Research Article Open Access

SUSTAINABILITY AND STABILITY ANALYSIS OF DISTILLERY EFFLUENT ON SUGARCANE YIELD AND SOIL PROPERTIES AFTER CONTINUOUS APPLICATION

Abstract

Field experiments were conducted with sugarcane crop in sandy loam soil to study the effect of post bio-methanated sugar distillery effluent (PME) on soil properties and yield of sugarcane during 2003 - 2005. The PME was applied at different dilutions viz., 1:10T, 1:20T, 1:30T, 1:40T and 1:50T in four splits from 45th day after planting in 40 days interval. The PME along with irrigation water at different dilutions significantly increased the sugarcane yield and highest cane yield of 115, 117 and 121 tonnes ha-1 was recorded in 1:10T dilution treatment in the three experiments respectively. The results revealed that the pH of the soil is changed to near neutral and the changes observed on the EC of the soils are less significant. The organic carbon and available NPK content of the post harvest soil has significantly built up over the years in the PME applied plots when compared to the control. The 1:10T dilution treatment recorded the highest organic carbon and available NPK when compared to the other dilution treatments and the control. The applied PME has not only supplied and enriched the sugarcane soils with rich nutrients but has also substituted for 25 % of N and P fertilizers and 100 % of K fertilizer to sugarcane.

B. ANANDAKRISHNAN, M. SHEIK DAWOOD, M. SOUNDARRAJAN, S. JEBARAJ AND M.MURUGESAN