leachate for sorghum

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Bioresource Technology xxx (2008) xxx–xxx

Formulation of a liquid fertilizer for sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.)Moench) using vermicompost leachate

Gutierrez-Miceli Federico Antonio a,*, Garcıa-Gomez Roberto Carlos b,Rincon Rosales Reiner a, Abud-Archila Miguel a, Oliva Llaven Marıa Angela c,

Marcos Joaquın Guillen Cruz a, Luc Dendooven d

a Laboratorio de Biotecnologıa Vegetal, Instituto Technologico de Tuxtla-Gutierrez, Carr. Panamericana km. 1080, CP 29050, Tuxtla-Gutierrez, Mexicob Centro de Ingenierıa y Desarrollo Industrial, Av. Playa Pie de la Cuesta 702. Desarrollo San Pablo, CP, 76130 Santiago de Queretaro, Qro, Mexico

c Facultad de Medicina veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Autonoma de Chiapas, Km 8.0 Carretera a Emiliano Zapata, Tuxtla Gutierrez Chiapas, Mexicod Laboratorio de Ecologıa de Suelos, Dept. Biotecnologıa y Bioingenierıa, Cinvestav, Av. Instituto Politecnico Nacional 2508,

C.P. 07360 Mexico D.F., Mexico

Received 12 September 2007; received in revised form 1 December 2007; accepted 6 December 2007

Abstract

Leachate from vermicomposting contains large amounts of plant nutrients and can be used as liquid fertilizer, but normally diluted toavoid plant damage. The amount of nutrients applied is thus reduced so that an additional fertilizer is required. We investigated howdilution of vermicompost leachate combined with different concentrations of NPK triple 17 fertilizer, and polyoxyethylene tridecyl alco-hol as dispersant and polyethylene nonylphenol as adherent to increase efficiency of fertilizer uptake, affected sorghum plant develop-ment. The vermicomposting leachate with pH 7.8 and electrolytic conductivity 2.6 dS m�1, contained 834 mg K+ l�1, 247 mgNO�3 l�1 and 168 mg PO3�

4 l�1, was free of pathogens and resulted in a 65 % germination index. Vermicompost leachate can be usedas liquid fertilizer for the cultivation of sorghum without dilution and mixed with 140–170 g l�1 of NPK triple 17 fertilizer and 2–3 ml�1 of dispersant and 0–1 ml l�1 adherent. It was found that vermicompost leachate stimulated plant development, but fertilizationwith NPK was required for maximum growth.� 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Sorghum growth; NPK triple 17 fertilizer; Polyoxyethylene tridecyl alcohol dispersant; Polyethylene nonylphenol adherent; Vermicompostleachate

1. Introduction

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) formerly S.

vulgare Pers is a major crop ranked fifth in the world-wideproduction of cereals (Sato et al., 2004). It is considered aprimary staple food crop in the semi-arid tropics of Asia,Africa, and South America. The grain is normally usedas food and animal fodder, but recently it has been usedas raw material for the production of chemicals, such as

0960-8524/$ - see front matter � 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2007.12.043

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +52 0196161 50380; fax: +52 019616151687.

E-mail address: [email protected] (F.A. Gutierrez-Micel).

Please cite this article in press as: Gutierrez-Miceli, F.A. et al., FormuBioresour. Technol. (2008), doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2007.12.043

levulinic acid (Ganjyal et al., 2007). Sorghum is typicallycultivated in the tropical, sub-tropical and temperateregions of the world generally in areas with low precipita-tion that are not suitable for maize (Zea mays L.) (FAO,1996).

Tropical regions face a shortage of fertilizer inputsmainly nitrogen, which is a crucial nutrient for maximumyields of most crops (Pal and Shehu, 2001). Much attentionhas been paid in recent years to different organic wastesthat might provide those nutrients. Vermicomposting hasbeen successfully used to compost different types of wastes,such as municipal and industrial sludge (Arancon et al.,2005). In the vermicomposting process, the bed filled with

lation of a liquid fertilizer for sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) ...,

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2 F.A. Gutierrez-Miceli et al. / Bioresource Technology xxx (2008) xxx–xxx

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composted wastes and bedding materials, containing theearthworm populations, is fitted with a drainage and col-lection system. Vermicomposting produces a leachate asmicro-organisms release water during the decompositionof the organic material. Draining of this water or leachateis important to prevent saturation of the vermicompostingunit and attraction of pests. Leachate derived from vermi-composting often called ‘‘worm tea”, is regarded as benefi-cial in the sense that when collected it can be used as aliquid fertilizer as it contains large amounts of plant nutri-ents. Apart from its large nutrient content, vermicompostleachate might contribute to plant development because itcontains humic acids (Arancon et al., 2005). Humic acidsare molecules that regulate many processes of plant devel-opment included macro and micro nutrients adsorption.Additionally, extracts of compost are effective in the con-trol of apple scab and late blight of tomato (Weltzien,1991) and extracts of vermicompost have the potential tocontrol infection on tomato plants (Utkhede and Koch,2004).

It should be noted, however, that pathogens and phyto-toxic compounds can be present in this leachate. Addition-ally, vermicompost leachate must be used with care, as acress seed bioassay demonstrated that vermicompost leach-ate inhibits seed germination and plant growth (Frederick-son, 2002). Therefore, if used as fertilizer, the leachate isbetter diluted to avoid plant damage, but this automati-cally decreases its nutrient content so it has to be combinedwith other fertilizers, e.g. NPK triple 17 fertilizer. Forinstance, experiments with seedlings of tomato and mari-gold grown with runoff leachate from mushroom compostdemonstrated N and P deficiency symptoms and growthwas restricted, i.e. more shoot and less root (Jareckiet al., 2005). Commercial formulations of liquid fertilizersare sometimes complemented with certain chemical com-pounds, such as polyoxyethylene tridecyl alcohol as disper-sant and polyethylene nonylphenol as adherent, to increasenutrient availability for plants (Eibner et al., 1984).

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect ofdifferent combinations of vermicompost leachate, NPK fer-tilizer, and different concentrations of an adherent and dis-persant on sorghum growth. The effect of a dispersantpolyoxyethylene tridecyl alcohol and an adherent polyeth-ylene nonylphenol were tested for as they are routinelyused in liquid fertilizer.

2. Methods

2.1. Chemical compounds used

Surfacid was used as a dispersant and obtained from Qui-mica Internacional Aplicada SA de CV, (Los Mochis, Sin-aloa, Mexico). It contained 30% polyoxyethylene tridecylalcohol (http://www.chemicalland21.com/specialtychem/perchem), 12% phosphoric acid and 50% conditioner. Poly-oxyethylene tridecyl alcohol is often used as an agrochemicalemulsifier (http://www.chemicalland21.com/specialtychem/


perchem). Sufafer was used as an adherent and obtainedfrom Fermil SA de CV (Mexico). It contained 30% polyeth-ylene nonylphenol.

2.2. Vermicomposting leachate

Eight experimental beds (1.5 m by 6.6 m and 1 mdeep) were constructed to obtain vermicomposting leach-ate. Each bed measured was covered with a plastic sheetto protect the vermicompost against sun and rain. Atotal bed area of 400 m2 was thus available. Cow manurewas composted thermophilically for two months whilemechanically being turned over every 15 d. The charac-teristics of the cow manure on a dry matter base were:total C 290 g C kg�1, total N 25 g N kg�1, total 1.8 gP kg�1, electric conductivity 9 dS m�1, total solids740 g kg �1 740 and pH 9.2. The composted cow manure,adjusted to 80% moisture content, was placed in the bedsto a depth of 0.5 m and earthworms (Eisenia fetida) wereadded at a rate of 25 g earthworms kg�1 of cow manureor 2.5 kg earthworms m�2 bed. The mixture was left tovermicompost for two months.

Each bed contained a leachate drainage and collectionsystem. Leachate from each bed was collected in a separate200 l tank, pumped into a central collection 1500 l tank andcharacterized.

2.3. Phytotoxicity test on the vermicompost leachate, i.e.

cress seed bioassay test, and characterization

The germination index for cress (Lepidium sativum)was determined by placing a filter paper in a Petri dishand submerging it with vermicompost leachate. Seedsof cress were placed on the filter paper and the Petri dishwas covered with a larger filter paper. Numbers of seedsgerminating was measured after incubating the coveredPetri dishes in the dark at 28 �C for four days (Mathuret al., 1993).

Details of the methods used to determine cationexchange capacity (CEC), electrolytic conductivity (EC),pH, total C, total N and concentrations of NHþ4 , NO�2 ,NO�3 can be found in Contreras-Ramos et al. (2005). Pro-duction of CO2 was determined over a four-day period, bytrapping evolved CO2 in 1 M NaOH and determined theresidual NaOH by titration with 0.1 M HCl.

A dry sub-sample of 1 g was treated with 20 ml 0.1 MNaOH (1:20 w/v), shaken for 4 h, centrifuged at 8000g

for 15 min, and the supernatants divided into two equalparts. An aliquot of supernatant was analyzed for oxidiz-able total C considered and this part was considered asthe total extractable C (EXC); the other aliquot wasadjusted to pH 2 by adding 95% H2SO4, incubated at4 �C for 24 h and then centrifuged at 8000g for 15 min.The supernatant was considered the fulvic (FA) fractionand the coagulated precipitate the humic (HA) fraction.The former was analyzed for total C subtracted from the


http://www.chemicalland21.com/specialtychem/perchem




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C content of EXC fraction to calculate the C content of theHA fraction (Sanchez-Monedero et al., 1996).

The vermicompost leachate was analyzed for total andfaecal coliforms (Escherichia coli), Salmonella sp. and Shi-

gella spp. (USEPA, Appendix F, G, I 1999). Salmonella

and Shigella were determined by serial dilution. A sub-sam-ple of 10 ml vermicompost leachate was added to 90 ml 1%peptone solution under sterile conditions and 10�1, 10�2

and 10�3 dilutions were made with sterile 0.8% NaCl solu-tion. A 100 ll aliquot was plated on two selective mediaSalmonella-Shigella agar and sulfite-bismuth agar. The sec-ond medium is highly specific for Salmonella. The colonieswere identified by form and color (USEPA, Appendix G,1999). For the measurement of total and faecal coliforms(E. coli), a 100 ll aliquot of each serial dilution was incu-bated in lactose broth for at 35 �C for 24 h and total coli-forms were counted. The faecal coliforms weredifferentiated from the rest of the coliforms by incubatinga 100 ll aliquot of each serial dilution in E. coli mediumat 44 �C. Gas production in each assay was considered aspositive after 48 h. Results were confirmed by plating oneosin methylene blue (EMB) agar, incubating for 24 h,and examining for typical coliform colonies (USEPA,Appendix F, G, I, 1999).

2.4. Experimental design

An orthogonal experimental design of L9 (34) with tenreplicates was used to investigate the effect of NPK concen-tration (140, 160 or 170 g l�1), adherent (Surfafer) (0, 1 or2 g l�1), dispersant (Surfacid) (0, 2 or 3 g l�1) and vermi-compost leachate (0, 500 or 1000 ml�1) on plant height,stem diameter, leaves number, wet weight stem plus leaves,N, P and K concentrations in leaves of sorghum plants(Table 1) (Ross, 1989). The symbol La (bc) is used to repre-sent the orthogonal array where ‘a’ is the number of exper-imental runs, ‘b’ the number of levels for each factor orvariable and ‘c’ the number of factors investigated. The sol-

Table 1Orthogonal experimental design L9 (34) done in triplicate to investigate thvermicomposting leachate on leaves number and sorghum plant height (cm)

Treatment (g l�1) NPK (g l�1) Adherenta Dispersantb Leachate (m

1 170 0 0 02 170 1 2 5003 170 2 3 10004 160 0 2 10005 160 1 3 06 160 2 0 5007 140 0 3 5008 140 1 0 10009 140 2 2 0

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) was grown in the greenhouse for 26, 40, 54, and 6a Adherent: polyethylenic nonyl phenol (Surfafer, Fermil SA de CV) (g l�1).b Dispersant: polioxyethilenic tridecilic alcohol (Surfacid, Quımica Internacic Values with a different letter are significantly different over time (P < 0.05)


ubility, density and pH were determined for each of thenine treatments.

The solubility of NPK was not affected by the composi-tion of the liquid fertilizer. Additionally, the pH of the mix-tures and the density was not significantly different betweenthe treatments and ranged between 6.9 and 7.1 and 1.04and 1.07 g l�1, respectively (P < 0.05).

2.5. Cultivation of the sorghum plant

Ninety sorghum plants were planted in cylindrical blackplastic bags (length 60 cm, ; 50 cm, one plantlet per bag)filled with peat moss. Ten plants were fertilized with 5 mlof each of the different formulations (Table 1). Plants weregrown under black knitted shade cloth (60% ) without tem-perature control and grouped in plots 7 m long and 2.1 mwide each containing 30 plants spaced at a distance of70 cm. The plots were separated 1.8 m from each other.The center five plants were monitored for number of leaves,plant height and stem diameter after 34, 42, 56 and 70 dayswhile fresh and dry shoot weight and N, P and K content ofthe leaves was measured at the end of the experiment. Theplots were arranged in a randomized complete block designin triplicate. All treatments were drip irrigated with tapwater ranging from 1 to 2 dm3 per plant per day dependingof soil water content and crop maturity. Each plant was fer-tilized twice with 2.5 ml of the different combinations of theliquid fertilizer: a first time seven days after the seeds wereplanted and second time 21 days after sowing.

2.6. Statistical analyses

The Statgraphics Plus software (1999) was used to ana-lyse data with the Taguchi robust design L9 (34) (orthogo-nal array) and the 3(K-p) Box-Behnken design using aconfidential limit of 5%. The linear and quadratic valuesof all factors and the interactions between them were testedfor. The percent contribution was calculated to determine

e effect of different concentrations of NPK, adherent, dispersant and

l l�1) Number of leaves (DAS) Plant height (cm) (DAS)

26 40 54 68 26 40 54 68

5ac 8a 9a 10b 57a 104d 159ab 175c6a 8a 10a 10b 63a 116ab 170a 188a6a 8a 10a 12a 64a 119a 168ab 189a5a 8a 9a 10b 65a 117ab 163ab 187a5a 8a 9a 9bc 62a 110bc 158ab 180b6a 7a 9a 9bc 61a 111bc 153bc 173c5a 7a 9a 12a 60a 110cd 154abc 188a5a 7a 9a 10b 58a 106cd 154abc 189a5a 7a 9a 9bc 61a 107cd 138c 161d

8 days after soaking (DAS).

onal Aplicada SA de CV)..



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the portion that each significant factor and/or interactioncontributed to the total variation (Ross, 1989). The percentcontribution is a function of the sums of squares for eachsignificant item and indicates the relative power of a factorand/or interaction to reduce variation. If the factor and/orinteraction levels are controlled then the total variation canbe reduced by the amount indicated by the percentcontribution.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Characteristics of the vermicomposting leachate

The vermicomposting leachate (mean of three samplescollected every 8 weeks) had pH 7.8 ± 0.1, electrolytic con-ductivity 2.6 ± 0.2 dS m�1, 128.3 ± 42.2 mg suspended sol-ids l�1; 46 ± 12 mg Na+ l�1, no detectable NHþ4 , 834 ±71 mg K+ l�1, 59 ± 9 mg Mg2+ l�1, 84 ± 13 mg Ca2+ l�1,130 ± 2 mg Cl� l�1, 247� 43 mg NO�3 l�1, 168� 11 mgPO3�

4 l�1, 47� 13 mg SO2�4 l�1. The fulvic acid concentra-

tion was 1.5% and the humic acid 2.4% of the total C con-tent of the vermicompost leachate. As such, the humic tofulvic acid ratio was 1.6. The electrical conductivity ofthe vermicomposting leachate was low indicating low con-centrations of dissolved salts while it contained largeamounts of K+, NO�3 and PO3�

4 . Considering the abovementioned characteristics, the vermicomposting leachatecould easily be used as a fertilizer.

The germination index for crest was 65 ± 7%. A germi-nation index >50% indicates that the vermicompost ismature (Mathur et al., 1993). Consequently, the amountof phytotoxic compounds, such as acetic indol acid, waslow and a possible inhibitory effect of the vermicompostleachate on plant growth will be low ((Alvarez and Grigera,2005), 2005).

The vermicompost leachate was free of pathogens, i.e.coliforms (E. coli), Salmonella sp. and Shigella spp. The

Table 2Orthogonal experimental design L9 (34) done in triplicate to investigate thvermicomposting leachate on stem diameter of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) gro(DAS)

Treatment Stem diameter (mm) (DAS) Dry weight plan

(DAS)

26 40 54 68

1a 8.2a 14.3a 15.7a 17.1a 111b2 8.7a 14.9a 16.2a 17.9a 121a3 9.4a 15.3a 16.3a 18.2a 123a4 9.1a 14.4a 16.0a 17.7a 120a5 8.5a 13.9a 15.0a 16.3a 112b6 7.9a 14.0a 15.4a 16.9a 112b7 7.8a 14.0a 15.9a 17.8a 121a8 7.6a 13.8a 16.9a 18.3a 123a9 8.0a 13.1a 15.6a 17.3a 105c

Effect of the different treatments on dry weight of the plant, concentrations anddry weight) in leaves 68 after DAS.Values with the same letter are not significantly different (P < 0.05).

a Legends to the treatments can be found in Table 1.


reduction of pathogens in the vermicompost might berelated to the release of coelomic fluids by the earthwormsduring vermicomposting, which have antibacterial proper-ties and kill pathogens (Pierre et al., 1982). Additionally,the bedding might have served as a filter for the leachatethereby further decreasing micro-organisms (Frederickson,2002) and the composting of the cow manure before thevermicomposting will also have contributed to the reduc-tion of some pathogens (Deportes et al., 1998).

3.2. Sorghum development and NPK uptake

The number of leaves was similar for all treatments after54 days and showed little increase over time (Table 1).After 68 days, the number of leaves varied between 9 and12 and was significantly affected by treatment (P < 0.05).The plant height nearly threefold between day 26 and 68,while treatment had a significant effect on plant height(P < 0.05). The tallest plants were found for treatments 2,3, 4, 7 and 8 and the lowest for treatment 9 (Table 1). Stemdiameter was not affected by treatment and did not signif-icantly change between day 26 and 68 (Table 2). The dryweight of the plants after 68 days was significantly affectedby treatment, with the largest weight of 123 g found intreatments 3 and 8 and the lowest of 105 g in treatment9. The NPK was the factor that most explained the varia-tion in plant dry weight.

Vermicompost leachate explained 49.5% of the variationfound between the treatments for stem height whereasadherent explained 24.9% (Table 3). Vermicompost leach-ate explained 42.9% and NPK fertilizer explained 31.4%of the variation found between the treatments for stemdiameter, while NPK explained 8.2% and vermicompostleachate 8.2% of the variation for the number of leaves(Table 3). The importance of NPK fertilizer on crop yieldsis well known (Olness et al., 2002). Vermicompost leachatewas the first most important factor affecting sorghum

e effect of different concentrations of NPK, adherent, dispersant andwn in the greenhouse for 26, 40, 54 and 68 days after soaking of the seeds

t (g) Concentration Total amount

N P K N P K

(mg g�1 dry weight) (mg g�1 dry weight)

1.7bc 2.1a 10.9a 189c 233b 1209a3.0a 2.6a 9.5b 363a 315a 1149ab2.0b 1.4a 9.8b 246b 172c 1205a1.2cd 0.3b 8.0c 144d 36d 960abc1.0d 0.2b 7.4cd 112de 22d 828bc1.0d 0.1b 6.9de 112de 11d 773c0.8d 0.1b 6.7de 97e 12d 810bc0.8d 0.1b 6.4de 98e 12d 787c1.0d 0.2b 6.4de 105e 21d 672c

total amount of nitrogen (N), potassium (K) and phosphorus (P) (mg g�1


Table 3ANOVA analysis to investigate the effect of the NPK-fertilizer, adherent,dispersant and vermicompost leachate on stem height, stem diameter,leaves number, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in sorghum leaves(P < 0.05)

Factor S.S.a D.F.b C.V.c F-value percentage

Stem height

NPK 111 2 56 5.2 3.7Adherent 631 2 316 29.5 24.9Dispersant 276 2 138 12.9 10.4Vermicompost leachate 1231 2 615 57.5 49.5All other 193 18 11 11.4Total 2441 26 100.0

Stem diameter

NPK 4.6 2 2.3 15.87 31.4Adherent 0.18 2 0.09 0.64 �0.77Dispersant 0.16 2 0.08 0.56 �0.93Vermicompost leachate 0.15 2 3.07 21.4 42.93All other 2.59 18 0.14 27.4Total 13.67 26 100.0

Leaves number

NPK 4.7 2 2.3 2.3 8.16Adherent 2.7 2 1.3 1.3 2.04Dispersant 2.7 2 1.3 1.3 2.04Vermicompost leachate 4.7 2 2.3 2.3 8.16All other 18.0 18 1.0 79.59Total 37.7 26 100.0

Nitrogen


Phosphorus


Potassium

NPK 59.05 2 29.5 26.4 67.4Adherent 3.9 2 1.9 1.7 1.9Dispersant 0.02 2 0.01 0.0 �2.63Vermicompost leachate 1.2 2 0.59 0.53 �1.24All other 20.2 18 1.12 34.5Total 84.4 26 100.0

a SS: Sum of squares.b DF: Degree of freedom.c CV: Coefficient of variance.


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growth, and it had significant effect on the total macro-nutrient content of the plant, i.e. N, P and K uptake. Itappears that certain components in the vermicompostleachate, such as humic acids and plant growth regulators,stimulated plant growth (Arancon et al., 2003). It has beenreported that humic acids increase the number of rootsthereby stimulating nutrient uptake and plant development(Alvarez and Grigera, 2005). The vermicompost leachatealso contains micro-nutrients that might stimulate plant


growth. For instance, Jarecki et al. (2005) reported thatrunoff compost leachate contained 63 mg Ca l�1, 81 mgMg l�1, 158 mg Na l�1, 270 mg Cl l�1, 150 lg Mn l�1,60 lg Zn l�1, 40 lg Cu l�1, 220 lg B l�1 and Fe 350 lg l�1.

The overall mean of the stem height was 181.2 cm, it was17.5 mm for the stem diameter and 8.9 for the number ofleaves. The best combination to obtain maximum stemheight was 140 g NPK l�1 (level 1) mixed with 1000 ml ver-micompost leachate (level 3) and 1 ml adherent (level 2)and 3 ml of dispersant (level 3). The best combination toobtain maximum stem diameter was 170 g NPK l�1 (level3) mixed with 1000 ml vermicompost leachate l�1 (level 3)without adherent (level 1) and 2 ml of dispersant (level2). With these levels, the increase in stem height was19.1 cm compared to the grand average and the stem was1.1 mm thicker. The best combination to obtain a maxi-mum number of leaves was 140 g NPK l�1 plus 3 ml disper-sant and 1000 ml vermicompost leachate l�1 and with these1.8 more leaves were obtained per plant than the grandaverage. The overall mean N, P and K concentration inthe leaves was 1.4, 0.9 and 8.0 mg g�1 dry matter, respec-tively. The largest concentration of N and P in the leaveswas found when 140 g NPK l�1 was mixed with 500 ml ver-micompost leachate l�1, while the largest K when 140 gNPK l�1 was applied.

The N, P and K content of the sorghum plant was sig-nificantly affected by treatment with the largest valuesfound in treatments 2 for N, 1, 2 and 3 for P and 1 forK, i.e. those amended with the largest amount of NPK,and the lowest in treatments 7, 8 and 9, i.e. amended withthe lowest amount of NPK (P < 0.05). The NPK was thefactor that most explained N, P and K concentration insorghum leaves, while vermicompost leachate had no sig-nificant effect (Table 3). The total amount of N, P and Kwas also significantly affected by treatment. The largesttotal amount of N in the plant of 363 mg was found intreatment 2 and the lowest of 97 mg in treatment 7 (Table2). The largest total amount of P in the plant of 315 mg wasalso found in treatment 2 and the lowest of 11 mg in treat-ment 6, while the largest total amount of K in the plant of1205 mg was found in treatment 3 and the lowest of 672 mgin treatment 9. All four factors investigated, NPK, adher-ent, dispersant and leachate, had a significant effect on totalN and P in the sorghum plant, while only NPK had a sig-nificant effect on total K (P < 0.05). The NPK was the fac-tor that most explained the variation in total N, P and K.

The efficiency for N of cereals is generally low. Raunand Johnson (1999) mentioned an efficiency of only 33%.This low efficiency is attributed to N losses through volatil-ization, denitrification and leaching from the soil-plant sys-tem when macro-nutrients are applied in a solid form(Alvarez and Grigera, 2005). However, the efficiency forN in the experiment reported here was low and only 23%even though the experiment was done in the greenhouse.Losses of P have also been reported (Toor et al., 2005). Evi-dence exists to show that higher P concentrations in soilcan result in increased P losses to natural waters and they



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are known to contribute to accelerated eutrophication oflakes and rivers.

The fertilizer Triple 17 (NPK) contains 170–175 g N l�1

in the form of ammonium, nitrate and organic N, 170–172 g P l�1 mostly as P2O5 and 170–173 g K l�1 as K2O.Triple 17 thus provides the major elements required forplant growth but when mixed with vermicompost leachatethe latter will provide micro-elements and the humic andfulvic acids in it will stimulate the absorption of themicro-elements by the cultivated sorghum plants.

The vermicompost leachate was applied without dilu-tion to obtain maximum plant growth. This could berelated to the effect of the vermicompost leachate had onN, P and K uptake. The effect on N uptake, however, isnot that clear as Luque and Bingham (1981) reported thatexcesses of salt decreased N uptake by plants, while Khalilet al. (1967) reported an increase in the concentrations of Nin maize and cotton when the salt content of the soilincreased.

The vermicompost leachate also contains large amountsof humic acid that might have affected plant growth. San-chez-Conde and Ortega (1968) reported that the assimila-tion of N and P increased when amended with liquidhumic acid while the uptake of K decreased. Pilanali andKaplan (2003) reported that N, P and K contents in leavesof strawberry plants were not affected by the form in whichhumic acids were applied, i.e. solid or liquid, but additionof high concentrations rates inhibited nutrient uptake.They attributed this to an increased application of auxinand gibberellin-like substances in the humic acids whichinhibit N, P and K uptake.

The effect of the vermicompost leachate on concentra-tions of N and P in sorghum plants was small and evennegative for K after 68 days (Table 3). It remained to beinvestigated how the vermicompost leachate affected theN, P and K content of the younger plants and also on grainyield because have been reported that grain yield increasedsignificantly by nitrogen, increased the grain yield by 30.5%with nitrogen dose up to 50 kg ha�1 (Patil and Sheelavan-tar, 2006). The effect of N, P or K fertilizer is often mostoutspoken at the onset of plant growth (Mubarak et al.,2003).

4. Conclusion

It was concluded that vermicompost leachate can beused as liquid fertilizer for the cultivation of sorghum with-out dilution and mixed with 140–170 g l�1 of NPK triple 17fertilizer and 2–3 ml�1 of dispersant and 0–1 ml l�1 adher-ent. Apart from micro-elements, vermicompost leachatealso contains humic and fulvic acids that promote growthof sorghum plants.

Acknowledgement

This study was part of the project ‘‘Modulo de capacita-cion sobre elaboracion y aprovechamiento de biofertilizan-


tes lıquidos” funded by Fundacion Produce Chiapas A.C.(Chiapas, Mexico).

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