Effect of Dilution of Treated Distillery Effluent (TDE) on Soil Properties and Yield of Sugarcane

Previna Sivaloganathan, Baskar Murugaiyan, Saravanan Appavou, Leninraja Dharmaraj

Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research Institute, Trichirapalli, India..

DOI: 10.4236/ajps.2013.49222                

Abstract

Sugarcane is one of the most important cash crops, which plays a pivotal role in India’s agricultural and industrial economy. The treated distillery effluent (TDE) being plant originated, contains all plant nutrients and organic matter. Therefore, it is being used as a cheap source of nutrients and organic manure in agriculture activities in soil besides improving soil physical properties. The experiment was conducted during August, 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 with CO 86032 in a randomized block design with six treatments and was replicated four times. The TDE was discharged @ 1.00, 0.50, 0.33, 0.25 and 0.20 lakh liters·ha^-1 to get the dilutions of 1:10, 1:20, 1:30, 1:40 and 1:50 dilutions respectively. It was applied four times at 40 days interval starting from 45th day after planting. The fertilizers viz., N and P @ 75 percent of the recommended dose were applied and K was skipped. The results revealed that irrigation with TDE at 1:10 dilution resulted in higher yield of sugarcane. The TDE did not have any influence on quality parameters of sugarcane. The TDE application favourably influenced the available nutrients and organic carbon content in the soil. Besides, the present findings credibly proved that the TDE application not only enhanced the soil fertility status but also substituted for 25 percent of N and P and 100 percent of K fertilizers to sugarcane crop.

Keywords

TDE; Dilution; Sugarcane; Yield; Soil Properties

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	K. A. Gomez and A. A. Gomez, “Statistical Procedures for Agricultural Research,” John Wiley and Sons, New Delhi, 2010, p. 680.
[2]	H. C. Joshi, H. Pathak, A. Choudhary and N. Kalra, “Distillery Effluent as a Source of Plant Nutrients,” Fertilizer News, Vol. 41, 1996, pp. 41-47.
[3]	K. Selvakumar, “Impact of Post-Methanated Distillery Spentwash on the Yield and Quality of Sweet Sorghum and on Soil Health,” M.Sc. Thesis, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, 2006, pp. 122-126.
[4]	G. C. Satisha, “Bioconversion of Sugar Industrial Effluent Wastes into Enriched Compost and Its Effect on Soils and Crops,” Ph.D. Thesis, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, 2000, p. 145.
[5]	R. Pushpavalli, P. Kotteeswaran, M. Krishnamurthi and P. Parameswaran, “Effect of Treated Distillery Effluent Application on Soil and Yield of Sugarcane at Nellikuppam in Tamil Nadu, India,” Second International Conference on Contaminants in the Soil Environment in the Australia-Pacific Region, New Delhi, 12-17 December, 1999, p. 103.
[6]	R. Murugaragavan, “Distillery Spentwash on Crop Production in Dryland Soils,” M.Sc. Thesis, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, 2002, pp. 145-165.
[7]	D. Dinesh, “Utilization of Distillery Industrial Wastes as Sources of Nutrients for Maize (Zea mays L.),” Ph.D. Thesis, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, 2011, pp. 67-69.
[8]	L. Devarajan, G. Rajannan, G. Ramanathan and G. Oblisami, “Sugarcane Cultivation with Distillery Effluent,” South Indian Sugarcane and Sugar Technologist Association—Sugar Journal, Vol. 20, 1993, pp. 23-25.
[9]	D. Janaki, “Utilization of Distillery Spentwash as Manure to Crops and Its Impact on Soil, Crop and Ground Water Quality,” Ph.D. Thesis, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, 2008, pp. 56-64.