Nutrients being a major constraint in the development of modern agriculture, harvesting the nutrient energy from biological and industrial waste is of prime importance for maximizing the food grain production in the world. When these wastes are recycled through soil for crop production, due to the degradative and assimilative capacity of soil, the pollution hazards of these wastes can be minimized to a greater extent as compared to direct disposing of at the site. A number of industrial wastes like fly ash from thermal power plants, paper factory sludge from paper factory, sewage sludge from municipal source and farmyard manure from livestock farming are the important waste resources, having potentiality in recycling in agricultural land. Fly ash is a waste product residue resulting from the combustion of pulverized coal in coal-fired power generating station. Physico–chemical analysis of fly ash has revealed the presence of both macro-micro nutrients, which can sustain plant growth. Its application in the agricultural land acts as a liming material and improves crop growth by neutralizing the soil acidity, increasing the water availability for the plants and supplement of nutrients. Application of paper factory sludge has been reported to increase the organic carbon content in soil and nutrient content like P, K, Ca, Mg and micronutrients. Sludge application also improves the organic carbon content of the soil and availability of nutrients like Ca, K and Mg besides improvement of physical properties. Much is known regarding crop performance and changes in physical and chemical properties of soil due to the application of such organic wastes. However, little is explored regarding the influence of various wastes on soil microbiology and its impact on nodulation and yield of leguminous crop like peanut. Soil biology is a significant component of soil quality and is the catalytic agent responsible for many transformations occurring in soil, most notably the reactions involved in nutrient cycling. Thus it is meaningful to evaluate the physical, chemical and biological aspects of soil quality by addition of such organic wastes. The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of industrial, municipal and agricultural waste on the performance of a leguminous crop like peanut and on the total microbial and Rhizobium population in soil rhizosphere. The potential for using industrial, municipal and agricultural wastes as a source of nutrient on microbial population, nodulation and yield of peanut grown in lateritic soil of coastal belt of Bay of Bengal in the eastern India was studied in a field experiment at the Agricultural and Food Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India,for two consecutive seasonsA. Fly Ash (FA) from thermal power plant, Paper Factory Sludge (PFS) from paper factory, Municipal Waste (MW), City Waste (CW) from Calcutta Corporation, India and Farm Yard Manure (FYM) was applied alone or in combinations with Chemical Fertilizer (CF). Integrated nutrient sources FA10*+PFS4.2+CF, FA10+MW10+CF, FA10+CW2.5+CF, FA10+FYM2.4+CF, FYM2.4+L2+CF could increase pod yield of peanut from 45.4% to 168.6% over control. Total as well as Rhizobium population was substantially increased with application of organic waste like PFS and FYM in combination with FA and CF. The positive effect of these treatments was also observed in increasing both total and effective nodules per plant. The waste material showed a great potentiality in using as a source of nutrient for cultivation of peanut in lateritic soil. * Suffix: Doses in tones per hectare