Degradation of Leaf Litter by Composting and its Effect on Growth of Solanum

Abstract

Compost is the stable, humus-like product resulting from the biological decomposition of organic matter under controlled conditions. Compost is a rich source of vitamins, hormones, enzymes, macro and micro nutrients which when applied to plants help in efficient growth. The major thrust of this investigation was focused on the biodegradation of the leaf litter to produce compost. The present study has been carried out to analyze enzymes, physicochemical characteristics, and micro and macro nutrients present in the compost at regular interval of time and also a comparative study was done on the effect of compost on growth parameters namely germination percentage, root length, shoot length and number of leaf count in Solanum lycopersicum after 30^th day of planting. The results of the study revealed that the enzyme activities (amylase, cellulase, protease and invertase) and total macronutrients (N, P, K ) and micronutrients (Mn and Cu) showed elevated levels in compost than control. The compost applied plant (Solanum lycopersicum) showed increased germination percentage, root length, shoot length and number of leaves than the compost untreated plant. Hence based on the studies performed it was concluded that this quality of compost obtained from the degradation of leaf litter by microorganism is an effective biofertilizer which would facilitate the increased uptake of the nutrients by the plants resulting in higher growth and yield.