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Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. sp2 (2026): Recent Advances in Agriculture

Comparative analysis of organic composts and their impact on seed germination and seedling growth of maize (Zea mays L.)

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.8954
Submitted
18 April 2025
Published
09-06-2026

Abstract

A study was conducted at the Research Institute on Organic Farming (RIOF), University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, Karnataka, to characterise three different organic composts to evaluate their effects on seed germination and seedling growth in maize. Three composts selected for the study included farm compost, city compost and blended compost. Physical characterisation of composts revealed that all the three composts were black and free from foul odour. Farm compost exhibited the highest moisture content (35.00 %), bulk density (0.76 Mg m-³), while city compost exhibited maximum nutrient contents, including nitrogen (2.49 %), phosphorus (0.67 %), potassium (0.67 %), calcium (2.05 %), sulphur (0.40 %), zinc (389 mg kg-1) and copper (205 mg kg-1). It also contained higher concentrations of heavy metals such as cadmium (3.11 mg kg-1), chromium (33.04 mg kg-1) and lead (51.53 mg kg-1), along with greater microbial populations. Studies on seed germination and seedling growth indicated that blended compost was the most effective medium for optimising early-stage maize development, yielding the highest germination percentage (94.33 %), vigour index (2147.33, seedling height (22.73 cm), number of leaves (3.00), leaf dry weight (0.427 g), stem dry weight (0.302 g) and root dry weight (0.154 g).

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