Application of Doses of Vermicompost In a Saline Soil On Chili (Capsicum annuum L.) Plant Growth Under Greenhouse Conditions

The intensive farming and excessive irrigation, uncontrolled, with water containing high salts concentrations, originate serious problems of salinization in soils and their improvement is a big problem for producers. Is necessary to look for new alternatives to saline soils improvement, some alternatives are organic products, as vermicompost. It is recognized that vermicompost provides a better soil structure, porosity and moisture retention capacity and a large amount of nutrients. The objective of this study was to evaluate the application of vermicompost doses in a saline soil and chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) plant growth under greenhouse conditions. This work was carried out in Tecomán, Colima, located in the Central Pacific Coast in México, in the Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad de Colima. Soil samples were taken from a farm located at 20 Km from the Campus where the study was done. Doses used were 0 (T), 25 (T₂), 50 (T₃), 75 (T₄) and 100 (T₅) vermicompost g/kg of soil with 15 replications. In the original soil the following chemical analysis were done: pH, organic matter, electrical conductivity and soluble anions and cations. When these chemical analyses were done, soil was leached to decrease salt concentration, and, after leaching, the same chemical determinations were carried out to the soil samples. Chili (Capsicum annuum L.) plants were used. Plant height was measured each 7 days. At the final of the experiment, also were measured leaf area, fresh and dry weight of roots and aerial. Data were analyzed using SAS program. Results showed that vermicompost application had beneficial effects on pH and organic matter, because was decreased and increased respectively, but electrical conductivity was increased, respecting to soil after leaching. The statistical analysis showed that the variables analyzed had their highest values in treatment T₅, both the chemical analysis and crop parameters, as foliar area and height, where differences were statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05), observing also that in the same treatment had a survival of 100%. Our conclusions are that the application of vermicompost to a leached saline soil decrease pH and increases soil organic matter concentration, then, the application contributes to that crops have a growth better, but we must to take in count that electrical conductivity could be increased.