Effect of Vermicompost Production on some Soil Properties and Nutrients in Plants

The study aimed to produce vermicompost and study its effect on some soil properties and nutrients in plants. The study included a laboratory experiment and a field experiment. In the laboratory experiment, vermicompost was produced using local earthworms and imported earthworms. The concentration of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, C/N, pH, and EC in the vermicompost produced from imported earthworms reached 2.30%, 1.50%, 1.08%, 2.00%, 0.70%, 10.95, 7.43, and 0.50 dSm -1 , respectively, while these characteristics in vermicompost produced from local earthworms gave 1.94%, 1.20%, 1.23%, 1.70%, 0.50%, 11.40, 7.81 and 2.99 dSm -1 , respectively. In the field experiment, vermicompost was added in interaction with mineral fertilizer to study its effect on pH, O.M, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium concentration in the leaves of the potato plant. The treatment of vermicompost produced from imported earthworms superior in pH, O.M, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, which amounted 7.05, 1.92%, 3.09%, 3.44% and 4.08%, respectively. The interaction treatment between vermicompost produced from imported earthworms without adding mineral fertilizers gave the best pH 6.95, while the treatment of vermicompost produced from imported earthworms with 50% of the fertilizer application excelled in the rest of the studied characteristics, as the values reached 1.96%, 3.54%, 0.40% and 4.54%, respectively.