Development of Nutrient Stocks and Soil Properties of Restored Solid Waste Dump After 5 Years of Afforestation with Guava Fruit Orchard

Abstract

The disposal of industrial solid wastes damages the terrestrial ecosystem due to the complete removal of vegetation cover, deterioration in soil quality and loss of soil nutrients. Therefore, the restoration of waste dumps is mandatory with forestry development especially with fruit orchard to make it self-sustainable. The present study assessed chronological variation in soil properties and nutrient stock from two profile depths (0–10 and 10–20 cm) in restored waste dump (RWD) of an integrated sponge iron unit, Chhattisgarh, India. With reclamation age, soil characteristics such as organic carbon (SOC), moisture content, nutrient content, organic matter, bulk density, soil fraction (<2 mm) improved with afforestation age. The total stock ranged between 4.32–19.5 Mg C ha−1, 1.11–2.29 Mg N ha−1 and 0.0005–0.0015 Mg P ha−1 in 0–20 cm profile depth and was significantly varied amongst the reclaimed chronosequence and natural forest sites. The surface layer (0–10 cm) showed more than half of the nutrient stocks among different profile sampling. Magnitude of variations in soil characteristics may be attributed to the development of guava orchard. After 5 years of afforestation with fruit orchard, SOC and nutrient stocks recovered by 80% compared to natural forest site which may help to endure nutrient cycle and serve as an indicator of the re-establishment of a self-sustainable ecosystem. The present study suggested the use of guava fruit orchard as a reclamation strategy for sponge iron waste dump with significant recovery of SOC and nutrient stock.