Substitution of manure source and aerator in nursery media on sandy loam topsoil and their fertility indices 4 months after formulation

Abstract

Purpose In soil-based nursery media, topsoil, poultry droppings and sawdust conventionally provide anchorage, nutrients and aeration, respectively. Considering poultry droppings' scarcity and sawdust's inertness nutrient-wise, more readily available organic wastes should be explored as substitutes. Here, we evaluated the effect of such substitution on media fertility, aimed at seeking alternatives to the conventional practice. Methods In a topsoil-manure-aerator volume ratio of 3:2:1, poultry droppings was substituted with pig slurry (slurry) or cattle dung (dung) as manure and sawdust with rice-husk dust (huskdust) as aerator, giving seven soil-based media including reference medium (topsoil+droppings+sawdust) and the control (topsoil+topsoil+topsoil). They were watered regularly and analysed for fertility parameters 4 months later. Results Reference had the highest pH (8.60) and topsoil + dung + huskdust/control the lowest (6.83). Substituting sawdust with huskdust enhanced pH, organic matter and Mg 2+ in droppings/dung-amended media (topsoil+droppings+huskdust/ topsoil+dung+huskdust) unlike slurry-amended ones where it too reduced total nitrogen (0.19 vs 0.11%). The substitution also enhanced available phosphorus in topsoil+droppings+huskdust (117.50 mg kg −1) and topsoil+dung+huskdust (71.50 mg kg −1) but reduced K + in the latter where it too had moderating effects on Na +. Reference surpassed topsoil+slurry+huskdust for Ca 2+ , but was surpassed by topsoil+droppings+huskdust for Mg 2+. Reference/topsoil+droppings+huskdust and topsoil+slurry+huskdust/control showed highest and lowest CEC, respectively. Excluding pH, topsoil+dung+huskdust and topsoil+slurry+sawdust were, notably, consistently similar. Overall, droppings-amended > dung-amended > slurry-amended media and, for available phosphorus only, sawdust-aerated < huskdust-aerated media. Conclusion Based on fertility status 4 months after blending, topsoil+droppings+huskdust could serve as alternative to the conventional nursery medium, or topsoil+dung+huskdust where near-neutral pH is preferred to increased phosphorus/ cations release.

Maximizing rice husk waste for Daucus carota production

“…The organic matter content, total nitrogen and CEC of the media increased with addition of rice husk. Adubasim et al (2018) reported marginal increase in total nitrogen, available phosphorus and organic matter content of soil-based nursery media amended with rice husk. Besides being of high nutrient content and moisture retention capacity, rice husk is a good aerator (Adubasim et al 2018;Baiyeri and Mbah 2006).…”

“…Adubasim et al (2018) reported marginal increase in total nitrogen, available phosphorus and organic matter content of soil-based nursery media amended with rice husk. Besides being of high nutrient content and moisture retention capacity, rice husk is a good aerator (Adubasim et al 2018;Baiyeri and Mbah 2006). The pH is an important index of chemical quality and horticultural value of nursery media (Adubasim et al 2018).…”

“…Besides being of high nutrient content and moisture retention capacity, rice husk is a good aerator (Adubasim et al 2018;Baiyeri and Mbah 2006). The pH is an important index of chemical quality and horticultural value of nursery media (Adubasim et al 2018). In this study, the pH results showed that the soil of the experimental site was acidic in nature.…”

“…Increase in soil pH towards neutrality makes nutrient more available to plants and improves CEC thereby improving plant growth (Major et al 2010;Munda et al 2016). Rice husk increases organic matter content of planting medium when used as soil amendment (Adubasim et al 2018;Mishra et al 2017).…”

“…In developing alternative use for rice husk in containerized plant production, there is need to determine the appropriate quantity to be added based on plant need. 1 3 Adubasim et al (2018) observed positive effect of rice husk in enhancing pH, organic matter, magnesium and available phosphorus as an aerator in media formulation. However, the study did not establish the impact on the media if the aerator (rice husk) quantity was to be increased or decreased.…”