Production of Quality Compost from Pennywort Plant Wastes

Composting is an environment friendly phenomenon which recycles the organic materials such as plants converting them to beneficial fertilizers. Hence composting limits the use of toxic chemical fertilizers. The aim of the study was to prepare compost/bio-fertilizer from nutrient rich plant, the pennywort, for organic crop production and to reduce the plant wastes by reusing them for environmental benefits. For this purpose, the plants were mixed with different other additives like rock phosphate, urea, cow dung and sludge to boost up the quality of compost. Pennywort plant compost alone (without any additive) was considered as a control and aerobic conditions were maintained. Physico-chemical parameters like organic matter, ash content, total nitrogen, pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and level of heavy metals and micronutrients were taken into account. All tested parameters showed a beneficial level in the amended plant composts compared to plant alone. Therefore, the prepared compost could be very promising for crops improvement. Hence, the present study would prove a significant advancement in the pool of efforts to enhance the agricultural welfares. Moreover, the current study provides useful knowledge about enhancing the properties and profile of natural composted products because it can provide an alternate source to increase the fertility of the soil and also a good approach to reduce the pressure of solid waste on environment.

Interaction Between Halotolerant Phosphate-Solubilizing Bacteria (Providencia rettgeri Strain TPM23) and Rock Phosphate Improves Soil Biochemical Properties and Peanut Growth in Saline Soil

Soil salinity has adverse effects on soil microbial activity and nutrient cycles and therefore limits crop growth and yield. Amendments with halotolerant phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) and rock phosphate (RP) may improve properties of saline soil. In this study, we investigated the effects of RP either alone or in combination with PSB (Providencia rettgeri strain TPM23) on peanut growth and soil quality in a saline soil. With the combined application of RP and PSB, plant length and biomass (roots and shoots) and uptake of phosphorus (P), nitrogen (N), and potassium (K) increased significantly. Soil Na+ and Cl– contents decreased in the PR alone or PR combined with PSB treatment groups. There were strongly synergistic effects of RP and PSB on soil quality, including a decrease in pH. The soil available N, P, and K contents were significantly affected by the PSB treatments. In addition, the alkaline phosphomonoesterases, urease, and dehydrogenase activities increased significantly compared with the untreated group; highest alkaline phosphomonoesterases activity was observed in the RP and PSB treatment groups. The composition of rhizosphere soil bacterial communities was determined using 454-pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. In the PR alone or PR combined with PSB treatment groups, the structure of the soil bacterial community improved with increasing richness and diversity. With PSB inoculation, the relative abundance of Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Planctomycetes increased. The three phyla were also positively correlated with soil available N and root dry weight. These results suggested microbiological mechanisms by which the combined use of RP and PSB improved saline soil and promoted plant growth. Overall, the study indicates the combined use of RP and PSB can be an economical and sustainable strategy to increase plant growth in P-deficient and salt-affected soils.

Evaluation of Rock Phosphate Enriched Compost on Soil Nutrient Status after Harvest of Finger Millet-Cowpea Cropping Sequence in High Phosphorus Soils of Cauvery Command Area, Karnataka

A field experiment was conducted at Zonal Agricultural Research Station, VC Farm, Mandya during kharif 2017, summer 2018, kharif 2018 and summer 2019 to study the effect of rock phosphate enriched compost on soil nutrient status after harvest of finger millet-cowpea cropping sequence. Prior to initiation of the field experiment, three different composts viz., urban solid waste compost (USWC), vermicompost and farm yard manure (FYM) were enriched with rock phosphate at 5 per cent. Field experiment consisting of eleven treatment combinations comprising recommended N and K, and P through varied levels of enriched composts. The experiment was laid out in RCBD design with three replications and the test crops were finger millet and cowpea. The initial P2O5 of the experimental site was very high (133.58 kg ha-1). The results revealed that application of recommended N and K + 75 per cent P supplied through enriched USWC (T5) had significantly higher organic carbon (0.56 and 0.58%) in pooled data of both finger millet and cowpea, respectively. Available N (241.94 and 224.86 kg ha-1), P2O5 (138.69 and 120.99 kg ha-1) and K2O (153.92 and 135.31 kg ha-1) were recorded significantly higher in T5 of finger millet and cowpea, respectively. Similarly, in pooled mean, exchangeable Ca [4.15 and 4.04 C mol (P+) kg-1] and Mg [2.16 and 2.05 C mol (P+) kg-1] were recorded significantly higher in treatment which received recommended N and K + 75 per cent P supplied through enriched vermicompost (T8) in both finger millet and cowpea, respectively. The decrease of available P2O5 was 20.98 per cent from initial (133.58 kg ha-1) to final crop (summer 2019) (105.55 kg ha-1).

Pengaruh Pupuk Kandang Plus terhadap Pertumbuhan dan Produksi Jagung Manis (Zea mays saccharata) di Kabupaten Grobogan

<p>Manure plus is manure’s nutrition improvement by the addition of organic N (<em>Leucaena leucocephala</em>) and nature P (rock phosphate). The aim of this research are to evaluate the effect of ‘manure plus’ on growth and production of sweet corn. This research was conducted experimentally using monofactor Randomized Block Design with seven treatments and four replications. The treatments are P0 (ZA + TSP), P1 (Cattle manure + ZA + TSP), P2 (Goat manure + ZA + TSP), P3 (Poultry manure + ZA + TSP), P4 (Cattle manure + RP + + <em>Leucaena</em><em> l</em><em>eucocephala</em>), P5 (Goat manure + RP+ <em>Leucaena </em><em>l</em><em>eucocephala</em>), P6 (Poultry manure + RP + <em>Leucaena </em><em>l</em><em>eucocephala</em>). All plots were given KCl (150 kg K₂O/ha). The parameters were plant height, leaf’s number, cob length, cob diameter, sum of seed row, and production of sweet corn. Data were subjected to analysis of variance and followed DMRT at α = 5%. The result showed that cob diameter and sum of seed row of P4 had no significantly different compared to P1, P5 had no significantly different compared to P2, P6 had no significantly different compared to P3. The leaf’s number of P4 had no significantly different compared to P1, P5 had no significantly different compared to P2, whereas P3 had leaf’s number more than P6. All treatment had no significant effect towards plant height, cob length and production of sweet corn. Based on the research, manure plus can be used to substitute the role of manure + ZA + TSP.</p>

The possible use of scarce soluble materials as a source of phosphorus in Vicia faba L. grown in calcareous soils

<p><span lang="EN-US">Phosphorus (P) is affected by many factors that minimize its solubility especially in calcareous soils. The aim of this work was to conduct laboratory and greenhouse experiments to study the effect of using P solubilizing substances, </span><em><span lang="EN-US">i.e., </span></em><span lang="EN-US">compost, humic acid (HA), citric acid and ethylene di-amine tetra acetic acid (EDTA), and rhizobacteria, </span><em><span lang="EN-US">Bacillus megaterium</span></em><span lang="EN-US"> var. </span><em><span lang="EN-US">phosphaticum</span></em><span lang="EN-US"> on solubilizing P from different sources, ordinary superphosphate (OSP), rock phosphate (RP) and basic slag (BS). The effect of these treatments on the P- availability in El-Nubaria calcareous soil and P- uptake by faba bean (</span><em><span lang="EN-US">Vicia faba </span></em><span lang="EN-US">‘</span><span lang="EN-US">Giza 843</span><span lang="EN-US">’</span><span lang="EN-US">) were studied. Obtained results showed that the solubility of P sources differs in their ability to release soluble P in the following order: OSP &gt; RP &gt; BS. The following descending order was appeared of available P in soil with addition of solubilizing agents: citric acid &gt; EDTA &gt; HA &gt; compost for these sources of P, for both experiments. Regarding the interaction between solubilizing agents, the treatments of HA combined with EDTA or citric acid were superior in giving high concentrations in soil, and vigor plant growth. In addition, the solubility of P increased by about 5-6 times for all sources in the presence of P- dissolving bacteria. It seemed that the presence of appreciable amounts of Mg, S, Fe, Mn, B and other elements in BS played a role in enhancing plant growth and increasing yield, especially in the presence of added bacteria. BS could be used in calcareous soils and for soils characterized by low nutrient supply as sandy.</span></p>

Natural Phosphates Characterization and Evaluation of their Removal Efficiency of Methylene Blue and Methyl Orange from Aqueous Media

This study evaluated the capacity of a rock phosphate for the adsorption of organic dyes methylene blue MB and methyl orange MO in aqueous solution, in order to minimize the impact of these dyes on the environment. The physicochemical characterization of natural phosphates (NP) shows that its mineralogy is carbonate-fluorapatite, calcite and quartz, as demonstrated by X-ray diffraction. An infrared (IR) analysis completed the structural study by confirming the characteristic bands of a carbonated fluorapatite type B. The influence of adsorbent dose, pH, initial concentration and temperature of the dye solution on adsorption onto NP was studied. The experimental results show that MB is adsorbed almost entirely at an adsorbent dose of 1 g/L and at a more basic pH and that the Langmuir model describes its isotherm well. For MO, adsorption is performed at acidic pH, such that discoloration reaches 60% at pH 4 and NP adsorbent dose of 10 g/L. The maximum adsorbed amounts of MB (pH=9) and MO (pH=4) were found to be 9.54 and 1.09 mg/g, respectively. The kinetic data were analyzed to show that the pseudo-second-order model seems to be the most appropriate to describe the adsorption dynamics of both dyes on the naturel phosphate. The thermodynamic results show that the adsorption is endothermic for MB and exothermic for MO. So, rock phosphate shows a good potential as a sorbent for cationic dyes removal from wastewater.

Yield and Nutrient Uptake of Rapeseed (Brassica campestris var. toria) as Influenced by Phosphorus Sources and Levels in Acidic Soils of Meghalaya

Background: Acidic soils limit the soil phosphorus availability to the crop plants because these soils have tendency to fix P as iron and aluminium phosphate. The present study aims to investigate the influence of phosphorus sources and levels on yield and nutrient uptake of rapeseed (Brassica campestris var. toria) in acidic soils of Meghalaya. Methods: A pot culture experiment was conducted during rabi season of 2016-17 wherein two sources of P (single super phosphate and Mussoorie rock phosphate) and six levels of P (0, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 mg P kg-1 of soil) were tested in two types of acidic soils (Alfisols, Inceptisols) in completely randomized design with three replication and rapeseed (cv. M-27) as test crop. Result: The highest mean dry matter yield of rapeseed (16.1 g pot-1) was recorded with 120 mg P kg-1 of soil. Subsequent increase in the level of P significantly decreased the dry matter yield by 4.6% over 120 mg P kg-1. The dry matter yield with Mussorie rock phosphate was lower as compared to single sulphur phosphate (SSP) at each levels of P irrespective of soil type. The concentration of P in plant dry matter of rapeseed increased with each successive levels of P in acidic soils with both P sources; however P uptake increased up to 120 mg P kg-1 soil.