Abstract
Currently distillery effluents have attracted worldwide attention for their application in agricultural land. The present investigation deals with the effect of application of various dosages of distillery effluent irrigation on soil physicochemical, Cellulase and Urease activities in a tropical agricultural field. Experiment was designed in factorial model by using randomized block design. Soil cores were sampled from the selected pits of both polluted and non polluted (control) sites. Majority of soil physicochemical properties (e.g. silt, clay, electrical conductivity, organic matter, total nitrogen contents, cellulase and urease activities) were significantly higher in the samples from polluted site than the non polluted site just after 15 to 30 days of incubation. Although application of effluents at lower rate substantially increased the enzyme activities, the same decreased at high effluent concentration. Prolonged incubation period resulted in gradual suppression of enzyme activity in both polluted and nonpolluted soil samples. Thus, the present investigation suggest that with the passage of time substrate for enzyme activity decreases which in association with residual toxicity resulted in the reduced enzyme activity.
Highlights
Introduction and MethodsApplication of distillery effluent on degraded soils is one of the most economical resources for the soil fertility amelioration through improvement in soil water-holding capacity, texture, structure, nutrients retention, roots penetration, and reduction in soil acidity (O’Brien et al 2002; Aravena et al 2007; Rato Nunes et al 2008)
The present investigation deals with the effect of application of various dosages of distillery effluent irrigation on soil physicochemical, Cellulase and Urease activities in a tropical agricultural field
The results indicated that distillery effluent discharged soil had relatively higher clay and silt contents than the control soil Other studies have found the same, like long term application of sewage effluents (Abdelnainm et al, 1987) and cotton ginning mill effluents (Narasimha et al, 1999)
Summary
Introduction and MethodsApplication of distillery effluent on degraded soils is one of the most economical resources for the soil fertility amelioration through improvement in soil water-holding capacity, texture, structure, nutrients retention, roots penetration, and reduction in soil acidity (O’Brien et al 2002; Aravena et al 2007; Rato Nunes et al 2008). Its application in soil results in environmental problems (Cruz et al 1991) because apart from organic content and nutrients, sludge includes heavy metals, colored compounds, dissolved inorganic salts, chlorinated lignin, and phenolic derivatives (Chandra et al 2004). These compounds may change soil physicochemical properties and soil enzyme activities. Soil enzymes activities play an essential role in catalyzing reactions which are necessary for the decomposition of organic matter and nutrient cycling in ecosystems, involving a range of plants, microorganisms, animals and their debris (Johansson et al, 2000). Changes in enzymes activity could alter the availability of nutrients for plant uptake and these changes are potentially sensitive indicators of soil quality (Ajwa et al, 1999; Albiach et al, 2000)
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