Back T. Hussain, T. Javid, G. Jilani M. Jamil M. A Haq
University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan
Full Paper (PDF File: 187KB)
Abstract
A number of short and long-term studies were conducted in Pakistan during 1990s to evaluate the usefulness of Effective Microorganisms (EM) and organic amendments, and their effect on the yield of different crops. The results of the first study on rice crop showed that both NPK fertilizers and EM-Bokashi (EM-fermented organic manure) gave statistically similar yield. In second study, comparision was made between chemical fertilizers and EM in green manured field for paddy and wheat yield. Data depicted that EM application gave paddy yield higher than NPK fertilizers treatment. Regarding wheat yield, NPK fertilizers gave yield significantly higher than with EM-Bokashi + EM treatment which may be due to the reason that no organic matter was added in the soil. In another study on cotton crop revealed that the maximum number of bolls plant-1, and seed cotton yield resulted from NPK fertilizers followed by FYM + EM. Integration of mineral and organic sources of N with EM inoculum was made for rice, wheat and cotton. Data revealed that the integrated use of mineral fertilizers with organic matter, and biological inoculation gave higher paddy, wheat, and cotton yield as compared with fertilizer application alone. It was concluded that EM application to soil enhances the utility of organic amendments towards improving and sustaining the crop yields.