Preparation of Compost Tea and its Utility as a Plant Growth Promoter

In the present study, the utility of the compost tea prepared from organic waste compost was evaluated as plant growth promoter. The collected compost was analyzed for their physiochemical and biological parameters. The results indicated that the compost was stable and mature. The two-different yeast were isolated from the compost and studied for their plant growth promoting (PGP) traits viz. enzyme activities, phosphate and zinc solubilisation, ammonia excretion, HCN production, indole acetic acid (IAA) production. Furthermore, compost tea was prepared from compost using aerated extraction method and analyzed for water soluble nitrogen (WSN) and water soluble carbon (WSC). The prepared compost tea was fortified with the isolated yeast strains to enhance their efficiency on the seed germination of commercial vegetable plants viz. radish (Raphanus sativus), tomato (Solanum lycosersicum) and chilli (Capsicum annuum). The results suggested that the fortified compost tea enhanced the seed germination of radish, tomato and chilli by 92%, 97% and 89% respectively as compared to compost tea and control.