Poultry manure and fungal consortium developed by including fungi of genus Aspergillus, Trichoderma and Phanerochaete were evaluated separately to degrade high silica paddy straw. The quality evaluation of composted organic wastes after two months of decomposition revealed that poultry manure amended paddy straw compost had a C:N ratio of 13.06 and germination index of 132%, compared to 15.29 and 114% of its fungal inoculated counterpart. Supplementation of paddy straw with poultry manure was as effective as its bioaugmentation with fungal consortium. The incorporation of poultry manure @ 3 t ha(-1) (T3) and Poultry manure amended paddy straw compost @ 3 t ha(-1) + N(60)P(40)K(30) (T4) separately to Soil under rice crop for two consecutive years, resulted in improved microbial biomass and different enzymatic activities responsible for nutrient cycling. T3 and T4 treatments recorded a grain yield improvement of 54.87 and 79.26% respectively in 2007 and 79 and 80.2% respectively in 2008 compared to N(120)P(80)K(60). (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.