Influence of vermicompost and urea chemical fertilizer on monthly changes in runoff at plot scale

This study aims to investigate monthly changes in runoff quality and quantity under the influence of Vermicompost and urea in Northern Iran. For this purpose, 18 runoff measurement plots of 1× 5 m were installed on 14% slopes under natural rainfall during 5 months (from January 2014 until April 2015). In total 12 rainfall events and their runoff were considered. Treatments in this study included control (without organic and chemical fertilizers), 100% Vermicompost, 100% Urea fertilizer, 100% Vermicompost 50% Urea chemical fertilizer, 75% Vermicompost 50% Urea chemical fertilizer, 50% Vermicompost 50% Urea chemical fertilizer. The results showed that sediment yields, nitrate amount, pH and EC of runoff were not influenced due to applying Vermicompost and Urea fertilizer. But using Vermicompost reduced volume of runoff overfirst month of the experiment (sig=0.002) which shows the positive effect of Vermicompost on runoff quantity but it has a limited impact on runoff management on steep terrain.