Abstract
One of the potential uses of treated sewage sludge is its application as a soil conditioner in agricultural fields. A factorial experiment was conducted to compare the main effects of biochar and sewage sludge and the interaction effect between biochar and sewage sludge on the plant uptake of copper and zinc and vegetable yield. The experiment was done in a green house and Chinese cabbage was used as the test crop. The experiment consisted of two factors namely, biochar and sewage sludge, each of which was applied to the soil at four levels. The copper and zinc concentration were determined in the laboratory based on Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. A two-way analysis of variance test was performed, and the Tukey’s HSD test was used to separate statistically significant treatment means at 5% level of significance. Results showed a significant interaction effect between biochar and sewage sludge (p = 0.012) on the level of copper concentration in plant tissue. It was observed that sewage sludge had a significant effect on zinc concentration (p < 0.001) in the plant tissue while biochar did not show any significant effect. Further, results showed significant increase in dry matter yield of Chinese cabbage with increasing levels of biochar applied (p < 0.001). This study demonstrates that biochar-treated sewage sludge has potential for use as a soil conditioner in vegetable production. However, it is recommended that care should be taken to avoid overuse by utilizing evaluated and treated sludge for soil amendment.
Highlights
In some peri-urban areas of Africa, the primary means of sanitation are pit latrines, partly due to the high cost that comes with handling and transportation of faecal sludge
We evaluated the effect of biochar-treated sewage sludge on yield and selected heavy metal concentration in vegetables
Biochar treated sewage sludge can potentially be used as a soil conditioner in agricultural fields
Summary
In some peri-urban areas of Africa, the primary means of sanitation are pit latrines, partly due to the high cost that comes with handling and transportation of faecal sludge. In recent years, the use of sewage sludge in agricultural lands has become common both as a way of disposal and for soil enrichment (Mantovi et al, 2005; Grobelak, et al, 2019). Sewage sludge has been reported to improve soil properties, increase crop productivity (Passuello et al, 2012), maintain and restore the quality of previously degraded soils along with reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers (Ojeda et al, 2003). Other materials such as biochar have been used as soil conditioners in agricultural fields (Gao & Thomas, 2016)
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