Effect of Municipal Solid Waste Compost and Sewage Sludge on yield and Yield Components of Black Cumin (Nigella sativa L. )

Abstract\ud In order to investigate the effect of municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) and sewage sludge (SS) on yield and yield components of black cumin (Nigella sativa L.) an experiment was conducted in greenhouse of Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. Municipal solid waste compost at 0, 15, 30 ton/ha (C0, C15 and C30) and sewage sludge at 0, 15, 30 ton/ha (S0, S15 and S30) were used in a factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with three replications. Results showed that municipal solid waste compost and sewage sludge and their interaction effects had significant effects on plant height, number of capsule per plant, number of seeds per capsule, number of seeds per plant, seed yield, biomass and 1000 seed weight. Increasing of sewage sludge amount from 15 to 30 ton/ha increased all measured parameters. But with increasing of municipal solid waste compost from 15 to 30 ton/ha, plant height, number of capsule per plant, number of seeds per capsule, number of seeds per plant, seed yield, biomass and 1000 seed weight were decreased. Interaction effects of municipal solid waste compost and sewage sludge showed that yield and yield components in all treatments were increased with the exception of treatment that contained 30 ton/ha municipal solid waste and 0 ton/ha sewage sludge (C30S0). Use of high amounts of municipal solid waste compost (>15 ton/ha) had a detrimental effect on yield and yield components of black cumin.\ud \ud Keywords: Nigella sativa, Municipal solid waste compost, Sewage sludge, Yield and yield component