COMBINED EFFECT OF VERMICOMPOST AND EARTHWORM Pontoscolex corethrurus INOCULATIONON THE YIELD AND QUALITY OF BROCCOLI (Brassica oleracea L.) USING ORGANIC GROWING MEDIA

Combined effects of three kinds of vermicompost and Pontoscolex corethrurus inoculation on plant yield and quality of broccoli were investigated in pot cultures organically. The experiment used a factorial complete randomized design which consisted of two factors. The first factor is the kind of vermicompost consisted of three levels: V1 = the mixture of spent mushrooms waste (SMW), cow dung (CD) and vegetable wastes (VW), V2=SMW, CD and leaf litter (LL), V3 = SMW, CD, VW and LL. The second factor is the population of P. corethrurus consisted of five levels: 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 indiv.m-2 and one control (inorganic treatment). Vermicompost was made by earthworm Lumbricus rubellus activity. The results of this study showed that the application of various vermicompost had significantly (p< 0.05) higher total biomass and marketable weight of broccoli than the control treatment. The highest total biomass (1.40-1.48 kg plant-1) was found on the vermicompost V1 and V2 with population 75 indiv.m2 and the vermicompost V3 with population 25-50 indiv.m-2. But the highest marketable weight (378.26-412.10 g plant-1) was found on the vermicompost V1 with population 50 indiv.m2, V2 with population 75 indiv.m-2and V3 without inoculation earthworm. Vermicompost application significantly increased the quality of broccoli compared to the control, with the increase in the contents of sugar and vitamin C by 53% and 35%, respectively. Vermicompost application significantly (p<0.05) also increased the shelf life of broccoli by average storage loss of 16,4% for the treatment of 7 days of storage at room temperature and 6,47% for the treatment of 14 days of storage at cold temperature compared to the control treatment by 59,53% and 19,79%, respectively. Overall. the treatments using vermicompost V1 and V3 gave the highest quality. Thus, this study suggested for the broccoli cultivation in organic potting media should use the vermicompost.