Compost making is not a method of study. It's the act of making compost. The same goes for the other three examples. Not a single one is a method of study.
"The subject of our study was..." would be correct.
'Producing compost' is essentially synonymous (i.e. saying the same thing as ) 'making compost'.
Grass and leaf waste, cow manure, soil and burning husks were used in the making of this compost. The resulting compost was then used as a growth medium [in which] to cultivate seeds.
or
Grass and leaf waste, cow manure, soil and burning husks were used in the production of this compost. The resulting compost was then used as a growth medium [in which] to cultivate seeds.
or
Grass and leaf waste, cow manure, soil and burning husks were used to make this compost. The resulting compost was then used as a growth medium [in which] to cultivate seeds.
or
Grass and leaf waste, cow manure, soil and burning husks were used to produce this compost. The resulting compost was then used as a growth medium [in which] to cultivate seeds.
Put together we get:
We studied the effectiveness of various methods of making compost. Grass and leaf waste, cow manure, soil and burning husks were used to produce this compost. The resulting compost was then used as a growth medium [in which] to cultivate seeds.
Or perhaps you do not mean you made one type of compost out of that one mix of materials.
Perhaps you meant:
We studied the effectiveness of making compost from various different composting materials. We tried making batches from each of: grass and leaf waste; cow manure; a combination of soil and burning husks. Each resulting batch of compost was then used as a growth medium [in which] to cultivate seeds.