Effects of Fertilisation Using Organic Waste Products with Mineral Complementation on Sugarcane Yields and Soil Properties in a 4 Year Field Experiment

Frédéric Feder

doi:10.3390/agriculture11100985

Abstract

Sugarcane cultivation is suitable for the exploitation of organic waste products. However, minimum complementary mineral input is necessary for optimal fertilisation. Control mineral fertilisation treatments with mulch (MCM) or without mulch (MC) were compared with two organic waste treatments, a pig slurry with mulch (PSM) and without mulch (PS), and a sugarcane vinasse with mulch (SVM) and without mulch (SV) on a Nitisol in French Reunion Island. The sugarcane yields obtained with the different treatments differed each year. However, no trend was observed and no significant and recurrent effect of the presence of mulch or of the different treatments was identified over the course of the 4 year experiment. Soil pHw and pH KCl measured in the different treatments increased from year 3 in with the treatments including organic waste products (PS, PSM, SV and SVM) but remained constant with the treatments including only mineral fertilisation (MC and MCM). With the exception of PS and PSM, which were significantly higher in year 4, soil organic carbon content was not modified by the treatments. Soil cation exchange capacity increased only slightly with the PS and PSM treatments from year 3 on. The differences in yields and soil properties can be explained by the nature of the organic waste products, the accumulation of nutrients after several applications, and the specific characteristics of the sugarcane crop. The improvement in soil properties from the third year on was not reflected in the yield of sugarcane because it was too weak, and the crop explores a much larger volume of soil.

Highlights

For thousands of years, the use of organic waste products in agriculture mainly aimed at providing nutrients to crops, in addition to transforming and recycling these resources
The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether mineral fertilisation can be replaced for four consecutive years by organic fertilisation using pig manure supplemented with minimal K or distillery vinasse supplemented with minimal N, with no negative impacts on sugarcane yields or on the main soil characteristics
The sugarcane yields measured under the different treatments differed between years: the sugarcane yields measured under the MC treatments were statistically identical in all four years; the sugarcane yields measured under the MCM treatments were statistically identical in the first three years, whereas in year 4, the yield produced by the MCM treatment was lower than in year 3

Summary

Introduction

The use of organic waste products in agriculture mainly aimed at providing nutrients to crops, in addition to transforming and recycling these resources. The need to recycle organic waste products has continued to increase along with the quantities of waste produced; urbanisation is intensifying, and these waste products are accumulating increasingly farther from agricultural land [1]. The search for a means to optimise the recycling of organic waste products has intensified due to the rising costs of producing fertiliser and the need to limit resource wastage [2]. Knowledge of long-term ecosystem benefits, e.g., improvement of physical, chemical, and biological soil properties, and of the negative impacts of the production and use of fertilisers on global climate change [3,4] is renewing interest in recycling organic waste products. In some island contexts, such as in French Reunion Island, geographical, demographic, and environmental constraints combined with societal concerns, call for the urgent development and/or optimisation of soil ecosystem services and the recycling of such products

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Discussion

Conclusion