Abstract:
Compost is the end product of the aerobic microbial decomposition of organic matter, such as
animal manures, plant residuals and domestic wastes, under controlled conditions. Several
official and private organizations in different countries have established standards and
specifications for compost quality to improve crop production and to protect public health and
environment. The assessment techniques for the stability and quality of composts are based on
physical, chemical and biological properties of the compost. The most common direct
assessment strategies include the measurement of properties and indirect methods include the
measurement of growth parameters using fast growing crop plants such as Zea mays. No such
effort or similar assessment has been practiced in Sri Lanka. Therefore, the main objective of the
present study is to evaluate the efficiency of compost as a soil amendment using growth
parameters to obtain a base line data set. Eight compost varieties that are available in the open
market were chosen for this study. The growth parameters such as plant height, stem girth,
number of leaves and wet biomass were measured using Zea mays as the test plant for a period of
6 months at Pohorawatta compost site in the western province of Sri Lanka. The results obtained
were analysed statistically and found out that compost can be used as a positive soil amendment
based on all measured parameters. Out of all compost varieties, Mihisaru Segregated became the
best performed compost indicating its highest effectiveness in improving plant growth.
Therefore, further studies on the compositions, properties, type of sources and the method of
composting are extremely required to explain the observed performances.
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