Utilization of Pressmud Waste as a Carrier for Enhancing Agronomic Traits of Finger Millet

Abstract

As India is the second‐largest producer of sugarcane in the world, a huge amount of biodegradable by‐product waste, pressmud, is produced every year, and is a promising source of nutrients. Here, an attempt is made to utilize pressmud as carrier for bioinoculants for enhancing crop productivity. The field experiments are set up on finger millet crop using Aspergillus niger (K7) as fungal inoculant and pressmud as carrier. Four treatment combinations, viz., control, K7 strain, pressmud, and K7 strain+pressmud, in soil are studied. The results indicate that the soil nutrients such as N, P, and K increase by 30–50% after the experiment. The pressmud supports up to 5 × 106 fungal spores and the inoculum is viable until the end of 6 months. Growth and yield parameters are influenced positively and result in better height and weight of plants, a higher number of fingers, and improved P uptake. The combination of A. niger (K7) and pressmud is found to be the best. Shoot and root lengths increase by 54% and 96%, respectively, at the time of harvest over control. Number of fingers and weight of grains/plant increase by 77% and 70%, respectively, at 130 days after sowing. It can be concluded that the use of pressmud with microbial inoculant may be an economically viable technology in organic farming and also in its disposal.

Impact of enriched bio digested bone sludge compost on the fertility percentage of rice

“…This balanced nutrient availability prevented nutrient stress in the plants at any stage, resulting in maximum production and proper grain filling. The results are supported by De Fatima Esteves et al (2020) [2] and Rawat et al (2020) [16] .…”

Influence of native rhizobacteria co‐inoculation and formulation of bacterial inoculants on the growth and yield of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

“…Laboratory analysis of filter mud revealed that it has a high water-holding capacity (155%), total carbon (18.4%) and nitrogen (2.0%), thus maintaining and promoting bacterial population (Balume et al, 2015). Additionally, Rawat et al (2021) reported that filter mud had a 70% moisture content, 2.6% nitrogen, 2.9% phosphorous and 43% organic carbon. Furthermore, the authors reported that filter mud possesses other ideal qualities such as being cost effective, available in large quantities, full of nutrients and sterilizable, hence making it a good carrier material choice.…”

Potentiality of Pressmud as an Additional Material in Soil Amendments to Enhance Soil Fertility and Strength Ability

“…Compaction of samples at a site is the main factor that controls short-term density and resulting placement efficiency of the material at the sites. Maximizing soil or sample density allows to reduce space requirements or to prolong the life of a facility [33]. Compaction is an important part in obtaining the optimum maximum dry density and water content.…”