Transforming agriculture with vermicompost: 7-year empirical evidence from drought-prone and salinization-affected regions of Bangladesh

作者：Lokman Hossain, Khusnur Jahan Shapna, Jianfeng Li, Md. Humayain Kabir, Farzana Siddika, Saifullah Khandker, Carl Beierkuhnlein · 发表于：Journal of Cleaner Production · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.jclepro.2025.145595 · 被引用次数：23 · 研究领域：Agricultural Science and Fertilization、Crop Yield and Soil Fertility、Composting and Vermicomposting Techniques

Global agricultural production has been affected by the increased frequency of climate extremes (e.g., droughts) in dry regions and heightened soil and water salinity in coastal regions. Exploration of sustainable agricultural practices is central to addressing the impacts of climate-induced shocks, restore soil fertility, and ensure food security. While there is growing evidence of crop losses due to increased drought and soil salinity, empirical evidence on nature-based solutions for increasing crop production through soil fertility recovery remains limited and poorly understood. Investigating the soil nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) and salinity from the 37 field experiments (22 treatments and 15 control plots in 11 villages) over 2017–2023, this study examined the effects of vermicompost on soil nutrients and salinity (electrical conductivity [EC]) in drought-prone and salinization-affected regions of Bangladesh. Results reveal that the application of vermicompost reduced soil salinity in salinization-affected region and enhanced soil nutrient contents in both regions over 7 years. In vermicompost-utilized experiments in the salinization-affected region, soil salinity (EC1:5) levels decreased from 5.56–7.65 dS m −1 in 2017 to 4.93–5.89 dS m −1 in 2023. Soil salinity and nutrient contents showed significant differences among the vermicompost-applied experiments, while no detectable changes in salinity and nutrient contents were found in the controlled experimen...