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In recent years, organic agriculture has gained substantial attention as a sustainable alternative to conventional farming practices, particularly due to its environmental benefits. Organic farming emphasizes the use of organic amendments, such as compost, combined with microbial inoculants to improve soil fertility, enhance crop yields, and reduce environmental degradation. The present study was conducted to investigate the synergistic effects of different compost types (vermicompost, farmyard manure (FYM) and microbial inoculants (Rhizobium, PSB) on the yield, soil fertility and microbial populations in blackgram cultivation. The application of vermicompost + Ghanajeevamrutha + 100% RDP + Rhizobium + PSB significantly enhanced seed and haulm yields, with increase of 6.37% and 7.86% respectively, compared to other treatments. The highest soil available nitrogen (291.39 kg ha−1) was recorded in the vermicompost-based treatment, demonstrating a 6.17% and 3.19% increase over FYM-based treatments. Additionally, nutrient uptake was notably higher in the vermicompost + Ghanajeevamrutha + 100% RDP + Rhizobium + PSB treatment, with increases of 5.85%, 10.1% and 7.6% for nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium respectively. Microbial populations, including bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes were significantly higher in treatments combining vermicompost and microbial inoculants, indicating enhanced soil microbial diversity and nutrient cycling. These results highlight the effectiveness of integrating different compost types with microbial inoculants in improving soil fertility, crop productivity, and environmental sustainability.
Kumar et al. (Fri,) studied this question.