International Journal of Plant & Soil Science

A field study was conducted during the summer (kharif) season of 2023 at the Lalapuram village, Thirumangalam block of Madurai district, to assess the influence of phosphorus-enriched compost on the growth and yield parameters of barnyard millet in both red and black soils. The recommend dose of barnyard millet was 40: 20: 0 kg ha ^-1 of NPK in which the recommended dose of P (20 kg ha ^-1) was given in form of enriched compost and the enrichment was done at 1: 10 ratio of P source and compost. Three different types of compost such as farmyard manure compost, municipal solid waste compost and vermicompost were enriched with two different P sources such as single super phosphate @ 100 kg / t of compost and rock phosphate @ 100 kg / t of compost. Azophos, a plant growth promoting rhizobacteria based microbial consortium was added to the P enriched compost @ 2 kg / ton of compost.  Among the different combinations, application of SSP enriched vermicompost @ 750 kg ha ^-1 along with microbial consortium performed better in both the soils. The growth and yield attributes of barnyard millet in black soil was better compared to that of red soil. SSP enriched vermicompost @ 750 kg ha ^-1 along with microbial consortium recorded the highest growth parameters in terms of no. of tillers per plant (8.71), Leaf area index ( 2.98 ), root length  ( 20.7 cm) and dry matter production (5260.1 kg ha ^-1) at 60 DAS and yield parameters in terms of no of productive tillers (6.81), panicle length (21.4 cm), panicle weight (14.65 g), 1000 grain weight (3.24 g), grain yield (2350 kg ha ^-1) and stover yield (4420 kg ha ^-1). Hence, it was found that the application of SSP-enriched vermicompost coupled with azophos at 30 and 60 DAS of the crop growth stages, can curtail N and P fertilizer consumption by 50 and 100 percent respectively while fostering sustainable plant growth and enhancement of yield.