DIFFERENT SOURCES OF INOCULUM TO THE BOKASHI PROVIDES DISTINCT EFFECTS ON THE SOIL QUALITY

Abstract

Bokashi soil conditioner aims to assist in the resilience of natural microbiota and its associated functions. Currently, there are several formulations of this conditioner, however, little is known about the influence of the sources of inoculum on the quality of the same. This study objective was to evaluate the effects of different sources of bokashi inoculum on microbiological and physical attributes of the soil. The experiment was conducted in tubes designated as microcosms, incubated at 24 °C for 32 days, with 4 treatments and 10 replications: C - control; SI - bokashi bran without inoculum; IN1 - bokashi with forest inoculum; IN2 - bokashi with consortium inoculum. The microbiological parameters of colony forming units of fungi and bacteria, microbial biomass carbon, basal soil respiration, metabolic and microbial quotient were evaluated. Among the physical parameters evaluated were dispersed clay, geometric mean diameter and organic carbon. The data were submitted to ANOVA and the measurements compared by the Tukey test at 5%. The fungal density was significantly higher for SI and IN1, as compared to the other treatments. In regards to the bacteria, there was an increase for IN1, in comparison with the control. The IN1 treatment demonstrated higher microbial activity and higher C uptake in the soil. Regarding the physical attributes, there was greater clay dispersion for IN2 and greater GMD for C. The bokashi formulation with forest inoculum and cropping field provides higher microbiological quality to the soil under controlled conditions.