Use of tank-silt as a manure in madhya pradesh

Summary

1. Field experiments were conducted in the paddy area of the State to study the effect of tank-silt on the structure of soil and its effect on crop yields.

2. Silts are observed to contain a much higher percentage of water stable aggregates (50–80%) than soils (10–30%).

3. The application of tank-silt to loamy and clayey soils results in an increase in the water stable aggregates while light sandy soils do not generally show any increase.

4. Observations made on a clay loam and a clay soil show that the addition of tank-silt increases the rate of nitrification. No nitrogen fixation was observed in these cases.

5. Increased yields obtained through the addition of tank-silt are due essentially to the extra nitrogen added and also to the improvement of water stable aggregates in loams and clays.