Effect of indigenous cellulolytic fungi enhancement on organic carbon and soybean production on peat soil

Abstract

The two main issues of any application of agricultural technologies in empowering peatlands for crop cultivation are their impacts on carbon storage and crop production. Indigenous cellulolytic fungi enhancement in peat is a technology to increase crop production on peat. The cellulolytic fungi decay lignocellulosic complex to release humic acids and improve soil fertility. We conducted a greenhouse (GH) experiment to study the organic C and soybean yield on enhanced peat soils with indigenous cellulolytic fungi. The experimental design to test soybean performance on peat was a completely randomized design (CRD) 3 treatments, i.e., fibric, hemic, and sapric of peat. There were six pots of each peat that were enriched by consortia of cellulolytic fungi Penicillium singorense, Aspergillus aculeatus, and Trichoderma sp. On average, CO2 flux increased from 0.39 mg CO2/kg/day to 0.72 mg CO2/kg/day, and the organic carbon and fiber content reduced 13.3% and 26.2%, respectively of all peat soils enriched by indigenous cellulolytic fungi. The highest beans yield of soybean was 3.56 g/population, equivalent to 1.25 tons/ha, was on sapric peat enriched by the cellulolytic fungi.