Combined Effect of Organic Manure and Leaching on Soil Salinity, Nitrate Availability and Ground Water Quality
P. Premanandarajah
Citation :: P. Premanandarajah,Combined Effect of Organic Manure and Leaching on Soil Salinity, Nitrate Availability and Ground Water Quality International Journal of Research in Environmental Science 2017,3(4) : 24-28.
A leaching column study was conducted by using amendments Farmyard manure (FYM), Gliricidia (G), partially burnt paddy husk (PBPH) and tank silt (TS) alone and in combination of FYM and other three at recommendation. These eight including control (without amendments) replicated three times in a complete randomized design. Soil used was sandy loam saline with electrical conductivity as 13.1dSm-1 and pH as 7. Amendments mixed soil was filled in leaching column and incubated for three weeks then was saturated. Once in two weeks 150 ml of distilled water was added and leachate was collected and nitrate content was recorded. At the end of four leaching cycles soil nitrate content was recorded. Leachate nitrate content reduced drastically from 1st to 2nd and slightly from 2nd to 4th leaching. At the first leaching, nitrate leaching was higher in FYM and lowest in TS and was on par with control. Cumulative nitrate was lowest in TS and highest in FYM amended soil as 1089 and 2165 mg/kg respectively while in control was 852 mg/kg. Soil nitrate content was lowest in control and highest in FYM+TS combination. Combined application of FYM and tank silt increased soil nitrate and reduced pH of saline soil. In addition FYM and tank silt combination reduced the nitrate leaching thereby this can protect the ground water from nitrate contamination