewage sludge. Environmental Pollution, 8, 217–232.

Chakrabarti, K., Sarkar, B., Chakraborty, A., Banik, P., & Bagchi,D. K. (2001). Organic recycling for soil quality conservationin a subtropical plateau region. Journal of Agronomy andCrop Science, 184, 137–142.

Chauhan, J. S., Tomar, Y. K., Indrakumar Singh, N., Seema, A., &Delarati. (2009). Effect of growth hormones on seed germi-nation and seedling growth of black gram and horse gram.Journal of American Science, 5, 79–84.

Davidson, E. A. (2009). The contribution of manure and fertilizernitrogen to atmospheric nitrous oxide since 1860. NatureGeoscience, 2, 659–662.

Eghball, B. (1999). Liming effects of beef cattle feedlot manure orcompost. Communications in Soil Science and PlantAnalysis, 30, 2563–2570.

Keeling, A. A., Paton, I. K., & Mullett, J. A. J. (1994). Germinationand growth of plants in media containing unstable refuse-derived compost. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 26, 767–772.

Mamaril, J. C., & Lopez, A. M. (1997). The effect of coconutwater growth hormines on the growth, development, andyield of sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). ThePhilippines Journal of Coconut Studies, 222, 18–24.

Mitra, B. N., Karmakar, S., Swain, D. K., & Ghosh, B. C. (2005).Fly ash—a potential source of soil amendment and compo-nent of integrated plant nutrient supply system. Fuel, 84,1447–1451.

Nannipieri, P., Gregos, S., & Ceccanti, B. (1990). Ecologicalsignificance of the biological activity in soil. In J. L. Smith& E. A. Paul (Eds.), Soil biochemistry (Vol. 6, pp. 293–355).New York: Marcel Dekker.

Narwal, RP, & Antil, R.S. (2005). Integrated nutrient managementin pearl millet-wheat cropping system, in: Kapoor, K.K.,Sharma, K.K., Dudeja, S.S., Kundu, B.S. (Eds.),Management of organic wastes for crop production,Department of Microbiology, CCS Haryana AgriculturalUniversity, Hisar, India, pp. 205–213.

Natarajan, K. (2002). Panchgavya-A manual. Mapusa, Goa, India:Mother India press.

Nene, Y.L. (1999). Seed health in ancient medieval history and itsrelevance to present day agriculture, in: Ancient and medie-val history of Indian agriculture. Choudhary, S.L., Sharma,G.S., Nene, X.L. (Eds.), Proc. of the summer school, collegeof agriculture, Jaipur, Rajasthan.

Okuda, A., & Takahasi, E. (1961). Germination injury due to freeammonia. Chemical Abstracts, 55, 15801.

Page, A. L.,Miller, R. H., &Keeney, D. R. (1982).Methods of SoilAnalysis (Part 2. 2nd ed). Madison, WI, USA: Soil ScienceSociety of America.

Pal, R., Bhattacharyya, P., Das, P., Chakrabarti, K., Chakraborty,A., & Kim, K. (2007). Relationship between acidity andmicrobiological properties in some tea soils. Biology andFertility of Soils, 44, 399–404.

Panjabi, B., & Basu, R. N. (1982). Testing germination andseedling growth by an inclined glass plate blotter method.Indian Journal of Plant Physiology, 25, 289–295.

Reddy, M. V. (1998). Some traditional crop protection practices offarmers in Andhra Pradesh. Asian Agricultural History, 2,317–323.

Sadasivam, S., & Manikam, A. (1992). Biochemical methods forAgricultural Sciences (pp. 8–9). New Delhi, India: WileyEastern Ltd.

Saikh, H., & Chattopadhyay, T. (1996). Germination of oil seeds(Sesame) by humic substances. Indian Biologist, 38, 17–18.

Schulz, S., Tian, G., Oyewole, B., & Bako, S. (2003). Rice millwaste as organic manure on a degraded Alfisol. Agriculture,Ecosystems and Environment, 100, 221–230.

Singh, S. S. (1996). Soil Fertility and nutrient management.Ludhiana, India: Kalyani Publishers.

Tiqua, S. M., Tam, N. F. Y., & Hodgkiss, I. J. (1996). Effects ofcomposting on phytotoxicity of spent pig manure sawdustlitter. Environmental Pollution, 93, 249–296.

Walker, D. J., & Bernal, M. P. (2008). The effects of olive millwaste compost and poultry manure on the availability and


plant uptake of nutrients in a highly saline soil. BioresourceTechnology, 99, 396–403.

Warman, P. R., & Termeer, W. C. (2005). Evaluation of sewagesludge, septic waste, and sludge compost applications to cornand forage: yields and N, P, and K contents of crops and soils.Bioresource Technology, 96, 955–961.

Yadav, B. K., & Lourduaj, A. C. (2005). In A. Kumar (Ed.),Use ofPanchagavya as a growth stimulant and biopesticide inagriculture. Chapter 9. Environment and Agriculture (pp.65–70). New Delhi, India: APH publishing corporation.

Zucconi, F., Pera, A., Forte, M., & de Bertoldi, M. (1981).Evaluating toxicity of immature compost. Biocycle, 22, 54–57.


effect of new organic supplement (panchgavya) on seed germination and soil quality

Documents