Enriched Compost Research Articles

Effect of enriched compost and crop establishment methods on productivity and profitability of rice (Oryza sativa)

A field experiment was conducted during kharif 2018-19 at ICAR-IARI, New Delhi to study the effect of rice (Oryza sativa L.) establishment methods and enriched organic nutrient sources on growth and productivity of rice. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications having two main plot treatments, viz. aerobic rice (AR) and conventional transplanted (CT) rice and five sub plot treatments, viz. Control (No fertilizer), 100% RDF (100% mineral fertilization), 50% P through P enriched compost + 50% P through DAP, 50% N through N enriched compost + 50% N through urea and DAP and 100% organic (through N enriched compost and P enriched compost). Results showed that plant growth, productivity and profitability were significantly superior in CT rice than AR. Among the nutrient management options, 50% N through N enriched compost + 50% N through urea and DAP resulted in significantly higher grain yield (4.85 and 5.13 t/ha), gross (₹ 1.35 lakh and 1.43 lakh) and net return (₹ 85 lakh and 0.85 lakh) and yield attributes than other treatments and it was at par with 50% P through P enriched compost + 50% P through DAP in both the years. Hence, the conventional transplanting of rice along with integrated application of enriched compost and inorganic fertilizer may be recommended to farmers for getting higher productivity and profitability in rice.

Study on Productivity, Quality and Profitability of Soybean (Glycine max L.) as Influenced by Fertility Levels and Enriched Compost in Typic Haplustepts Soil

Background: Enriched composts supply the plant nutrients and add a sufficient amount of organic matter to the soil, which helps in improving the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil. It helps to maintain and sustain soil fertility for enhancing crop productivity and also acts as a recess for microbes and enriches the soil with a variety of the indigenous micro-flora and fauna. Hence, the present investigation was carried out to study the effect of fertility levels and enriched compost on productivity, quality and profitability of soybean (Glycine max L.) in sub-humid southern plain and Aravalli hills region of Rajasthan. Methods: The experiment was undertaken during kharif 2018 at Rajasthan College of agriculture, Udaipur (Rajasthan) in a factorial randomized block design with three replications. The treatments were comprised of three levels of recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF) (control, 50% RDF and 100% RDF) and four levels of enriched compost (control, 2.0, 4.0 and 6.0 t ha-1). Result: The increasing fertility levels upto 100% RDF and enriched compost upto 4 t ha-1, significantly increased (P=0.05) the plant height, dry matter accumulation, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, seed yield, haulm yield and protein and oil content in seed of soybean. However, the combined application of 100% RDF along with 6 t ha-1 enriched compost recorded higher seed and haulm yield. The results further revealed that the application of 100% RDF and 4 t ha-1 enriched compost significantly improved the productivity, quality and profitability of soybean under Typic Haplustepts soil.

Available Phosphorus in Soils Amended with Organic N-Enriched Composts during Periods of Incubation

Inorganic nitrogen (N) fertilizers, microbial inoculum and biologically-active substances are used to fortify composts which characteristically contain low amounts of N. The potentials of organic wastes from agriculture for N enrichment of composts were indicated by significant increase in soil N while there can be fortuitous improvement in the available phosphorus (P) contents on which information about the extent is lacking. In this study, composts: cow dung + sawdust (CDSD) and poultry droppings + sawdust (PDSD) were enriched with meals from bone (BN), blood (BM), hoof (HF) and horn (HN); and neem leaf (NM) and tithonia leaf (TM) to attain 150, 300, 450 and 600 g kg-1 N and the available P was monitored at four-week intervals during 16 weeks of incubation in soil. Available P increased with all N sources and enrichment rates slightly at week 4 but highly from week 8 and for each source, the enrichment to 600 g kg-1 N gave the highest values. The composts enriched to 450 and 600 g kg-1 N gave 15-20 and 20-29 mg kg-1 available P in week 12 and 16 respectively. CDSDBM and PDSDHF enriched to 600 g kg-1 N at week 4 and 8 respectively can be used for short-season crops while PDSDBM and PDSDNM enriched to 600 g kg-1 N in week 12 and 16 respectively would be suitable for long-season crops. The PDSDNM enriched to 600 g kg-1 N gave the highest available P (29.0 mg kg-1) and was followed by PDSDBN and PDSDHF at the same enrichment level, with 28.0 mg kg-1 each. Although the PMSDNM enriched to 600 g kg-1N had the highest available P in week 16, the enriched composts with values exceeding 20 mg kg-1 also have potentials for the cultivation of long-season vegetables.

Quantifying the effects of co-composting organic biomass mixtures with inorganic amendments to obtain value-added bio-products.

Co-digestion of organic biomass mixed with inorganic amendments could have an impact on composting dynamics. Various studies highlighted fertilizers’ role as an additive to lesser the nitrogen loss, while some studies focused on the addition of fertilizers to enhance the efficiency. The changes in carbon, nitrogen components, and humic substances during the organic-inorganic co-compost process were seldom studied. Clarifying these changes might help improve the production process and compost nutrients contents. Thus, this study’s purpose is to investigate the effects of inorganic amendments on compost characteristics, compost temperature, biochemical methane production (BMP), and nutritional contents. The inorganic phosphorous (P), sulfur (S), and sulfur solubilizing agent (SSA) were added to Farmyard manure (FYM) mixed with biodegradable waste (BW), including wheat straw, corn stalks, and green lawn waste. The P and S amended treatments were carried out into two sets, with and without SSA. The mixed feedstocks were added in the insulated RBC composting pit (15 x 15 x 10 feet). The compost material’s moisture content was maintained 50–65% during the entire composting process for optimum waste digestion i.e., the moisture content (MC) of FYM was 82.7% and for BW ranged 8.8–10.2%, while the C/N ratio was found 10.5 for FYM, 74.5 for wheat straw, 83.5 for corn stalks, and 84.8 for lawn waste. At the condition of compost maturity, the inorganic amendments have no significant effect on composted material’s moisture content. The maximum organic matter of 69.7% and C/N ratio of 44.6 was measured in T1. On the 6th day of composting, the temperature reached to thermophilic range (>45 oC) in all the treatments due to aeration of compost increased microbial activities and waste decomposition rate and decreased gradually to mesophilic range (35–45 oC) because the supply of high-energy compounds becomes exhausted. The highest temperature was reached in T4 (58 oC) and lowest in CT (47 oC). The significantly maximum methane of 8.95 m3 and biogas burning was 818 minutes in CT, followed by T1 and T4. The results of this study revealed that P enriched compost is a feasible and sustainable way to overcome P deficiency in the soil as well as in plants and best way to use low-grade P and organic waste material.

Compost Produced with Addition of Sewage Sludge as a Source of Fe and Mn for Plants

Abstract Direct application of sewage sludge to soil is controversial due to, among others, its highly variable composition, odour, and risks for health. The obtained composts with the addition of sewage sludge were tested for the contents and availability of manganese and iron. Once composts were applied to the soil, their effect on the content and availability of Mn and Fe in soil and bioaccumulation in the plant were determined. The addition of sewage sludge enriched composts with manganese and iron, but did not increase the content of water-extracted forms of Mn and Fe. The compost with addition of biochar had more organic matter-bound forms of Mn and Fe. Composts amended with sewage sludge had lower effect on the amount of Poa pratensis L. biomass than maize straw compost. The content of Mn and Fe in Poa pratensis L. was in the range permissible for biomass used as fodder. Smaller addition of all composts to the soil significantly increased the content of mobile manganese forms; however, neither the type nor the dose had effect on the content of iron mobile forms. There was no significant differences in the content of organic matter-bound forms of Mn and Fe in soil after the application of composts.

Comparing the phosphorus use efficiency of pre-treated (organically) rock phosphate with soluble P fertilizers in maize under calcareous soils.

In calcareous soils, phosphorus (P) availability to plant is impaired due to the formation of insoluble complexes with calcium and magnesium. Therefore, this study was executed to compare the P use efficiency (PUE) of four different P sources [rock phosphate (RP), acidulated rock phosphate (ARP), single super phosphate (SSP) and di ammonium phosphate (DAP)] alone or pre-treated with organic amendments (farm yard manure (FYM) enriched compost, simple compost and humic acid (HA)) along with control in maize crop under calcareous soils. All treatments irrespective of P sources received 90 kg P2O5 ha−1. Phosphorus application regardless of its sources and combination with organic amendments significantly improved maize growth, yield as well as P uptake and PUE. Rock phosphate when applied alone was recorded inferior but its performance significantly improved with compost or its pre-addition with FYM and HA, that further enhanced upon acidulation. Maize grain yield increased by 21, 22.2, 67.9 and 94% with RP, ARP, ARP enriched compost and ARP+ compost respectively, over control. Similarly, PUE of DAP improved from 31.7 to 43.1 and 39 with sample and enriched compost correspondingly. Post-harvest soil and grain P were at par for SSP, ARP and DAP alone or in conjugation with organic amendments when averaged across the amendments. These results suggested that pretreatment of P sources with organic amendments is an economical and more feasible approach to improve maize yield and PUE. Moreover, on-farm acidulation of RP may give at par results with SSP and DAP with cheaper rate and hence recommended for P management in maize in alkaline calcareous soils.

Calcium oxide, potassium phosphite and a Trichoderma enriched compost water suspension protect Capsicum annuum against Phytophthora capsici by priming the immune system.

BACKGROUNDProper management of Phytophthora capsici in pepper cultivation is extremely important, since Phytophthora blight is the main disease of this crop worldwide. In the past, the main strategy adopted had been the use of fungicides, causing, in some cases, the development of P. capsici resistant strains. In this work three different treatments selected from previous studies (potassium phosphite, calcium oxide and a water suspension from Trichoderma sp. TW2 enriched compost) were tested to prove their ability to activate the systemic acquired resistance (SAR) in pepper against P. capsici; acibenzolar‐s‐methyl was used as positive control. Two independent growth chamber pot experiments were performed, spatially dividing the site of treatments application (as radical drench) and the site of inoculation (as agar plug on the third leaf).RESULTSLeaf lesions were measured, showing a significant reduction on all treated plants compared to the untreated control. To further confirm this hypothesis, the expression levels of three SAR key genes (CaPBR1, CaPO1 and CaDEF1) were evaluated though RT‐Real Time PCR at the three end‐point times: T0, T6 and T24. A significant increase of target genes expression at least in one end‐point time in each treated plant was observed. Eventually, statistical overaccumulation of salicylic acid was observed in the upper leaves at the same end‐point times, through HPLC‐MS/MS analysis.CONCLUSIONThis work confirmed the hypothesis that the three treatments tested have the ability to prime the plant immune system, leading pepper to an alert status able to confer a better defence against P. capsici. © 2021 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Effective management and composting of organic wastes using new developed consortia

The process of composting is a feasible biological treatment for the recycling of organic wastes as an amendment or fertilizer. The objective of this study was to qualify an optimum consortium during 120 days composting for different beds (manure, sawdust, leaves and straw) in order to understand the process of composting. Different parameters such as total organic carbon, total nitrogen and carbon-to-nitrogen ratio were measured at the first, middle and end of composting period. The pH widely fluctuated (6.59–9.38) in rotten caw manure (RCM) consortia; but, the same trend has been observed in other consortia during the experiment. There were significant differences among the treatments with increase in organic matter loss (OM loss) and decrease of total organic carbon and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) over time. During composting process, total nitrogen in RCM and Pantoea Agglomerans bacteria (PAB) consortia increased to 2.95% and 3.02%, respectively, which led to significant decrease in carbon-to-nitrogen ratio for some treatments at the end of experiment. Manure treated-consortia recorded numerically higher solution forms of potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus and carbon-to-nitrogen ratio normally ranged between standard limit of other studied beds. Manure-composted RCM that reached the standard values to efficiency improves soil and plant properties than other combinations. The new consortia will be able to reduce the required time for decomposition by supplying the nutrient enriched compost products.

Maturity indices as an index to evaluate the quality of sulphur enriched municipal solid waste compost using variable byproduct of sulphur

The aim of this study was to assess the maturity indicators of municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) enrichment with different byproduct of (sugar and fertilizer industry) sulphur (S). The concentration of total S (TS), water-soluble S (WSS), HCl extractable S and available S were significantly different in composts prepared through different byproduct of S with MSW. WSS varied from 4.6 to 5.9% of TS after 120 days of the composting period, whereas, available S varied from 14.5 − 8.6% of TS. S enriched MSW compost had lower C/N, C/S ratio and higher nitrification index as well as lower phyto-toxicity, demonstrating that composts are properly matured and stabilised. Highest compost quality index (0.97) was recorded with S1 compost. Arylsulphatase activity significantly increased with compost maturity. Results stated that all S enriched products maintained a superior amount of plant nutrients and quality indices, indicating that S enriched compost could be a possible substitute for expensive fertilizers.

Fractional Release Kinetics of Phosphorus from Compost Amended with Phosphate Rock

ABSTRACT A study was undertaken to investigate the rate of dissolution of the various Phosphorus (P) sources in an alluvial soil of Bihar under an incubation experiment in the laboratory for 35 days with 5 treatments viz., Control; RP (Rock Phosphate) @ 100% of the RDP (Recommended Dose of Phosphorus); 100% of RDF (Recommended Dose of Fertilizer NPK); REC (Rock phosphate Enriched Compost) @ 100% of the RDP and 50% RDP+REC @ 50% of the RDP. The P release pattern was determined for every treatment at a sampling interval of 7 days. The integrated treatment involving REC and P-fertilizer (50:50) performed better than other treatments. This combination released greater labile P (16.14 mgkg−1), Fe-Al-bound P (74.48 mgkg−1), and Ca bound P (147.04 mgkg−1) in soil. It could be concluded that enriched compost (50%) along with the reduced application (50%) of inorganic P fertilizer could be very helpful in supplementing the P requirement of plants by increasing its release and availability under naturally P deficient conditions.

Improving Chemical and Microbial Properties of Calcareous Soil and its Productivity of Faba Bean (Vicia faba L.) Plants by using Compost Tea Enriched with Humic Acid and Azolla

This study evaluated the effect of compost teas enriched with humic acid and/or azolla on soil chemical and microbial properties as well as on yield and plant measurements of faba bean (Vicia faba L. c.v. 843) plants. A field experiment was carried out on calcareous soil of El Nobaria area, El-Beheira Governorate, Egypt during grown winter season of 2018/2019. The four compost teas treatments were: without any supplemental (NECT), enriched with humic acid (ECTH), enriched with azolla extract (ECTAz) and enriched with humic acid and azolla extract (ECTHAz). All treatments were applied to calcareous soils at two different rates (120 and 240 L.ha-1), through drip irrigation system. At 50 day of planting, nodules number, dehydrogenase activity (DHA) as well as fresh and dry weights of shoots were determined. Also, at harvest stage, straw and seeds yields of faba bean and soil chemical properties (pH, EC, CEC, CaCO3 and OM) and its content of macro-micronutrients (N, P, K, Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu) were determined. Generally, in most of the studied attributes in soil or plants, the greater effect was found with the treatment of ECTH, ECTAz and/or ECTHAz treatments. There is a superior increase effect of enriched compost teas (ECTH, ECTAz, ECTHAz) on nodules numbers, DHA, straw and seeds yield of faba bean plants compared to these of NECT and control treatments. The treatments of enriched compost teas significantly increased the seeds macro-micronutrients content compared to control. Also, enriched compost teas applications improved soil chemical and microbial properties and its content of available macro and micronutrients than those found with NECT treatments. Compost tea especially that enriched with humic acid and azolla extract can be used to improve calcareous soil and its productivity of faba bean plant.

Polyphasic Characterization of Plant Growth Promoting Cellulose Degrading Bacteria Isolated from Organic Manures.

In the present study, twenty seven cellulose-degrading bacteria (CDB) were isolated from various organic manures and their cellulolytic activities were determined. The bacterial isolate CDB-26 showed the highest cellulolytic index, released 0.507 ± 0.025mg/ml glucose and produced 0.196 ± 0.014IU/ml cellulase enzyme under in vitro conditions. Biochemically, all the 27 isolates showed difference in the 6 biochemical tests performed. Further, all the 27 CDB isolates were subjected to various plant growth-promoting activities, and all CDB strains were positive for IAA production, GA3 production and siderophore production, whereas 19 strains were positive for ACC deaminase activity, 21 strains showed NH3 production and 19 strains were positive for HCN production. Out of 27 CDB isolates, 18 isolates were able to solubilize phosphate, 21 isolates were able to solubilize potash and 10 CDB isolates were found positive for silica solubilization. The molecular diversity among different CDB isolates was studied through ARDRA and demonstrated very high genetic diversity among these bacteria. The in vitro cellulose-degradation potential of these CDB isolates using vegetable waste as substrate were also assessed, and the 3 CDB isolates viz. Serratia surfactantfaciens (CDB-26), Stenotrophomonas rhizophila (CDB-16) and Pseudomonas fragi (CDB-5) showed the highest cellulose-degrading potential under in vitro conditions. Hence, the cellulolytic microbes isolated in the present study could be used for effective bioconversion of plant biomasses into enriched compost.

Impact of Soil Acidity Influenced by Long-term Integrated Use of Enriched Compost, Biofertilizers, and Fertilizer on Soil Microbial Activity and Biomass in Rice Under Acidic Soil

To elucidate the effects of soil acidity influenced by 10 years of application of enriched compost (ECM), biofertilizers, and chemical fertilizers in integration on soil microbial activity and biomass in rice crop under acidic condition of soil. A field experiment was performed with five treatments, namely, T1, absolute control; T2, 100% recommended doses of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K); T3, 50% NP + 100% K + biofertilizers; T4, 50% NP + 100% K + 1 t ECM ha−1; and T5, 25% NP + 100% K + 2 t ECM ha−1, in a randomized block design. And each treatment was repeated four times. Experimental findings revealed that pH-dependent acidity, exchangeable acidity, and total potential acidity increased with soil depth; however, the application of ECM effectively controlled various forms of soil acidity by 31, 31, and 35%, respectively, in surface soil layer (0–5 cm). Soil acidity is greatly influenced by nutrient management practices; thus, the ECM application recorded significantly higher soil microbial biomass and soil functional diversity within all layers of soil over the 100% recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) (T2). In comparison to 100% RDF, integrated nutrient management (INM) practices enhanced the microbial activities, viz., β-glucosidase, β-galactosidases, β-glucosaminidase, phenol oxidase, and peroxidase activities, by 18, 19, 20, 21, and 8%, respectively, at the surface soil layer. The use of ECM and chemical fertilizers in integration increases enzymatic activity and microbial density in the soil by controlling various forms of soil acidity.

Effect of Phospho Enriched Compost and Zinc on Productivity and Nutrient Uptake of Blackgram (Vigna mungo L.) in Sub-humid Southern Hills and Aravalli Region of Rajasthan

Background: Phosphorus (P) and zinc (Zn) are essential plant nutrients and their deficiency in soils has the adverse effect on the crop productivity, moreover the antagonistic effect of P on Zn is also important study aspect. Hence, the present investigation was carried out to study the effect of phospho enriched compost and zinc on productivity, nutrient content and uptake of Blackgram (Vigna mungo L.) in Sub-humid Southern Hills and Aravalli region of Rajasthan. Methods: The experiment was undertaken during Kharif 2018 at Rajasthan College of agriculture, Udaipur (Rajasthan). The treatments comprised of four levels of phospho enriched compost (PEC) i.e. control, PEC @ 2.0, 4.0 and 6.0 t ha-1 and four levels of zinc i.e. control, Zn @ 2.0, 4.0 and 6.0 kg ha-1. The experiment was laid out in a factorial randomized block design with three replications.Result: The increasing levels of phospho enriched compost and zinc upto 4 t ha-1 and 4 kg ha-1, respectively increased significantly (P=0.05) the number of nodules per plant, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, test weight, seed yield, stover yield, nutrient content (N, K and Zn) and uptake (N, P, K and Zn) in seed and stover of blackgram. Whereas, the application of zinc significantly decreased the phosphorus content in seed and stover as compared to control. However, the combined application of phospho enriched compost @ 6 t ha-1 along with zinc @ 6 kg ha-1 was found to record higher seed and stover yield. The application of phospho enriched compost @ 4 t ha-1 and zinc @ 4 kg ha-1 along with the recommended dose of fertilizer results in significantly higher productivity, nutrient content and uptake of blackgram under Typic Haplustepts soil.

Azotobacter and Total Bacterial Population in Enriched Compost: Preliminary Study

Compost enrichment with nitrogen fixing Azotobacter is a method to enhance the used of biofertilizer in sustainable agriculture. The objective of a laboratory experiment was to verify the change in Azotobacter and total bacteria population in two kind of compost after inoculation with nitrogen fixing A. chroococcum. The experiment was setup in completely randomized design with four combination treatments of sterilized and unsterilized composted manure as well as vermicompost. The control treatments are the sterilized one. The results verified that irrespective of treatments, Azotobacter enrichment increased Azotobacter but reduced total bacteria population after 18-day incubation compared to the composts before treatment. At the end of experiment, the population of Azotobacter in both sterilized and unsterilized vermicompost were slightly lower than in manure; but the count total heterotroph bacteria in both organic matter was similar. The acidity of both enriched compost was neutral while their humidity was declined to 18-19% at the end of experiment. This experiment showed that inoculating the compost with Azotobater maintain the Azotobacter count but decline the total bacteria. This suggested that negative interaction between Azotobacter and other heterotroph bacteria in compost might be occured.

Non-herbicidal Weed and Organic Nutrient Management in Maize under Rainfed Maize-Sesamum Cropping Sequence

During 2013 and 2014, a field experiment was performed in the Instructional-Cum-Research Farm, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat to study the effect of weed and nutrient management in maize on weeds and maize, sesamum yield. The field experiment was conducted in split plot design (SPD) and the treatments comprised of fertility management (F0 - control, F1 - 2.5 t/ha enriched compost and F2 - 5.0 t/ha enriched compost) as the main factor and weed management (W0-no weeding, W1- hand hoeing and earthing up 20 and 50 days after sowing,W2-in situ cowpea mulching upto 50 days after sowing and W3- in situ blackgram mulching upto 50 days after sowing) as the sub factor in maize and its residual effects tested in subsequent sesamum crop. It was found that W1 resulted in the least weed NPK content (%) at 60 days after sowing (DAS). In case of NPK uptake (kg/ha), W1 resulted in the least at 60 DAS and harvest. It was also noticed that W2 caused the least weed NPK content (%) at harvest during both the years. Organic nutrition had no effect on the above mentioned parameters. The residual effect of weed management and organic nutrition in the subsequent sesamum crop was nil in terms of weed suppression. It was found that W1, F2 and W1F2 resulted in significantly the best LAI of maize for both the years. Treatments W1 (3014.59 kg/ha and 2849.24 kg/ha in 2013 and 2014, respectively), F2 (2322.33 kg/ha and 2178.29 kg/ha during 2013 and 2014, respectively) and W1F2 (4723.81 kg/ha and 4507.24 kg/ha during 2013 and 2014, respectively) too resulted in significantly the highest grain yield of maize. No residual effect of weed management was found while organic nutrition had residual effect in sesamum crop. The best LAI in sesamum was due to fertility management, F2 during both the years while F1 and F2 both at par resulted in the least number of days needed for 50% flowering in sesamum. In sesamum, significant interaction effect was found only during 2014 for LAI, days to 50% flowering and yield. In terms of seed yield of sesamum, F2 (589.08 kg/ha) and F1 (556.28 kg/ha) being at par were better than F0 in 2013 while in 2014, F2 (402.78 kg/ha) was the best treatment. More benefit: cost ratio (2.56 and 2.16 during 2013 and 2014, respectively) of the maize-sesamum cropping sequence was due to F1W1.

Influence of long term INM practices on the distribution of aluminium fractions in Acidic Inceptisol of North Eastern Himalaya Range and their relationship with NPK content in rice (Oryza sativa)

A long-term field experiment was commenced in 2006 with rice as a test crop under long-term integrated nutrient management (INM) practices at Instructional-cum-Research (ICR) farm of the Assam Agricultural University, Assam to study the distribution of aluminium (Al) fractions and their relationship with NPK content in different parts of rice plant under acidic Inceptisol. Results indicated that exchangeable Al and strongly organically bound and interlayer Al fractions effectively decreased whileweakly organically bound Al, amorphous Al and free Al fractions increased under integrated use of enriched compost @ 2 t/ha with 25% recommended doses of NP + 100% K over rest of the treatments. In rice, the integrated use of enriched compost @ 2 t/ha with 25% recommended doses of NP + 100% K showed significant increment in N and P content in grain, husk and straw over rest of the treatments. The K content in grain (0.36%), husk (0.37%) and straw (2.03%) was also found to be highest under application of 25% recommended doses of NP + enriched compost @ 2 t/ha + 100% K as compared to other treatments. There was a highly significant negative correlation was found between exchangeable Al and strongly organically bound and interlayer Al with N, P and K content of rice. Thus, integrated use of enriched compost with reduced dose of recommended nitrogen and phosphorus of rice reduced the toxic Al fractions in an acid soil which led to enhanced N, P and K content in rice grain, husk and straw.

Root Architecture, Yield and Phosphorus Uptake by Rice: Response to Rock Phosphate Enriched Compost and Microbial Inoculants

There is relatively little information about root architecture response under various cropping systems. This research concerns the influence of rock phosphate enriched compost and microbial inoculants on root morphology and root colonization through Arbuscular Mychorrhizal fungi under rice crop. In this study, we estimated the root length (RL), root biomass (RB), mychorrizal root infection, crop yield and phosphorus uptake in grain and straw. Root samples were collected after harvesting of crop located at Instructional farm of Bihar. Root parameters including root length (18.14 cm) and dry root biomass (0.93 g) were observed to be significantly higher in the treatments inoculated with Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi over control (statistically at par but numerically higher than 100% RDF) because of the hyphal extensions leading to increased reach and surface area of roots in rice crop. Highest uptake of P by the grain and straw of rice (13.78 and 11.03 kgha-1) was recorded with the combined application of chemical fertilizers with rock phosphate enriched compost in the presence of microbial inoculants like PSB and AMF.

Impact of long term integrated nutrient management (INM) practice on aluminium dynamics and nutritional quality of rice under acidic Inceptisol

ABSTRACT Applications of enriched compost (ECM) with reduced doses of inorganic fertilizers over ten consecutive years reduced phytotoxic aluminium (Al) fractions, whereas, improved nutritional quality of rice in acid soil. The long-term field trial with integrated nutrient management (INM) practices was initiated in kharif–2006 at Instructional-cum-Research (ICR) farm under rice mono-cropping system. Treatments consisted of T1; absolute control, T2; 100% recommended doses of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), T3; 50% recommended doses of NP + 100% K + biofertilizer, T4; 50% recommended doses of NP + 100% K + ECM at 1 tonne ha−1 and T5; 25% recommended doses of NP + 100% K + ECM at 2 tonne ha−1. Exchangeable Al (~31%) and strongly organically bound and interlayer Al (~26%) fractions decreased with an increasing dose of ECM application at all soil depths. However, weakly organically bound Al (~25%), amorphous Al (~7.3%), and free Al (~13%) significantly increased over 100% NPK. Long-term use of ECM had a significant positive impact on micronutrient content in post-harvest soil. Micronutrient accumulation (Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn and Ni) in rice increased with continuous application of manuring and fertilization, while the accumulation of Al decreased significantly.

Rock Phosphate-Enriched Compost in Combination with Rhizobacteria; A Cost-Effective Source for Better Soil Health and Wheat (Triticum aestivum) Productivity

Organic materials from various sources have been commonly adopted as soil amendments to improve crop productivity. Phosphorus deficiency and fixation in alkaline calcareous soils drives a reduction in crop production. A two-year field experiment was conducted to evaluate the impact of rock phosphate enriched composts and chemical fertilizers both individually and in combination with plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on wheat productivity and soil chemical and biological and biochemical properties. The present study demonstrates significant increments in crop agronomic and physiological parameters with Pseudomonas sp. inoculated RPEC1 (rock phosphate + poultry litter + Pseudomonas sp.) over the un-inoculated untreated control. However, among all other treatments i.e., RPEC2 (rock phosphate + poultry litter solubilized with Proteus sp.), RPC (rock phosphate + poultry litter), HDP (half dose inorganic P from Single Super Phosphate-SSP 18% P2O5) and SPLC (poultry litter only); RPEC1 remained the best by showing increases in soil chemical properties (available phosphorus, nitrate nitrogen, extractable potassium), biochemical properties (alkaline phosphatase activity) and biological properties (microbial biomass carbon and microbial biomass phosphorus). Economic analysis in terms of Value Cost Ratio (VCR) showed that the seed inoculation with Pseudomonas sp. in combination with RPEC1 gave maximum VCR (3.23:1) followed by RPEC2 (2.61:1), FDP (2.37:1), HDP (2.05:1) and SPLC (2.03:1). It is concluded that inoculated rock phosphate (RP) enriched compost (RPEC1) can be a substitute to costly chemical fertilizers and seed inoculation with Pseudomonas sp. may further increase the efficiency of composts.