Organic manure seed pelleting for enhancing soil health and productivity of rice
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Date
2019
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Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture, Vellayani
Abstract
A study entitled 'Organic manure seed pelleting for enhancing soil health and
productivity of rice' was conducted from 2017 to 2019 in the Department of Soil
Science and Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, with the
objective to develop seed pellets of rice using organic manures and microbial
inoculants and to study its effect on soil properties, seedling vigour, growth and
yield of rice var. Uma. The study consisted of two parts namely preparation and
characterization of organic manure seed pellets and pot culture experiment to
evaluate the organic manure seed pellets.
Organic manure seed pelleting materials used were FYM + Azospirillum
+ Phosphobacteria (T2), vermicompost + Azospirillum + Phosphobacteria (T3),
bioslurry flakes + Azospirillum + Phosphobacteria (T4), charcoal powder +
Azospirillum + Phosphobacteria (Ts), fly ash + Azospirillum + Phosphobacteria
(Te), pongamia leaf powder + Azospirillum + Phosphobacteria (T?) and bioslurry +
plant extracts + Azospirillum + Pseudomonas (Ts: Farmer practice). Seeds alone
without pelleting (Ti) was used as control. Carrier based inoculum oiAzospirillum
and Phosphobacteria were used at the rate of 5 g kg"^ and fenugreek paste was added
at the rate of 25 g kg"' as adhesive.
Pelleting materials were analysed for their physical, chemical and nutritional
properties as well as enzymatic activity and organic acid content. The results on
characterization of pelleting materials revealed that Te recorded the highest bulk
density of 1.07 Mg m'^ Highest water holding capacity was recorded by T?
(380.8 %). All treatments had near neutral to slightly alkaline pH. T4 recorded the
highest EC of 3.502 dS m'^ Regarding the nutritional properties, there was no
significant difference among the treatments for ammoniacal and nitrate nitrogen. T4
had the highest content of P (1.36 %), Ca (3.46 %), Mg (2.57 %), S (1.03 %),
Mn (398.6 mg kg"'), Zn (128.6 mg kg"') and Cu (57.00 mg kg"') while K content
was highest in T? (1.18 %), Fe content in Te (1.62 %) and B content in T3
(4.80 mg kg"'). T? recorded the highest urease and acid phosphatase activity and T3, the highest dehydrogenase activity (312.0 jig of TPF g soil 24h"*). Humic and
fulvic acid content were maximum in T3 with 28.52 % and 23.76 %, respectively.
Seedlings raised from pellets were separated after 15 days £ind pellets were
analysed. pH and EC were highest in T3. Availability of nutrients were highest in
T4 except for Mg and B where T3 recorded the highest Mg content and Tethe highest
B content. Enzymatic activity and organic acid content followed similar trend as
initial. Germination per cent in all treatments except T? were ICQ per cent. Ts took
few days to attain 50 per cent germination while it took more days for Tvto achieve
50 per cent germination. Seedling studies revealed that T2 was superior to all other
treatments for mean root length, mean shoot length, seedling length and vigour
indices.
The second part of the experiment was conducted to fmd the effect of
organic manure seed pelleting on growth and yield of rice. At active tillering stage,
T4 registered the highest root length (33.05 cm) which was on par with T3 and T2. It
also recorded maximum root and shoot biomass. Maximum plant height was
recorded in T4 at active tillering, panicle initiation and harvest stages with values of
64.85 cm, 86.63 cm and 92.33 cm, respectively. Maximum number of tillers were
observed in T4 at active tillering stage and in T3, at panicle initiation and harvest
stages. Leaf Area Index (LAI) was highest for T4 (5.09) which was on par with Te,
T2 and T3. With respect to chlorophyll content, there was no significant difference
among the treatments. The yield attributes, namely, number of productive tillers
(16.50), number of spikelets per panicle (159.7) and filled grain per cent
(94.16 %) as well as grain yield (54.84 g pot"') and straw yield (66.10 g pot"') were
highest in T3. T4, Ts, Te and Tg recorded same values (0.47) and were comparable
with T? and the lowest was recorded by T1 and T2 (0.44). There was no significant
difference in length of panicle and 1000 grain weight.
T4 registered the maximum period of retention of flag leaf. However, the
treatments had no significant effect on length of panicle and 1000 grain weight.
The post-harvest analysis of soil revealed that pH and EC varied
significantly among the treatments. Ammoniacal nitrogen was highest in T2 while
nitrate nitrogen showed no significant difference. The highest available P
(76.97 kg ha"'), K (190.4 kg ha"'), Ca (285.0 mg kg^) and S (16.50 mg kg') were
observed in T4. Available Mg was not significantly influenced by treatments. The
available micronutrients Fe, Mn and Zn were significantly influenced by the
treatment T3 recording the highest value of 41.08 mg kg"', 11.31 mg kg"' and
5.26 mg kg"', respectively. There was no significant influence on available Cu. The
treatments had a significant influence on available B with T4, T2 and T3 recording
highest value of 0.22 mg kg"'. T4 recorded the highest starch and amylose content
in grain whereas there was no significant influence of treatments on amylopectin
content. Regarding the uptake of nutrients, T3 registered the highest uptake of N, K,
Ca, S, Zn, Cu, B and Si in grain and shoot. P uptake in grain was highest in T4 while
T3 had the maximum uptake in shoot. Mg uptake in grain and shoot were not
significant.
From the study, it can be concluded that organic manure seed pelleting
material prepared using bioslurry flakes, Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria (T4)
contained significantly higher quantities of nutrients compared to others. Enzyme
activity (dehydrogenase) and organic acid content (humic and fiilvic acid) were
highest in the pellets prepared using vermicompost, Azospirillum and
Phosphobacteria (T3). Organic manure seed pelleting significantly increased the
growth characters of rice compared to conventional dibbling method. Among the
various treatment combinations, organic manure seed pelleting with bioslurry
flakes, Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria (T4) and vermicompost, Azospirillum and
Phosphobacteria (T3) were foimd to be effective in improving growth characters of
rice such as plant height, number of tillers and LAI. The yield, yield attributes and
nutrient uptake were highest in the treatment where vermicompost, Azospirillum
and Phosphobacteria (T3) were used as the pelleting material. Seed pelleting using
vermicompost, Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria (T3) and bioslurry flakes,
Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria (T4) were able to maintain significantly higher quantities of available nutrients in the post-harvest soil. The beneficial effect of
organic manure seed pelleting may be due to enrichment of rhizosphere region of
seeds thereby promoting seed and soil relationship aiding in better growth and
development.
Description
PG, Master of Science in Agriculture
Keywords
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