An Asian Journal of Soil Science Vol. 6 No. 1 (June, 2011) : 54-60

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1 Research Paper An Asian Journal of Soil Science Vol. 6 No. 1 (June, 2011) : Received : March, 2011; Accepted : April, 2011 Effect of industrial sludges and soil conditioners on physical properties of loamy sand soil N.H. DESAI, N.J. JADAV AND C.L. PATEL ABSTRACT Laboratory experiment was conducted to find out the effect of different sludges and soil conditioners viz., FYM(FYM10,FYM20), private farm manure (PFM10,FPM20), vermi compost (VC10,VC20), coir pith (CP10,CP20), fly ash (FA10,FA20), ETP sludge(etp10, ETP20) ammonium chloride sludge (ACS10, ACS20) and glycerin sludge 10 and 20 t ha -1 along with control on soil water diffusivity, moisture content as a function of drying period from saturation to dryness and soil water retention characteristic. Irrespective of sludges and soil conditioners, higher water content was recorded at initial segments of plexiglass columns as compared to later one. However, the soil water diffusivity was progressively decreased from inlet to lateral segments. A given segment of column, incorporation of fly 20 t ha -1 recorded higher water content as well as soil water diffusivity followed by VC20, CP20, PFM20, FYM10, PFM10, FYM20 and control under uniform bulk density at 1.50 Mg m -3. Among different sludges and soil conditioners, incorporation of ETP 20 t ha -1 recorded higher moisture content even after 5 th days of incubation. Similarly, recorded maximum moisture content at all soil water potentials was noticed with ETP sludge.the moisture content was decreased with the increasing period of incubation. The moisture content under all the treatments was decreased with decrease in soil water potentials from -33, -100, -300 and MPa. Control plots registered higher soil bulk density and infiltration rate as compared to rest of the treatments except glycerin sludge. Incorporation of ETP 20 t ha -1 was found significantly superior over rest of the treatments with respect to moisture content in soil during crop growth. Desai, N.H., Jadav, N.J. and Patel C.L. (2011). Effect of industrial sludges and soil conditioners on physical properties of loamy sand soil. Asian J. Soil Sci., 6(1): Key words : Sludges, Soil conditioners, Soil water diffusivity, Saturation to dry ness, Soil water retention, Bulk density, Infiltration rate, Soil water potentials, Soil moisture content INTRODUCTION Soil fertility and productivity have to be restored and maintained at a high level to ensure continuous growth in agriculture. Agriculture, devoid of recycled organic manure/ crop residues is facing disorder in physicochemical and biological properties of the soil. Sustainability of soil fertility and a steady increase in crop productivity need to be given priority to meet national food and nutritional security. Soil amendments/ reclamation measures have to be simultaneously popularized. A check on further deterioration in soil fertility is critical and improvement of physical and biological properties of the soil coupled with a balance in the nutrient content in the soil alone can assure sustained crop production (Rawat, 2002). The organic manures,industrial sludges and soil conditioners supply essential nutrients and improve properties of soils and very often leave substantial residual fertility effect on succeeding crop (Hangarge et al., 2004). MATERIALS AND METHODS A field experiment was conducted at Department of Ag. Chemistry and soil science, C. P. College of Agriculture, S. D. Agricultural University (erstwhile G.A.U.), Sardarkrushinagar during the year of Correspondence to : N.H. DESAI, Centre for Agroforestry Forage Crops and Green Belt, S.D. Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar, BANASKANTHA (GUJARAT) INDIA Authors affiliations: N.J. JADAV AND C.L. PATEL,, Department of Agril. Chemistry and Soil Science, C.P. College of Agriculture, S.D. Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar BANASKANTHA (N. GUJARAT) INDIA HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE

2 to investigate the effect of industrial sludges and soil conditioners on physical properties of loamy sand soil. Total seventeen treatments comprising two levels (10 and 20 t ha -1 ) of sludge and soil conditioner viz., FYM (FYM10, FYM20), private firm manure (PFM10, PFM20), coir pith (CP10, CP20), vermicompost (VC10, VC20), ETP sludge (ETP10, ETP20), Fly ash (FA10, FA20), ammonium chloride sludge (ACS10, ACS20) and glycerin sludge (GS10, GS20) with absolute control (C0) were tested in a Randomized block Design with four replications. A laboratory study was taken up to determine the effect of sludges and conditioners on (i) soil water diffusivity (ii) moisture retention characteristics (iii) moisture content as a function of drying period of sludges and soil conditioners treated soil. Soil 10 and 20 t ha -1 were mixed in the soil collected from experimental site. In order to simulate natural conditions, treated bulk samples (about 1 kg each) were heaped and subjected to alternate wetting and drying cycles and sun dried. These samples were utilized to determine the physical properties viz., soil water diffusivity, moisture retentive characteristics and moisture holding capacity from saturation to dryness using following procedures. The bulk density and infiltration rate were estimated employing in core method Culley (1993) and doubling ring infiltrometer (Piper,1966). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The results obtained from the present investigation are summarized below: Soil water diffusivity: The soil water diffusivity was progressively decreased from inlet to lateral segments of plexiglass N.H. DESAI, N.J. JADAV AND C.L. PATEL Water content (cm 3 cm -3 ) Fig. 1 : Control FYM10 FYM20 PFM10 PFM20 CP10 CP20 VC10 VC20 ETP10 ETP20 FA10 FA20 ACS10 ACS20 GS10 GS Column segment (cm) Effect of sludges and soil conditioners on water content of experimental soil HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE [ 55 ] [Asian J. Soil Sci., 6 (1); (June, 2011)]

3 EFFECT OF INDUSTRIAL SLUDGES & SOIL CONDITIONERS ON PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF LOAMY SAND SOIL Soil water diffusivity (cm 2 min -1 ) Fig. 2 : Control FYM10 FYM20 PFM10 PFM20 CP10 CP20 VC10 VC20 ETP10 ETP20 FA10 FA20 ACS10 ACS20 GS10 GS Column segment (cm) Effect of sludges and soil conditioners on soil water diffusivity of experimental soil columns (Table 1 and 2, Fig. 1 and 2). At a given segment of column, incorporation of fly ash recorded higher soil water diffusivity as compared to control and rest of the treatments under both the levels of sludges and soil conditioners. The soil water diffusivity under control was approximately four times less as compared to treated soil in initial two segments, subsequently these differences were decreased and finally in later two segments it attained higher in untreated soil. These effects are attributed to the rearrangement, reorientation, rolling and sliding of soil particles. The migration of clay particles might have blocked the water conducting pores at moderately high moisture content, which decreased soil diffusivity. A decrease in diffusivity with an increase in sludges and soil conditioners especially at high moisture saturation may probably be due to an unfavourable change in the distribution of micro and macro-water filled pores and total water-filled porosity (Bear, 1972). Water retentive characteristics of trested soil: The soil moisture retentions at different soil water potentials indicated that treated soil retained higher water as compared to control (Table 3 and Fig.3). Among different sludges and soil conditioners, ETP sludge retained maximum moisture content at different soil water potential. The changes in moisture retention constants associated with treated soils were due to macro and micro particle size modifications. It appears that large quantities of water stored in treated soil coupled with slow release in the soil water potential range of -33 to MPa is basic for the success of crop production especially in semiarid and arid regions (Pathak and Patel, 1982). The increase in water storage in conditioners treated soil at different pressure potential was also noted by Sahoo and Kar 1998) with fly ash. HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE [ 56 ] [Asian J. Soil Sci., 6 (1); (June, 2011)]

4 N.H. DESAI, N.J. JADAV AND C.L. PATEL Table 3: Effect of sludges and soil conditioners on soil moisture content (%) at different soil water potential Moisture content (%) at different potential -33 MPa -100 MPa -300 MPa MPa T 0 Control T 1 FYM T 2 FYM T 3 PFM T 4 PFM T 5 CP T 6 CP T 7 VC T 8 VC T 9 FA T 10 FA T 11 ETP T 12 ETP T 13 ACS T 14 ACS T 15 GS T 16 GS Table 4: Effect of sludges and soil conditioners on soil moisture content as a function of drying period Drying period At time of saturated paste One day Two days Three days Four days T 0 Control T 1 FYM T 2 FYM T 3 PFM T 4 PFM T 5 CP T 6 CP T 7 VC T 8 VC T 9 FA T 10 FA T 11 ETP T 12 ETP T 13 ACS T 14 ACS T 15 GS T 16 GS Moisture content as function of drying period: The higher soil moisture content in saturated paste was registered under all the treatments of different sludges and soil conditioners as compared to control (Table 4 and Fig. 4). The moisture content retained higher 20 t ha -1 than that of their lower rate (10 t ha -1 ). Though the moisture content of soil decreased with progressive increase in time under all treatments being higher under HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE [ 57 ] treated soil than control and the highest was with ETP sludge. Incorporation of ETP 20 t ha -1 recorded higher moisture condition even after 5 th days of incubation. These changes in soil properties might be due to modifications in macro and micro- pore size distribution coupled with higher absorbility of material for water. (Mohamed and Awad, 1998) with sludge. [Asian J. Soil Sci., 6 (1); (June, 2011)]

5 EFFECT OF INDUSTRIAL SLUDGES & SOIL CONDITIONERS ON PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF LOAMY SAND SOIL Table 5 : Effect of sludges and soil conditioners on bulk density and infiltration rate of different crop grown in sequence Bulk density (Mg m -3 ) Infiltration rate (cm hr -1 ) Wheat Pearl millet Green gram Wheat Pearl millet Green gram T 0 Control T 1 FYM T 2 FYM T 3 PFM T 4 PFM T 5 CP T 6 CP T 7 VC T 8 VC T 9 FA T 10 FA T 11 ETP T 12 ETP T 13 ACS T 14 ACS T 15 GS T 16 GS S. E. ± C. D. (P=0.05) C. V. % Table 6 : Effect of sludges and soil conditioners on moisture content in soil on 5 th day after irrigation at 30 and 45 days after sowing of wheat and pearl millet crops Moisture content (%) at 30 DAS Moisture content (%) at 45 DAS Wheat Pearl millet Wheat Pearl millet T 0 Control T 1 FYM T 2 FYM T 3 PFM T 4 PFM T 5 CP T 6 CP T 7 VC T 8 VC T 9 FA T 10 FA T 11 ETP T 12 ETP T 13 ACS T 14 ACS T 15 GS T 16 GS S. E. ± C. D. (P=0.05) C. V. % HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE [ 58 ] [Asian J. Soil Sci., 6 (1); (June, 2011)]

6 N.H. DESAI, N.J. JADAV AND C.L. PATEL Moisture content (%) Moisture content (%) Fig. 3 : Fig. 4 : Control FYM10 FYM20 PFM10 PFM20 CP10 CP20 VC10 VC20 FA10 FA20 ETP10 ETP20 ACS10 ACS20 GS10 GS Soil water potential ( MPa ) The moisture content in soil as affected by sludges and soil conditioners at different soil water potential Control FYM10 FYM20 PFM10 PFM20 CP10 CP20 VC10 VC20 FA10 FA20 ETP10 ETP20 ACS10 ACS20 GS10 GS Drying period in day The moisture content in soil as affected by sludges and soil conditioners with drying period in glycerin sludge, which might have dispersed clay particles and plug the pore space resulting in to low infiltration rate. Moisture content: The moisture content in soil at 30 and 45 DAS of wheat and pearl millet crops was significantly increased due to different sludges and soil conditioners over control (Table 6) Incorporation of ETP sludge was found significantly superior over rest of the treatments for higher moisture content in soil during growing periods of both the crops. Incorporation of different sludges and soil conditioners to soil decreased the infiltration rate and retain high moisture content in soil in comparison to control. These changes in soil properties might have been due to modifications in macro and micro-pore size distribution and which may increase the crop yields (Kalra et al., 1998). Conclusion: In general, at a given segment of column, incorporation of fly 20 t ha -1 recorded higher water content under uniform bulk density at 1.50 Mg m -3. Incorporation of sludges and conditioners led to increase soil water diffusivity than untreated soil. Sludges and conditioners helped to improve moisture content in saturated paste. Incorporation of ETP 20 t ha -1 recorded higher moisture condition. The soil moisture content at different soil water potentials was higher with all the treatments of sludges and soil conditioners. However, ETP sludge showed its superiority. Bulk density: Incorporation of different sludges and soil conditioners decreased bulk density of light textured soil after harvest of all the three crops except glycerin and NH4Cl sludge in which increased bulk density after harvest of first two crops and greengram, respectively as compared to control (Table 5). (Hangarge et al., 2002 with the use of coir pith and Malewar et al.(2000) with the use of fly ash). Infiltration rate: A conspicuous decrease in infiltration rate was noted in treated soils as compared to control after harvest of all the three crops, Application of glycerin 20 t ha - 1 tremendously decreased infiltration rate from 9.97 cm hr -1 to 2.99 cm hr -1 after harvest of wheat crop (Table 5). This might be due to higher amount of Na and CO 3 content HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE [ 59 ] REFERENCES Bear, J. (1972). Dynamics of fluids in porous media. American Elserier, New York. Culley, J.L.B. (1993). Density and compressibility. In: Soil sampling and methods of analysis (M. R. Carter, ed.). Canadian Society of Soil Science, Lewis Publishers, London. pp Hangarge, D. S., Raut, R. S., Hanwate, G. R., Gaikwad, G. K. and Dixit, R.S. (2004). Influence of coir pith compost and vermicompost on microbial population in Vertisols. J. Soils & Crops, 14(2): Hangarge, D.S., Raut, R.S., More, S.D., Birajdar, R. R. and Pholane, L.P. (2002). Effect of vermicompost and soil conditioner on some physical properties of soil under chillispinach system. J. Soils & Crops, 12(1) : Kalra, N., Jain, M.C., Joshi, H.C., Chaudhry, R., Harit, R.C., Vatsa, B.K., Sharma, S.K. and Vinodkumar (1998). Fly ash as a soil conditioners and fertilizer. Bioresource Techno., 64(3): [Asian J. Soil Sci., 6 (1); (June, 2011)]

7 EFFECT OF INDUSTRIAL SLUDGES & SOIL CONDITIONERS ON PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF LOAMY SAND SOIL Malewar, G. U., Badole, S. B., Mali, C. V., Siddiqui, M. B., Syed Ismail and Ismail, S. (2000). Influence of fly ash with and without FYM and fertilizer on physico-chemical properties of sunflower and cotton growing soils. Ann. Agric. Res., 21 (2): Mohamed, S.A. and Awad, Y. H. (1998). Evaluation of the physical and chemical properties of soil with application of wheat strap pulp waste water sludge. Arab Univ. J. Agric. Sci., 6(2): Pathak, S.R. and Patel, C.L. (1982). J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci., 30: 266. Piper, C. S. (1966). Soil and plant analysis, Hans Publishers, Bombay. Rawat, A.K. (2002). Standards of Indian organic agriculture lecture talk. Organic farming seminar, J. N. K.V.V., Jabalpur, M.P. (India). Sahoo, S. and Kar, S. (1998). Effect of fly ash on physical properties of lateritic soil. J. India Soc. Soil Sci., 46 : ******** ****** **** HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE [ 60 ] [Asian J. Soil Sci., 6 (1); (June, 2011)]