Efficacy of bio-compost from pineapple waste coupled with indigenous fungi strains Trichoderma spp. on soil fertility, nutrients uptake, growth, and yield of Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.

Purpose: The current study aimed to figure out the types and dosages of bio-composts supplied with cellulose degrading Trichoderma strains for ameliorating soil properties, and the growth and yield of pineapple. Method: The experiment with two factors followed a completely randomized block design, including 20 treatments (4 replications). The first factor (A) was the types of bio-composts inoculated with different Trichoderma spp., which were (i) the bio-compost supplied with the commercial Trichoderma (the Trichoderma of Can Tho University) as the positive control treatment, and the bio-compost supplied with Trichoderma strains of (ii) TC1 (TC1 bio-compost), (iii) TC2 (TC2 bio-compost), (iv) TC3 (TC3 bio-compost), and (v) TC1, TC2, and TC3 (TC123 bio-compost). The second factor (B) was rates of bio-compost used (t ha^-1) as follows: (i) 1, (ii) 2, (iii) 3, and (iv) 4. Results: The application of TC123 bio-compost at 4 t ha^-1 contributed to the greatest available N, soluble P, concentrations, and N, P, and K uptake values. The treatments with the TC123 bio-compost correspondingly increased plant height, leaf number, D-leaf length, peduncle height, fruit length, and fruit width by 1.9, 31.8, 16.7, 5.4, 7.8, and 12.1%, in comparison with the treatments with the positive control. The TC123 bio-compost fertilization increased fruit size, resulting in enhanced pineapple yield by 9.80% in comparison with the commercial bio-compost fertilization. Conclusion: The TC123 bio-compost surpassed the commercial one in enhancing the characteristics of pineapples (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr). At 4 t.ha^-1, this bio-compost performed the greatest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]