Abstract:
Combined effects of three kinds of vermicompost and Pontoscolex corethrurus inoculation on plant yield and
quality of broccoli were investigated in pot cultures organically. The experiment used a factorial complete
randomized design which consisted of two factors. The first factor is the kind of vermicompost consisted of
three levels: V1 = the mixture of spent mushrooms waste (SMW), cow dung (CD) and vegetable wastes (VW),
V2=SMW, CD and leaf litter (LL), V3 = SMW, CD, VW and LL. The second factor is the population of P.
corethrurus consisted of five levels: 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 indiv.m-2 and one control (inorganic treatment).
Vermicompost was made by earthworm Lumbricus rubellus activity. The results of this study showed that the
application of various vermicompost had significantly (p< 0.05) higher total biomass and marketable weight of
broccoli than the control treatment. The highest total biomass (1.40-1.48 kg plant-1
) was found on the
vermicompost V1 and V2 with population 75 indiv.m2 and the vermicompost V3 with population 25-50 indiv.m 2
. But the highest marketable weight (378.26-412.10 g plant-1
) was found on the vermicompost V1 with
population 50 indiv.m2
, V2 with population 75 indiv.m-2
and V3 without inoculation earthworm. Vermicompost
application significantly increased the quality of broccoli compared to the control, with the increase in the
contents of sugar and vitamin C by 53% and 35%, respectively. Vermicompost application significantly
(p<0.05) also increased the shelf life of broccoli by average storage loss of 16,4% for the treatment of 7 days of
storage at room temperature and 6,47% for the treatment of 14 days of storage at cold temperature compared to
the control treatment by 59,53% and 19,79%, respectively. Overall. the treatments using vermicompost V1 and
V3 gave the highest quality. Thus, this study suggested for the broccoli cultivation in organic potting media
should use the vermicompost.
