Soybean plant growth study conducted using purified protein hydrolysate-based fertilizer made from chrome-tanned leather waste.

Leather processing discharges enormous amount of chrome containing leather solid waste which creates a major disposal problem. Chrome-tanned leather solid waste is a complex of collagen and chromium. The presence of chromium limits protein application in fertilizer industry. The purified protein hydrolysate with zero chromium could be used as a nitrogen source for fertilizer formulation. In this study, an attempt has been made to employ purified protein hydrolysate derived from chrome-tanned leather shavings (CTLS) in formulation of fertilizer. The formulated fertilizer (1–3 t ha(-1)) is employed as nitrogen source in production of soybean. Plant growth study demonstrates that formulated fertilizer dosage 3 t ha(-1) produced similar effects of commercial fertilizer-treated plants. Application of formulated fertilizer yielded higher seed in plant than commercial fertilizer.