Current Trends and Insights on Compost Utilization Studies: Crop Residue Composting to Improve Soil Organic Matter in Sugarcane Cultivation, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

Vermicomposting is very popular worldwide due to its ability to convert the organic waste to manure as a substitute for chemical fertilizers. Organic agriculture aims to reduce the dependence of chemical fertilizers and attempts to incorporate crop residues or other forms of organic materials to provide nutrients, which improves soil structure and maintains the soil fertility. During crop cultivation, crop residues are produced in large quantities. The sugar industry is a major agro-industry in India and it is water-intensive crop. The sugarcane crop produces large quantities of crop residues which have high nutrient value. These crop residues can be a great help in improving soil fertility. Thus, the recycling of these crop residues gain worthwhile importance. This chapter discusses the findings of a case study wherein the decomposed bagasse was used as organic compost in cane fields as 3 Mt per acre. The compost was recommended to use continuously for 3 years to increase the organic carbon content in soil. In, drought prone areas, 5 Mt of compost per acre of land was recommended for water conversation. Bagasse has high water holding capacity and it has a water holding capacity of 1:5 ratio by its weight. Bagasse when applied to soil it slowly release the moisture to the soil and holds the soil water capacity. Hence, the frequency of irrigation in cane in red soil is reduced from alternate days to once in 4 days of irrigation. The sugarcane crop was applied with sugarcane bagasse compost which was low in cost followed by cane trash in situ composting. It improved the organic carbon, water absorption, and texture of the soil, which resulted in higher productivity of the crop. The bagasse compost also gave vigorous growth in young seedlings. The results described the advantages of bagasse composting which has high nutrient value and improved the organic carbon content of the soil. The high growth of cane seedlings will enhance the cane production and its various economic benefits can be realized in future.