Effects of rubber leaf litter vermicompost on earthworm population and yield of pineapple (Ananas comosus) in West Tripura, India

Rubber leaves are the abundant agro-waste and pineapple, the most economically important fruit crop in Tripura. So, in our present study, different amounts of rubber leaf vermicompost have been applied to the soils of pineapple plantation to determine their effects on earthworms—the soil ecosystem engineers, coupled with the vegetative growth and yield of pineapples.
During 30 months of field trial (2010–2012) in ICAR regional station, Lembucherra, West Tripura, the control plot (T0) received no fertilizer, while experimental plots were fertilized with four different amounts of vermicompost viz. T1 (5 tons ha−1 year−1), T2 (10 tons ha−1 year−1), T3 (20 tons ha−1 year−1) and T4 (30 tons ha−1 year−1).
A significant (p The present study reveals that crop yield is very much related to the particular concentration of vermicompost, beyond the level of which production declines and increase in vegetative growth, fruit weight and fruiting percentage of pineapple are strongly linked with the soil pH, av. P, av. K, clay content and the earthworm density of soils.