Zeitschrift für Biodiversität und gefährdete Arten

Characterization of Parthenium (Parthenium hysterophorus L.) Compost for Plant Nutrient Contents at Ginir District of Bale Zone, South-Eastern Ethiopia

Abstract

Tesfaye Ketema Defar*, Mulugeta Eshetu Diriba, Girma Getachew Gemechu and Regassa Gosa Telila

The experiment was conducted in the Ginir District of the Bale Zone in the Oromia Region in the southeast of Ethiopia. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the major plant nutrients in compost made from Parthenium combined with wheat residue and farmyard manure, as well as its overall quality and nutrient contents. To fulfill the designated purpose, the Parthenium plants were gathered before flowering and chopped into smaller pieces. Based on this, it can be concluded that the preparation of the compost and the material sources play a significant role, especially since different materials and methods were used throughout the study. The Parthenium compost was thus made separately for each of the following three categories or treatments: Parthenium biomass plus farm yard manure, Parthenium biomass plus crop residue and Parthenium biomass combination with both farm yard manure and crop residue. After being prepared and harvested, the Parthenium compost was subjected to a final laboratory analysis. Using conventional laboratory techniques, the main chemical properties, including pH, EC, OC, TN, available P, CEC, exchangeable bases (Ca, Mg, K and Na) and micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn), were measured. The obtained results for the nutrient content characterizations were: pH; Ec; OM; TN; CEC; 7.1 to 7.27; 0.000058 to 0.000062 ds/m; 35.2 to 37.8%; 1.83% to 1.98% and 34.8 to 53.2 cmol+/ kg, respectively. Exchangeable bases exhibit a similar trend for the major essential plant nutrients. The results indicated that the compost had a high concentration of plant nutrients and varied significantly between the three Parthenium compost preparation methods. Parthenium compost, therefore, offers multiple benefits, including high nutrient contents, weed control capabilities and generally environmentally sound uses of organic fertilizers.