Effect Of Vermicompost On Growth Of Crysophogan Zizanioides On Manganese Mine Dump Of Central India

The utilization of crysophogan zizanioides in the management of mine-site dumps opens a new doorway for carbon sequestration and mitigation of soil erosion. Crysophogan zizanioides, a.k.a vetiver grass, is a densely tufted grass from Poaceae family of giant grasses. These grasses are known for its tolerance to extremely high levels of heavy metals and can grow in tropical and temperate regions around the world. Hence, the present study attempts to utilize the barren manganese dumps around the Dongri Buzurg mine area in central India as a carbon sink patch by vegetating vetiver grass. It was found that the nutrient content of the hangwall and footwall of the existing dump was lacking in N (29.33kg/acre) and P (58.73 kg/acre) for sustaining the potential growth of plant species, also the organic carbon content was found to be around 0.10% which should ideally be around 1.12%. As the dump requires longer roots compared to its shoots, for providing stability and control of soil erosion, the study focuses on this aspect of vetiver growth. It was observed that as the percentage vermicompost increases than shoot/root (S/R) ratio decreases. The study on the control sample indicated a ratio of 3.33 over a period of 60 days indicating poor root growth without any vermicompost supplement on the other hand a 50% vermicompost sample indicated a ratio of 1.24 over the same period of time. This study developed an empirical formula using statistical analysis tools to determine the optimum S/R ratio at different per cent vermicompost.