Sustaining productivity and quality of yunnanopilia longistaminea through vermicompost-induced soil and physiological enhancements

Vermicompost contains humic acids, nutrients, worm excretions, beneficial microbes, growth hormones, and enzymes that enhance soil health, thereby improving crop productivity. In this study, a pot trial was conducted with various doses of vermicompost (VC) i.e., VC0 = 0% (control); VC1 = 1%; VC2 = 5%; VC3 = 10%, to assess its effects on the growth, productivity, quality and soil enzymatic traits following by the harvesting of Y. longistaminea seedlings. The findings revealed that VC application showed dose- dependent response for sustaining the overall productivity by improving photosynthetic activities (95.60%), minimizing the lipid peroxidation (50.24%) and maintaining a balanced regulation of enzymatic antioxidants. The use of VC had a huge positive effect on plant growth and productivity. An optimum VC level (5%) significantly improved photosynthetic response, oxidative stress, and the balance of antioxidant enzyme activities, whereas a stronger dose (10%) had relatively lower advantages. VC (5%) also led to a greater accumulation of osmotic regulatory substances in plants, such as soluble sugars and proteins, and physiological stability. Moreover, increasing the VC doses boosted the activity of key soil enzymes such as soil aryl-acylamidase, soil catalase activity, soil urease activity, soil dehydrogenase and soil sucrase activity compared with control (VC0) after the harvesting of Y. longistaminea seedlings. Collectively, the study presents the first report on the use of VC as biostimulant to enhance the productivity and quality traits of hidden gem Y. longistaminea, by the synergistic approach involving higher photosynthetic efficiency and improved soil health.