Impact of In-situ Composting of Sugarcane Trashes on Soil Nutrients and Fertility

Abstract

Background: Sugarcane is one of the important commercial crops in India. Sugarcane trashes are considered as a problem to the farmers, because of the cost of labour for its disposal. Farmers wishes to compost in the field itself to reduce the cost. A field experiment was conducted for the in-situ composting of sugarcane trashes at the Sugarcane Research Station, Cuddalore. Methods: The sugarcane trashes have wide C:N ratio, which is not suitable for the microbial degradation. Hence, for the in-situ composting of sugarcane trashes, a combination of Rock phosphate: gypsum: urea in the ratio of 5:4:1 (named as SRS mixture) was added to narrow the C:N ratio. For the quick degradation, the microbial consortia namely Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Bio mineralizer, (TNAU Bio mineralizer) commercially available Effective Microbes (EM) solution and the cow dung slurry were compared. Result: During the degradation period, the pH was slightly reduced and subsequently increased to neutral; reduction in EC, organic carbon, Carbon: Nitrogen ratio and increase in the nitrogen content was also noted. Field soil analysis indicated increase in the primary nutrient content especially in the treatments with TNAU Bio mineralizer and commercial EM solution. For the in-situ composting of sugarcane trashes, SRS mixture 100 kg t-1 followed by TNAU bio mineralizer 2 kg t-1 may be applied immediately after the harvest of the canes.