Recycling of Congress Grass (Parthenium hysterophorous L.) as Organic Manure through Composting by using Different Inoculants

Composting experiment was carried out to assess the decomposition pattern and nutrient enrichment of Parthenium as influenced by the different inoculants. Parthenium was composted with different inoculants viz., dung slurry (T₂), Trichoderma viride (T₃), MAU mixture (T₄), bone extract (T₅) and EM culture (T₆). The study was carried out by RBD with seven treatments and four replications. All the inoculants reduced the organic carbon of Parthenium during the decomposition. The increase of total nitrogen in T₇ (combination of all the inoculants) was 2.03 folds over T₁ (control). Among all the inoculants, the composite cultures have significant influence at all stages of decomposition. Composted Parthenium had recorded higher P₂O₅, K₂O and micronutrients than fresh residues. Mixed cultures (MAU mixture and EM culture) had recorded early maturity and high quality of compost than single inoculant treated (T₃ and T₂) and control (T₁) treatment.