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A. K. D a h i y a a n d P. V a s u d e v a n
A BSTRACT
The effectiveness of biogas plant slurry in combination with chemical
fertilizers was studied for the production of various crops. Replacement
of nitrogenous fertilizer with slurry decreased the yields of major crops,
i.e. wheat, bajra, jawar and mustard. Application of slurry to replace
half the nitrogenous fertilizer gave better yields in vegetable crops while
replacement of the total nitrogenous fertilizer gave better yields in
fodder crops.
Key words: biogas plant slurry, energy intensive chemical fertilizers, self
sufficiency.
INTRODUCTION
Chemical fertilizers are the most crucial inputs for enhancing yield of
crops. However, a large amount of commercial energy is required in
their production. 1-3 With the increasing use of chemical fertilizers, the
proportion of commercial energy input to agriculture is steadily rising.
Studies on energy consumption of Indian farms 4-6 showed that about
50% of the total energy consumed in crop production comes through
chemical fertilizers. T h e estimated Indian requirement of fertilizers 7 is of
the order of 28.7 million tonnes by AD 2000 to fulfill the food production
target. Because of the recent three- to four-fold increase in the price of
oil and the scarce foreign exchange available to most of the developing
countries, they can neither produce mineral fertilizers at huge investment
costs nor import them in large amounts. 8 Therefore, it is essential for
developing countries to find an alternative to energy intensive chemical
fertilizers.
67
Biomass 0144-4565/86/S03.50 - © Elsevier Applied Science Publishers Ltd, England,
1986. Printed in Great Britain
68 A. K. Dahiya, P. Vasudevan
A field experiment was conducted in the year 1983-84 for the following
crops:
Biogasplant slurryas an alternativeto chemicalfertilizers 69
Treatments application
Soil
Composite soil samples were drawn from the experimental site (15 cm
depth). The soil samples were dried, ground and then passed through a
2.0 mm sieve for subsequent analysis. The general soil characteristics are
given in Table 1.
70 A. K. Dahiya, P. Vasudevan
TABLE 1
Soil Characteristics of the ExperimentalField
Mechanical analysis
(i) Sand (%) 56.43
(ii) Silt(%) 30-45
(iii) Clay(%) 13.12
(iv) Texturalclass Sandy loam
pH 8.1
Water holding capacity (%) 30.4
Bulk density (g cc-1) 1"4
Particle density (g cc-1) 2-6
Sowing/transplantation
Seeds of wheat, bajra, mustard, jawar, guar and barseem and bhindi were
sown directly in the field at appropriate distances. Cauliflower and
tomato seeds were sown first in the finely prepared nursery beds and 15
days old seedlings were transplanted in the experimental plots. Irrigation
was given when required.
Wheat, bajra, jawar and mustard were harvested at dead ripe maturity. In
the case of vegetables, since all the plants do not mature at the same time,
a record of their fresh weight was kept on the day of their harvest. In the
case of fodders, four cuttings of barseem and two cuttings of guar were
taken. Threshing wherever applicable was done manually.
Soil analysis
Statistical analysis
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
TABLE 2
Yield of Crops (kg plot -1) Under Different Treatments
Treatments Wheat Mustard Ba]ra Jawar Bhindi Tomato Cauli- Barseem Guar
flower
TO(control) 1.132 0.269 0.507 0-514 2.366 5"706 10.023 18-147 8.136 .~
T1(whole nitrogen supplied 2.928 0.596 1.282 1.382 4.863 10.776 17.006 34.842 12.223
through chemical fertilizer) (158-6) a (121.5) (152.8) (168-8) (105.5) (88-8) (69"6) (92"0) (50"2) w.
T2 (half nitrogen supplied 2.429 0.507 1.038 1.127 4-790 10.810 17.456 37-143 12-450 .~
through chemical fertilizers (114.5) (88-4) (104.7) (119.2) (102-4) (89.4) (74-1) (104.6) (53"0)
and half through slurry) ~
T3 (whole nitrogen supplied 2.064 0"488 0-889 0-934 4-380 9.983 15.343 38"587 13.666
through slurry) (82.3) (81-4) (75.3) (81.7) (85.1) (74.9) (53"0) (112-6) (67"9)
SEre -+0"064 -+0"015 -+0"056 _+0.044 -+0-055 -+0"161 -+0"215 -+0.995 -+0-112
CD at 5% 0-205 0.047 0"179 0.143 0.178 0"515 0-689 3.184 0-361
"Percentage increase in yield under different treatments over control is shown in parentheses.
Biogas plant slurry as an alternative to chemical fertilizers 73
CONCLUSIONS
This study has shown the feasibility of using biogas plant slurry to
replace chemical fertilizer partially or fully. This will directly help in
saving commercial energy. Moreover, with a large scale establishment of
biogas plants in developing countries like India, the productive use of
spent slurry will bring better returns to the farmers as well as helping to
mitigate the energy and environmental crisis.
REFERENCES