Garlic (Allium sativum L.) Cultivation Using Vermicompost-Amended Soil as an Aspect of Sustainable Plant Production

Abstract

To achieve higher yields and maximum plant growth, excessive amounts of inorganic fertilisers are often applied to soils, affecting human and animal health and leading to the degradation of environmental resources. The use of organic fertilisers is proposed as an alternative to mineral fertilisation. One of the more frequently used organic fertilisers is vermicompost, which contains nutrients for plants in readily available forms and is characterised by the slow release of macronutrients and microelements into the soil environment. In a two-year field study, an attempt was made to use vermicompost produced from the waste mass of littoral plants as a soil amendment in the cultivation of garlic (Allium sativum). The experiment was conducted on raised beds with three treatments which were substitution of 10%, 25% and 50% vermicompost (V10, V25 and V50, respectively) to a heavy clay soil (SL), that with no addition acted as a control. Results showed that the 50% vermicompost addition had the most beneficial effect on selected (from a practical point of view) plant traits (e.g., diameter and mean bulb weight, mean number of cloves per bulb and mean clove weight, and mean yield), as well as on the content of macronutrients and microelements in garlic cloves. Lowest values of the analysed traits for A. sativum were found in the SL control group. No significant differences were found for the analysed parameters in the aboveground parts of plants in all the applied substrates.