Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms) compost as an alternative organic fertilizer: A comparative study with conventional organic fertilizers on plant growth and yield of Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum, L)

Abstract

Water hyacinth compost was evaluated as an alternative organic fertilizer for tomato production. This study investigated the ability of water hyacinth compost (WHC) as an alternative organic fertilizer for tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) under field conditions at the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya, India in Rabi season (2023–24). The treatments were tested in a randomized block design with 6 blocks, namely, cow dung, WHC, cow dung + WHC, vermicompost, vermicompost + WHC and control. Cow dung + WHC gave maximum overall performance in terms of plant height, leaf number, branch number, number of fruit per plant (76.55) and fruit yield per plant (5.97 kg). It also produced the maximum fruit diameter and fruit weight and WHC alone produced the highest relative leaf water content. The same trend was observed for the levels of chlorophyll a and b, which were also highest in the cow dung + WHC treatment. In general, the findings reveal that the use of WHC particularly in association with cow dung can be a beneficial tool to enhance the growth and yield of tomato plant as well as physiological performance. The study indicates that water hyacinth compost is a highly efficient, locally available, eco-friendly organic fertilizer with great potential to sustain tomato production without incurring high costs.