Chemical Properties of Compost in Relation to Calcareous Soil ‎Properties and Its Productivity of Wheat ‎

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Soil Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Menoufia University, Shebin Elkom, Egypt

2 Soils, Water and Environment Research Institute, ARC, Giza, Egypt

Abstract

Two field experiments were conducted during the two successive growing winter ‎seasons in a private farm at Abu El-Matamir, El-Beheira Governorate Egypt, on ‎wheat plant, to study the effect of three types of composts prepared from three ‎plant residues, i.e., maize (CMR), tomato (CTR) and vine (CVR) on chemical ‎properties of sandy calcareous soil (i.e., pH, EC, OM, CEC, CaCO3 and available ‎of some macro- and micronutrients) and its productivity of wheat yield and its ‎components. These composts were analyzed for their chemical composition and ‎content of available macro- and micronutrient. Each compost was added at rates ‎of 0, 5, 10 and 20 ton fed-1. ‎
The prepared composts had wide variations in their chemical composition. For ‎example, CTR had a highest content of organic matter, total nitrogen and ‎available macro- and micronutrients, while the lowest values were found in ‎CMR. Soil pH, EC and CaCO3 were decreased as a result of compost ‎applications, while soil CEC, OM and available macro- (N, P, K, S, Ca and Mg) ‎and micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu) were increased. The high relative ‎changes of the determined soil chemical properties and its content of available ‎nutrients were found in the soil treated with CTR followed by those resulted from ‎CVR treatments. Increasing application rates of the used composts were ‎associated with an increase of both straw and grain yields of wheat and their ‎relative changes (%), where the highest yield was found with the treatment of ‎CTR followed by that of CVR. Also, CTR gave the highest value of agronomical ‎efficiency of wheat plants compared with the other two composts. Finally, the ‎application of CTR (20 ton fed.-1) was superior in greatly improving soil chemical ‎properties of the studied soil and reflected on wheat productivity and nutrients ‎uptake. ‎

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