Influence of earthworm humus and biofertilizers in the growth and yield of maize

The present work was conducted with the objective of evaluate the effect of earthworm humus, Glomus intraradices and Azospirillum brasilense on the growth, mineral nutrition and grain yield of maize. The experiment was accomplished in field under rain fed conditions in Teopisca, state of Chiapas, Mexico. We evaluate eight treatments that consisted in the application of earthworm humus (6 ton ha(-1)), with and without the inoculation and co-inoculation of G. intraradices and A. brasilense, under an experimental design of complete randomized blocks with four replications. The evaluated growth parameters: plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves and root volume were, respectively, 76.7, 31.9, 23.4 and 53.7% higher with the application of earthworm humus than without the manure. The shoot dry weight and grain yield were 142 and 27% higher in treatment with earthworm humus+Glomus+Azospirillum than in the control. It was found that earthworm humus improved vegetative growth of the plant and had a positive influence on the activity of biofertilizers to promote shoot dry matter production and grain yield of maize.