Effect of livestock vermicomposts on some physiological indicators of Triticum aestivum var. buck pingo

Abstract

In order to evaluate the effect of the use of livestock vermicomposts on some physiological indicators, a study was conducted on wheat. For such purpose seeds of Triticum aestivum var. buck pingo were used as well as 28 substrata elaborated from four vermicomposts from cow (A), horse (B), goat (C) and hen manure (D), in six increasing concentrations and mixed with soil (10:90; 20:80; 30:70; 40:60; 50:50 and 100:0), besides a control (100 g of soil and absence of vermicompost, 0:100). The design was completely randomized blocks and the experimental unit consisted in ten plants in each block. The treatments were placed under conditions of a photoperiod of 8 h light at 30 ºC and 16 h darkness at 20 ºC, with irrigation at field capacity. The germination percentage (GP) was calculated, and the leaf (LL) and root length (RL); the fresh and dry weight of the foliage (FFW and FDW), and the fresh and dry weight of the roots (RFW and RDW), were evaluated. A, B and C caused increase of the GP with regards to the control. The LL and RL increased with substrata A, C and D in almost all the concentrations, while B only did it at 100 %. Substrata B, C and D caused increases in FFW, RFW, FDW and RDW for all the concentrations. It is concluded that, in general, the vermicomposts positively influenced the main physiological indicators of T. aestivum.