Potential of Organic Wastes as Liming Materials in Low Input Rainfed Agricultural System

T P Swarnam,A Velmurugan

doi:10.5539/jas.v6n8p1

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted on an acid soil in a humid tropical Island of Andaman, India to explore the feasibility of using locally available organic wastes as liming materials after suitable composting. The organics such as coconut husk compost, poultry manure, vermicompost and gliricidia were incorporated at the rate of 20 Mg ha -1 and the amendment effect was compared with lime applied at the rate of 4 Mg ha -1 . Soil application of composted organic wastes significantly increased the soil pH. The exchangeable Al 3+ showed significant reduction in organic amended soils and completely disappeared in poultry manure and lime treated soils. Significant differences were observed in root volume by application of N rich organic materials compared to control (11.7 mm 3 ) and lime (23.3 mm 3 ) application which helped in increasing volume of soil foraged by maize roots. Poultry manure (3.79 t ha -1 ) and vermicompost (3.73 t ha -1 ) application recorded on par maize grain yield but significantly higher than the control (1.93 t ha -1 ). The results showed the potential of poultry manure and coconut husk composted with either poultry manure or gliricidia as alternate liming material for low input agricultural system prevailing in humid tropical Islands.

Highlights

Low fertility is the major factor limiting crop production in many humid tropical countries where precipitation exceeds evaporation
The organics such as coconut husk compost, poultry manure, vermicompost and gliricidia were incorporated at the rate of 20 Mg ha-1 and the amendment effect was compared with lime applied at the rate of 4 Mg ha-1
The results showed the potential of poultry manure and coconut husk composted with either poultry manure or gliricidia as alternate liming material for low input agricultural system prevailing in humid tropical Islands

Summary

Introduction

Low fertility is the major factor limiting crop production in many humid tropical countries where precipitation exceeds evaporation. Limestone is commonly applied as amendment to raise the pH to near neutrality for improving productivity of acid soils This improves the availability of macro nutrients such as N, P, Ca and Mg and reduces the solubility of Al3+ and Mn2+ which are toxic to crop plants (O’ Hallorans et al, 1997). Organic materials such as wood ash (Materechera, 2012), poultry manure (Chandrashekara et al, 2000; Haynes & Mokolobate, 2001; Amusan et al, 2011), green and animal manures (Nziguheba et al, 2000) were reported to increase the pH of acid soils and improve soil fertility by supplying essential plant nutrients. The increase in maize grain yield by application of organic manures and crop residues in acid soils was reported (Nziguheba et al, 2000; The et al, 2006)

Methods

Results

Conclusion