Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition

https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-020-00266-2

ORIGINAL PAPER

Influence of Different Organic Manures and Their Combinations

on Productivity and Quality of Bread Wheat
Nauman Ali 1 & Muhammad Naeem Khan 1 & Muhammad Saeed Ashraf 1 & Sobia Ijaz 1 & Hafiz Saeed-ur-Rehman 1 &
Muhammad Abdullah 2 & Noor Ahmad 1 & Hafiz Muhammad Akram 1 & Muhammad Farooq 3,4

Received: 13 January 2020 / Accepted: 10 May 2020

# Sociedad Chilena de la Ciencia del Suelo 2020

Abstract
Organic manures are a vital source of plant nutrients and act as the main pillar of sustainable agriculture. This 2-year field study
was done to evaluate the influence of different organic manures and their combinations on productivity and grain quality of bread
wheat. In a 2-year field experiment, there were eight organic manure application treatments: (1) control (no manure), (2) press
mud (PM) 10 t ha−1, (3) vermicompost (VC) 10 t ha−1, (4) farmyard manure (FYM) 10 t ha−1, (5) press mud 5 t ha−1 +
vermicompost 5 t ha−1, (6) press mud 5 t ha−1 + farmyard manure 5 t ha−1, (7) vermicompost 5 t ha−1 + farmyard manure
5 t ha−1, and (8) press mud 3.3 t ha−1 + vermicompost 3.3 t ha−1 + farmyard manure 3.3 t ha−1. Overall, the increase in grain
yield from organic manures application (press mud, vermicompost and farmyard manure), alone and in combinations, was VC >
VC + FYM > FYM > PM + VC > PM > PM + VC + FYM > PM + FYM with 68, 66, 55, 53, 38, 36, and 30% increase as
compared to control during both years. The highest improvement (14.1%) in grain protein contents was recorded from
vermicompost as compared to control during both years. Application of different organic manures, alone and in combinations,
were cost effective. However, the highest benefit-cost ratio (1.56) was recorded from the farmyard manure application. Sole and
combined application of organic manures improved the productivity and quality of bread wheat. However, the highest produc-
tivity and profitability were recorded from the application of vermicompost and farmyard manure, respectively.

Keywords Press mud . Vermicompost . Farmyard manure . Grain yield . Protein . Bread wheat

1 Introduction climate change and tackling the environment should be the

focus of current agriculture research (Timsina 2018). Over the
Ensuring a global demand of healthy and safe food for the last few years, organic agriculture has emerged as alternative
increasing population is one of the most pressing current chal- farming by reduction of agriculture impact on the environment
lenges. Therefore, enhancing crop productivity by addressing (Seufert et al. 2012). Organic farming is an important produc-
tion system, which escapes the use of inorganic fertilizers and
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article pesticides (Reddy et al. 2005). Conventional agriculture is cat-
(https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-020-00266-2) contains supplementary egorized by intensive use of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides,
material, which is available to authorized users.
and inadequate supply of organic manures (Gill and Garg
2014). These practices have caused various deleterious effects
* Muhammad Farooq
farooqcp@squ.edu.om
including land degradation and pollution of aerial, water, and
soil pollution (Ju et al. 2009). Conventional soil management
1
Agronomic Research Institute,, Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, reduces the organic matter and soil biota, and thus disturbs the
Faisalabad, Pakistan ecosystem services (de Jesus Souza et al. 2019). For resolving
2
Wheat Research Institute,, Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, these kinds of issues, sustainable agricultural production sys-
Faisalabad, Pakistan tems can be helpful. Organic agriculture has been a proven
3
Department of Plant Sciences, College of Agricultural and Marine good alternative for maintaining biodiversity and the environ-
Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Al-Khoud, 123 Muscat, Oman ment (Ahmad et al. 2007). Agriculturists mainly in developed
4
Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, countries adopted organic farming (Lobley et al. 2009) due to
Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan its ecological and economic benefits. Moreover, this can help
 J Soil Sci Plant Nutr

improve soil health and ecosystem sustainability (Reganold and sources can be very beneficial for sustainable crop production
Wachter 2016). without deteriorating fertility of the soil and long-term output.
Manure application improves soil characteristics, improves To the best of our knowledge, the combined effect of these
nutrient uptake (Li and Marschner 2019), and crop production organic manures on grain yield of bread wheat has not been
by maintaining a sustainable environment (AlAmin et al. investigated. Moreover, the influence of organic manures in
2017). Globally, earthworm rearing is becoming an important combinations on grain quality of bread wheat and economics
business for the conversion of organic waste into useful nutri- of organic manure application has not been explored. This
ents (Hussain et al. 2018). Vermicompost has excellent poten- study was, therefore, conducted to evaluate the effect of or-
tial for its application on field crops (Nurhidayati et al. 2018). ganic manures alone and in combinations on productivity,
Application of vermicompost stimulates soil microbial activ- profitability, and quality of bread wheat. For this study, it
ity and their growth helps in mineralization of plant nutrients, was hypothesized that organic manure application may im-
and eventually improves soil fertility and quality in the crop prove the grain yield and grain quality of bread wheat but
production system (Balasubramanian et al. 2013). Application the combined application may be more effective.
of vermicompost improves soil aeration, water holding capac-
ity, and availability of plant nutrients (Gill et al. 2019).
Vermicompost is a good choice as a substitute for chemical 2 Materials and Methods
fertilizers in sustainable agriculture. It has been reported that
vermicompost application was found to improve crop growth 2.1 Site, Soil, and Climate
and yield of rice (Bejbaruah et al. 2013), maize (Guo et al.
2015), potato (Alam et al. 2007), sorghum (Hameeda et al. A 2-year field experiment was carried out during the winter
2007), and wheat (Roberts et al. 2007; Kizilkaya et al. 2012; season of 2017–2018 and 2018–2019 at the Agronomic
Joshi et al. 2013; Ibrahim et al. 2015; AlAmin et al. 2017; Research Institute, Ayub Agricultural Research Institute,
Aslam et al. 2019; Erdal and Erdal and Ekinci 2020). Faisalabad, Pakistan (latitude 31.4°N, longitude 73.1°E, and
Farmyard manure is an organic source of fertilizer contain- altitude 184.9 m asl). The soil is classified as a mixed, fine-
ing dung and crop residues etc. (Motavalli et al. 1994). Supply silty, Haplargid, hyperthermic Ustalfic (USDA 2014), and
of manures like farmyard manure not only improved the or- Haplic Yermosols (FAO 2014). The soil analysis of the ex-
ganic matter content but also had higher porosity, aggregate periment is given in Table 1 as described by Estefan et al.
stability, and hydraulic conductivity; however, over longer (2013). The weather data during the experimentation are given
term; better soil productivity can be achieved by its large as Table 1S.
amount of application (Edmeades 2003). The production of
farmyard manure can easily be done at the farm level and thus 2.2 Plant Material
exhibits good potential for its usage as an organic source rath-
er than dependence on chemical fertilizers. Different studies Seeds of wheat cultivar “Galaxy-2013” were collected from the
have reported that application of farmyard manure improved Punjab Seed Corporation, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Initial germina-
wheat productivity (Shah and Ahmad 2006; Hammad et al. tion and seed moisture content were 97% and 10%, respectively,
2011; Ram et al. 2016; Phullan et al. 2017; Sheoran et al. and these were determined as defined by ISTA (2015).
2017; Holik et al. 2018; Mazhar et al. 2018; Ali et al. 2019).
Annually, 1.2–1.8 million tons of sugarcane press mud is 2.3 Experimental Details
produced in Pakistan (Sardar et al. 2012). A sugarcane by-
product is press mud and its application enhances soil aeration A randomized complete block design with three replications
and porosity, water holding capacity, soil nutrient amount, and was used in the experiment and manures were applied in the
organic matter (Dotaniya et al. 2016). An improvement in same field during both years. The size of the gross plot was
yield was observed in the case of press mud application for 8 m × 10 m. There were eight organic manure application
different crops like sugarcane (Nawaz et al. 2017) and wheat treatments: (1) control (no manure), (2) press mud 10 t ha−1
(Sheoran et al. 2017; Chattha et al. 2019). (Hammad et al. 2011), (3) vermicompost 10 t ha−1 (Roberts
Before industrialization, farmers used to depend on organic et al. 2007; Joshi et al. 2013; Aslam et al. 2019), (4) farmyard
nutrient sources for crop productivity. Currently, farmers use manure 10 t ha−1 (Mishra et al. 2006; Hammad et al. 2011), (5)
chemical fertilizers because they are readily available to plant, press mud 5 t ha−1 + vermicompost 5 t ha−1, (6) press mud
higher nutrient use efficiency, and better control of nutrient 5 t ha−1 + farmyard manure 5 t ha−1, (7) vermicompost
supply in compliance with crop requirements. However, use 5 t ha−1 + farmyard manure 5 t ha−1, and (8) press mud
in excessive quantity can cause nutrient loss, acidification or 3.3 t ha−1 + vermicompost 3.3 t ha−1 + farmyard manure
basification of soil, decrease in microbial population, and con- 3.3 t ha−1. Press mud was obtained from Husein Sugar
tamination of groundwater (Chen 2006). The use of organic Mills, Jaranwala, Punjab, Pakistan. Vermicompost was
J Soil Sci Plant Nutr

Table 1 Soil physicochemical

properties during the winter Soil attribute Unit Year
season of 2017–2018 and 2018–
2019 November 2017 May 2018 May 2019

pH – 8.2 ± 0.09 7.9 ± 0.13 7.8 ± 0.10

Electrical conductivity mS cm−1 1.38 ± 0.04 0.85 ± 0.03 1.19 ± 0.06
Organic matter % 0.77 ± 0.05 0.82 ± 0.04 0.89 ± 0.02
Nitrogen g kg−1 0.40 ± 0.04 0.50 ± 0.05 0.50 ± 0.04
Available phosphorus g kg−1 0.0067 ± 0.001 0.0093 ± 0.001 0.0098 ± 0.002
Available potassium g kg−1 0.20 ± 0.02 0.17 ± 0.03 0.18 ± 0.04
Saturation % 34 ± 1.76 37 ± 2.03 37 ± 1.45
Texture – Loam Loam Loam

The data are presented as the means ± standard error

prepared at Agronomic Research Institute, Faisalabad, by Plants were tied into bundles after harvesting in each plot and
adopting the pit method as described by Mahajan and Gupta sun-dried for a week in the field. The biological yield (straw +
(2009). Organic manure samples were analyzed for pH, elec- grain) and grain yield were recorded using a spring balance and
trical conductivity (EC), nitrogen (N) by standard Kjeldahl an electric balance, respectively. For obtaining grains from straw,
method, P by colorimetry, and potassium (K) by flame pho- a mini thresher was used. For the calculation of harvest index,
tometry, zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and manganese (Mn) by grain yield was divided over biological yield and was determined
atomic absorption spectrophotometry as described by Page in percentage. By using an electric balance, 1000-grain weight
et al. (1982) and are given in Table 2. was recorded from each plot.
For the preparation of seedbed, the field was cultivated Grain N contents were analyzed by the Kjeldahl method
twice followed by leveling each time. The crop was planted (VELP Scientifica, Italy). Wheat grains were ground to powder,
on November 24, 2017, and November 7, 2018, by using a which was taken in digestion tube, a digestion mixture tablet,
hand drill with a seed rate of 100 kg ha−1. Before seedbed and 10 ml sulfuric acid was added. The colorless sample obtain-
preparation, all organic manures were applied, and soil incor- ed after digestion was distilled in the distillation unit. After the
porated (15 cm deep) during both years before 2 weeks of crop distillation process, the titration was done against sodium hy-
sowing. Four irrigations including the soaking irrigation were droxide solution. Protein was calculated by multiplication of
applied during both years. Weeds were controlled manually. correction factor with percent N (AACC 2010).
The crop was harvested on April 18 and April 25 during Starch content and Zeleny value of wheat were estimated by
2017–2018 and 2018–2019, respectively. Omeg Analyzer G (Kernelyzer, Germany). Grains were filled in
machine sample hopper using an 18-mm sample spacer and
2.4 Observation and Measurements digital reading of starch content and Zeleny value was noted
on the instrument screen display (Alina and Lazureanu 2011).
Plant height and spike length measurements were taken by Gluten content was determined by the glutomatic apparatus
selecting ten plants from each plot just before the final harvest- (Perten, Sweeden). Approximately, 15 g wheat grains were taken
ing. A meter rod was used for measuring plant height, while for making 10 g whole wheat flour, after that, it was weighed and
spike length was recorded with a ruler. In each plot, productive shifted into the washing chamber of the glutomatic apparatus on
tillers were counted from a randomly selected site (1 m × 1 m). polyester mesh (88 μm) after adding 4.8 ml solvent of 2% sodi-
For counting spikelets per spike, ten spikes were randomly se- um chloride solution. The flour sample was gently variegated
lected from each plot. Grains per spike were counted after sep- and washed with sodium chloride solution for an interval of
arating grains from straw by threshing manually in each plot. 5 min. The flow of salt solution during washing was 250–

Table 2 Chemical analysis of different organic manures

Manure pH EC (ds m-1) N (%) P2O5 (%) K2O (%) Zn (ppm) Cu (ppm) Mn (ppm)

Press mud 6.69 ± 0.11 2.42 ± 0.19 1.86 ± 0.07 1.67 ± 0.08 0.96 ± 0.07 143 ± 5.46 41 ± 0.88 275 ± 17.02
Vermicompost 7.17 ± 0.08 0.38 ± 0.09 1.87 ± 0.12 2.65 ± 0.06 0.92 ± 0.06 148 ± 4.36 36 ± 0.58 471 ± 12.72
Farmyard manure 7.46 ± 0.10 2.60 ± 0.20 1.26 ± 0.10 1.26 ± 0.09 0.84 ± 0.06 74 ± 4.04 29 ± 0.67 363 ± 16.46

All values are average of 2 years; the data are presented as the means ± standard error
 J Soil Sci Plant Nutr

280 ml having a temperature of 20–24 °C. Then, remove the respectively (Table 3). Application of vermicompost alone
loose dough material from the chamber and transfer it into an- had the highest total tillers (395 m−2) and productive tillers
other chamber of the coarse sieve with a mesh size of 840 μm. (358 m−2) as compared to control during the first year (p 0.05).
The whole material of the fine sieve chamber was washed into However, during the second year, the highest total tillers
coarse a screen chamber with a slow flow of tap water, while the (381 m−2) and productive tillers (331 m−2) were observed in
second screen chamber was cleaned holding the loose dough the case of vermicompost + farmyard manure and
with a 10–15-ml salt solution. Again, loose dough was washed vermicompost application, respectively (p 0.05) (Table 3).
for another 3 min with a solvent (sodium chloride solution). The The highest spike length (11.3 cm) was noted from the farm-
gluten removed from the washing chamber termed as wet gluten yard manure application for the first year (p = 0.01).
was transferred into the centrifuge holder for centrifugation. The Vermicompost application showed highest spikelets per spike
residues remained on and passed through the screen were (17.2); however, control showed the lowest spikelets per spike
weighed to calculate the gluten index. Wet gluten after drying (14.1) during the first year (p 0.05). Spike length and spikelets
in the glutork apparatus was known as dry gluten (AACC 2010). per spike were non-significant for the second year (Table 3).
Application of vermicompost showed the highest grains per
2.5 Economic Analysis spike (40.0) and (38.7) during the first and the second year,
respectively (Table 3).
For the calculation of total cost, fixed cost (land rent, labor, During the first year, vermicompost application showed the
land and sowing preparation, irrigation, and harvesting highest 1000-grain weight (13%) followed by vermicompost +
charges) and variable cost (organic manures and threshing farmyard manure (12%), while lowest 1000-grain weight was
charges) were added. The net benefits and benefit-cost ratio noted in case of the control (p 0.05). Moreover, vermicompost
(BCR) were calculated as defined by CIMMYT (1998) for the application also showed highest 1000-grain weight (17%) during
determination of economic analysis. The actual biological and the second year (p 0.05) (Table 4). The biological yield was non-
grain yields were reduced by 10% for the calculation of ad- significant for the first year. However, vermicompost + farmyard
justed biological and grain yield, respectively. Manures and manure and control gave the highest biological yield (10.0 t ha−1)
threshing cost were the variable cost. Total fixed cost and the lowest biological yield (8.1 t ha−1), respectively during
remained similar for all treatments; moreover, this cost the second year. The highest grain yield (67%) was noted from
contained seed, labor, irrigation, and harvesting. For each vermicompost application which was statistically at par with
treatment, BCR was determined by dividing the gross income vermicompost + farmyard manure application (63%), while low-
over the total cost. est grain yield was found in case of control during the first year
(p = 0.00). During the second year, vermicompost application
2.6 Statistical Analysis also produced the highest grain yield (70%) followed by
vermicompost + farmyard manure application (70%), while con-
Computer software STATISTIX 8.1 (Analytical software, trol treatment showed lowest grain yield (p 0.05) (Table 4).
Statistix; Tallahassee, FL, USA, 1985–2003) was used for Highest harvest index (40.2% and 34.7%) was recorded by the
the analysis of experimental data. For the comparison of treat- application of vermicompost during the first and second year,
ment means, the least significance difference (LSD) test was respectively (Table 4).
used at a 5% probability level (Steel et al. 1996).
3.2 Quality-Related Traits

3 Results Organic manure application, alone or in combinations, signifi-

cantly influenced the wheat quality traits (Figs. 1 and 2).
Application of various organic manures, alone and in combi- Vermicompost + farmyard manure application gave the highest
nations, significantly influenced the wheat yield and quality- protein (12.2%), while the lowest protein (10.6%) wad found in
related traits during the first and second year; however, the case of control during the first year. However, during the second
biological yield was not significant (p 0.05) for the first year. year, vermicompost application produced the highest protein
During the second year, spike length, spikelets per spike, (11.4%) (Fig. 1). The highest starch (59.9%) was achieved in
starch, and dry gluten were non-significant (p 0.05) case of vermicompost application, while lowest starch (56.9%)
(Tables 3 and 4; Figs. 1 and 2). was noted from control during the first year. However, it was
non-significant during the second year. Zeleny value (47.3 ml)
3.1 Yield-Related Traits was the highest in case of vermicompost application as com-
pared to control during the first year. Vermicompost + farmyard
Organic manure application significantly (p 0.05) influenced manure application gave the highest Zeleny value (44 ml) during
the plant height during the first and the second year, the second year (Fig. 1).
J Soil Sci Plant Nutr

Table 3 Influence of various organic manures on morphological and yield related traits of bread wheat

Treatments 2017–2018 2018–2019 2017–2018 2018–2019

Plant height (cm) Number of total tillers (m−2)

Control (no manure) 95 ± 2.43c 93 ± 5.55b 335 ± 12.77d 314 ± 15.57d

Press mud 105 ± 4.65a 107 ± 0.83a 353 ± 11.50cd 335 ± 16.82cd
Vermicompost 104 ± 2.76ab 107 ± 1.11a 395 ± 19.29a 374 ± 19.05ab
Farmyard manure 104 ± 3.67ab 106 ± 1.22a 371 ± 11.50abc 354 ± 17.39abc
Press mud + vermicompost 104 ± 1.80ab 106 ± 1.59a 360 ± 6.66bcd 363 ± 24.11abc
Press mud + farmyard manure 105 ± 1.59a 105 ± 1.47a 356 ± 20.13cd 357 ± 23.00abc
Vermicompost + farmyard manure 99 ± 6.30bc 105 ± 2.23a 388 ± 25.15ab 381 ± 7.94a
Press mud + vermicompost+ farmyard manure 102 ± 4.52ab 105 ± 1.83a 368 ± 19.43abc 348 ± 13.32bc
LSD (p 0.05) 5.71 4.45 30.9 32.2
Number of productive tillers (m−2) Spike length (cm)
Control (no manure) 291 ± 14.18d 273 ± 13.53d 9.5 ± 0.51d 9.8 ± 0.35
Press mud 315 ± 9.50cd 294 ± 14.01cd 10.5 ± 0.40bc 10.0 ± 0.20
Vermicompost 358 ± 16.07a 331 ± 6.81a 10.9 ± 0.48ab 10.6 ± 0.75
Farm yard manure 330 ± 9.50bc 307 ± 15.31abc 11.3 ± 0.78a 10.2 ± 0.45
Press mud + vermicompost 321 ± 5.57bc 316 ± 21.07abc 10.9 ± 0.21ab 9.9 ± 0.50
Press mud + farmyard manure 328 ± 16.37bc 310 ± 20.00abc 10.4 ± 0.39bc 10.1 ± 0.46
Vermicompost + farmyard manure 345 ± 20.98ab 325 ± 16.46ab 10.1 ± 0.26cd 10.1 ± 0.31
Press mud + vermicompost + farmyard manure 318 ± 16.62c 303 ± 11.79bc 10.2 ± 0.29bcd 9.9 ± 0.31
LSD (p 0.05) 26.4 27.9 0.81 NS
Spikelets per spike Grains per spike
Control (no manure) 14.1 ± 0.42d 14.3 ± 1.21 33.9 ± 1.35c 30.4 ± 1.56c
Press mud 14.8 ± 0.60cd 15.2 ± 0.20 38.4 ± 1.83ab 35.1 ± 3.11b
Vermicompost 17.2 ± 1.55a 15.2 ± 0.72 40.0 ± 1.20a 38.7 ± 2.25a
Farmyard manure 16.7 ± 0.50ab 15.3 ± 1.45 39.1 ± 1.27ab 35.3 ± 1.70b
Press mud + vermicompost 15.7 ± 0.42bc 16.0 ± 0.40 38.6 ± 1.59ab 36.9 ± 0.90ab
Press mud + farmyard manure 14.8 ± 0.35cd 15.3 ± 0.76 36.9 ± 1.70b 36.7 ± 1.40ab
Vermicompost + farmyard manure 15.7 ± 0.46bc 14.5 ± 1.03 38.7 ± 3.05ab 38.3 ± 1.36a
Press mud + vermicompost+ farmyard manure 14.2 ± 0.53d 14.5 ± 0.31 37.1 ± 1.72ab 36.9 ± 1.86ab
LSD (p 0.05) 1.22 NS 2.99 2.92

The data are presented as the means ± SD. Means sharing the same case letters for main effects and interaction do not differ significantly at (p ≤ 0.05) for a
parameter during a growing season by the least significant difference test
NS non-significant

Highest wet gluten, i.e., 24.9% and 23.2%, was found in highest net profit (234 $ ha−1) and BCR (1.32). The fixed cost
the case of vermicompost application during the first and the was higher during second the year as compared to the first
second year, respectively (Fig. 2). Vermicompost application year due to more prices of land rent charges, labor charges,
gave the highest dry gluten value (9.9%) during the first year. and land + sowing operation charges. During the first year for
However, it was non-significant for the second year. Gluten BCR, the overall order was FYM > VC + FYM > VC > PM +
index was highest where vermicompost was applied as com- VC > PM > PM + FYM > PM + VC + FYM > C, while it was
pared to control during both years (Fig. 2). VC + FYM > FYM > VC > PM + FYM > PM + VC + FYM >
PM + VC > PM > C for the second year (Table 5).
3.3 Profitability

The economic analysis showed that the farmyard manure ap- 4 Discussion
plication gave the highest net profit (532 $ ha−1) and BCR
(1.81) for the first year, while for the second year, the The findings of this study supported the hypothesis that the
vermicompost + farmyard manure application gave the application of various organic manures can improve the
 J Soil Sci Plant Nutr

Table 4 Influence of various

organic manures on yield and Treatments 2017–2018 2018–2019 2017–2018 2018–2019
related traits of bread wheat 1000-grain weight (g) Biological yield (t ha−1)

Control (no manure) 33.8 ± 1.37c 30.0 ± 1.27e 9.6 ± 0.61 8.1 ± 1.24b
Press mud 35.6 ± 1.59b 31.7 ± 0.21d 10.6 ± 1.03 8.9 ± 0.46ab
Vermicompost 38.1 ± 0.74a 35.1 ± 0.67a 11.2 ± 1.06 9.9 ± 0.47a
Farmyard manure 36.2 ± 0.79b 33.7 ± 0.75abc 11.1 ± 1.85 9.6 ± 0.40a
Press mud + vermicompost 36.0 ± 0.43b 33.3 ± 0.90bc 10.8 ± 0.29 9.7 ± 0.81a
Press mud + farmyard manure 35.5 ± 0.66b 32.4 ± 0.61cd 10.2 ± 1.12 9.3 ± 0.50a
Vermicompost + farmyard manure 38.0 ± 1.45a 34.4 ± 0.99ab 11.4 ± 0.87 10.0 ± 1.40a
Press mud + vermicompost+ farmyard 35.9 ± 0.26b 33.6 ± 1.46abc 10.4 ± 1.06 9.6 ± 0.78a
manure
LSD (p 0.05) 1.69 1.51 NS 1.14
Grain yield (t ha−1) Harvest index (%)
Control (no manure) 2.7 ± 0.12e 2.0 ± 0.15d 27.8 ± 0.57d 24.6 ± 2.66c
Press mud 3.8 ± 0.20cd 2.7 ± 0.15c 36.1 ± 1.62abc 30.7 ± 0.15b
Vermicompost 4.5 ± 0.15a 3.4 ± 0.21a 40.2 ± 3.48a 34.7 ± 3.05a
Farmyard manure 4.2 ± 0.32ab 3.1 ± 0.25b 38.6 ± 5.35ab 31.9 ± 2.16ab
Press mud + vermicompost 4.0 ± 0.21bc 3.1 ± 0.23b 37.2 ± 1.00abc 31.5 ± 0.38ab
Press mud + farmyard manure 3.4 ± 0.17d 2.9 ± 0.21bc 33.6 ± 2.17bc 31.5 ± 0.80ab
Vermicompost + farmyard manure 4.4 ± 0.21ab 3.4 ± 0.15a 39.1 ± 4.01a 34.0 ± 3.55ab
Press mud + vermicompost+ farmyard 3.4 ± 0.36d 3.0 ± 0.25b 32.6 ± 0.36cd 31.7 ± 0.99ab
manure
LSD (p 0.05) 0.43 0.26 4.98 3.56

The data are presented as the means ± SD; Means sharing the same case letters for main effects and interaction do
not differ significantly at (p ≤ 0.05) for a parameter during growing season by the least significant difference test
NS non-significant

productivity, profitability, and quality of bread wheat. manure application. The reason behind might be that organic
However, the findings did not support that combined applica- manures release nutrients slowly and combined application
tion can be more effective in terms of productivity and quality may not provide nutrients rapidly as vermicompost applica-
of bread wheat (Tables 3, 4, and 5; Figs. 1 and 2). tion alone because vermicompost gives nutrients in readily
The organic manures-based treatments improved the plant available form. It may improve uptake and supply of N
height, number of total and productive tillers, spike length, (Manivannan et al. 2009). Most nutrients are found as the
spikelets per spike, and grains per spike in this study. plant-available form in vermicompost and thus enhance the
Similar types of results were reported by the application of yield and quality-related traits of crops (Sharma and Garg
press mud (Chattha et al. 2019), vermicompost (Joshi et al. 2018). Vermicompost enhances the growth of roots to absorb
2013), and farmyard manure (Mazhar et al. 2018). Organic N water and nutrients from the soil due to the presence of hor-
enhanced plant height due to N role in cell division and ex- mone substances in the vermicompost (Canellas et al. 2002;
pansion, which finally influence the vegetative growth (Singh Theunissen et al. 2010). In comparison with conventional
and Agarwal 2001). In this study, spike length improved by compost, nutrients can be retained for more time in the
different treatments of organic manures and it may be due to vermicompost with better water holding capacity and porosity
the multi-nutrient supply. An important yield contributing fac- due to the humus concentration (Sinha et al. 2010).
tor is 1000-grain weight. This study showed that the applica- Vermicompost has the ability for enhancing soil properties,
tion of vermicompost gave higher 1000-grain weight as com- improving the growth, and yield of the crops (Pezeshkpour
pared to other treatments. Improvement in 1000-grain weight et al. 2014) as compared to conventional compost. On the
might be due to the better supply of N and other soil nutrients other hand, the press mud may take more time for
(Mazhar et al. 2018). Although the application of organic decomposition and availability of nutrients as compared to
manures improved the wheat yield, the performance of the vermicompost. Chaoui et al. (2003) concluded a lower C/N
combined application in terms of wheat yield may not up to ratio in vermicompost and depicted that it is useful as a soil
the mark. Vermicompost application produced the highest amendment. This is due to the conversion of NH4+ into NO3−
yield in this study followed by vermicompost + farmyard during vermicomposting (Prabha 2009) and vermicompost
J Soil Sci Plant Nutr

Fig. 1 Influence of various organic manures on grain (a) protein (%), (b) mud; VC vermicompost; FYM farmyard manure; LSD least significant
starch (%) and (c) Zeleny value (ml) in bread wheat; C control; PM press difference; Bars are treatment means ± standard errors

contains a higher amount of available minerals thus encour- to control. Overall, the yield was low in the second year as
aging a short supply of plant nutrients (Jat and Ahlawat 2006). compared to the first year. During the month of February and
Vermicompost contains various plant growth materials like March in the second year, rainfall intensity and humidity were
auxins, gibberellins, and cytokinins and humic acids (Singh higher (Table 1S). Excessive rainfall at reproductive stage
et al. 2008). Nutrients like nitrates, P, K, calcium, and magne- may cause a decline in yield.
sium are present in a readily available form in vermicompost The application of vermicompost and vermicompost +
(Prabha 2009). Joshi et al. (2013) reported that vermicompost farmyard manure performed better as compared to other treat-
application enhanced the yield of wheat by 59% as compared ments in terms of an increase in bread wheat grain quality.
 J Soil Sci Plant Nutr

Fig. 2 Influence of various organic manures on grain a wet gluten (%), b dry gluten (%) and gluten index in bread wheat; C control; PM press mud; FYM
farmyard manure; VC vermicompost; LSD least significant difference; Bars are treatment means ± standard errors

This may be due to the better nutrient availability and uptake Mainly, the profitability is related to the cost of input
by the plant. It has been reported that vermicompost applica- and economic yield. Farmers focus on profit maximization
tion 10 t ha−1 improved protein contents (11%) as compared to which can be achieved through low input cost. In this
control in wheat (Joshi et al. 2013). Organic matter can im- study, the highest profitability was achieved through farm-
prove soil physical properties and more root growth resulted yard manure and vermicompost + farmyard manure appli-
in better uptake of nutrients (Brady and Weil 2005). Abedi cation. The reason of more profit from farmyard manure is
et al. (2010) described that the supply of organic sources its better gross income by low expenditure as compared to
caused an improvement in protein contents. vermicompost and press mud. During the second year, the
Table 5 Economic analysis for the influence of different organic manures on the productivity of bread wheat
J Soil Sci Plant Nutr

Treatments Grain yield Straw yield Adjusted grain yield Adjusted straw yield Gross Total fixed Total variable Total Net Benefit-cost
income cost cost cost benefits ratio

2017–2018
C 2667 6933 2400 6240 828 517 61 578 250 1.43
PM 3800 6767 3420 6090 1082 517 165 682 399 1.59
VC 4467 6700 4020 6030 1232 517 219 737 495 1.67
FYM 4233 6900 3810 6210 1185 517 136 653 532 1.81
PM + VC 4033 6800 3630 6120 1136 517 190 707 429 1.61
PM + FYM 3400 6767 3060 6090 990 517 136 654 337 1.52
VC + FYM 4433 6967 3990 6270 1233 517 179 697 536 1.77
PM + VC + 3400 7033 3060 6330 999 517 155 672 326 1.49
FYM
Remarks kg ha−1 a($ kg ha−1b($ kg ha−1c(10% less kg ha−1c(10% less $ ha−1 $ ha−1 $ ha−1 $ ha−1 $ ha−1 1$ = 128..09
10.15/40 kg) 1.40/40 kg) than actual) than actual) PKR
2018–2019
C 1967 6100 1770 5490 642 589 45 634 8 1.01
PM 2733 6167 2460 5550 819 589 140 730 90 1.12
VC 3433 6500 3090 5850 990 589 196 785 205 1.26
FYM 3067 6533 2760 5880 907 589 109 698 209 1.30
PM + VC 3067 6667 2760 6000 911 589 168 757 154 1.20
PM + FYM 2933 6367 2640 5730 871 589 126 715 157 1.22
VC + FYM 3367 6633 3030 5970 979 589 155 744 234 1.32
PM + VC + 3033 6533 2730 5880 899 589 147 736 164 1.22
FYM
Remarks kg ha−1a($ 10.15 kg ha−1b($ kg ha−1c(10% less than kg ha−1c(10% less than $ ha−1 $ ha−1 $ ha−1 $ ha−1 $ ha−1 1$ = 128.09
/40 kg) 1.40/40 kg) actual) actual) PKR

C control, PM press mud, VC vermicompost, FYM farmyard manure, kg kilogram, ha hectare, PKR Pakistan rupees, $ U.S. dollar
a
Support price announced by Government of Pakistan
b
Announced by Directorate of Agriculture (Economics & Marketing) Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
c
10% reduction by following procedure of CIMMYT (1998) for comparison with Farmer Field
 J Soil Sci Plant Nutr

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