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Journal of Agronomy

Year: 2014 | Volume: 13 | Issue: 1 | Page No.: 1-11
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Authors

Hadijah Hasyim

Yasuyuki Ishii

Ahmad Wadi

Sachiko Idota

Keywords

Research Article

Effect of Digested Effluent of Manure on Soil Nutrient Content and Production of Dwarf Napier Grass in Southern Kyushu, Japan

Hadijah Hasyim, Yasuyuki Ishii, Ahmad Wadi and Sachiko Idota
Animal waste-derived effluents from biogas plants may potentially be used in place of inorganic chemical fertilizers and at the same time, solve the problem of animal waste disposal. Dwarf varieties of late-heading type Napier grass can supply high rates of Digested Effluent of Manure (DEM). The objective of this study was to determine the nutrient content of soils and DEM and to investigate the production of dwarf Napier grass under repeated defoliation employing three treatments comprising three rates of DEM application and a control using chemical fertilizer. The most abundant cations in the DEM solution were ammonium (NH4+), followed by potassium (K+), sodium (Na+) and calcium (Ca2+), with the Ca2+ concentration approximately one-fifth that of NH4+. The pH of the soil solution ranged between 6.6-8.0 and tended to increase with increasing DEM application rate which in turn generally reflected the change in Electric Conductivity (EC) of the soil solution. However, the pH and EC of soil near the periphery of treatment plots remained essentially constant throughout the growing season. The most abundant cations in the soil solution were Ca2+ which accounted for 62% of cations across all treatments and seasons, followed by magnesium (Mg2+) and Na+. Cation concentrations tended to increase with increasing DEM application. Sulfate (SO42¯) accounted for 91% of anions in the soil solution. Indicators of plant growth, including plant height, tiller number, mean tiller weight and plant dry weight, increased with DEM application rate. Crop growth rate was positively and linearly correlated with leaf area index, suggesting that the increase in plant production due to application of DEM or chemical fertilizer is similarly mediated by leaf area development.
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