Agricultural use of three organic residues: effect on orange production and on properties of a soil of the ‘Comarca Costa de Huelva’ (SW Spain)

Abstract

Disposal of urban, agricultural and industrial organic residues impliesan increasing problem because of all the economic and environmentalrepercussions involved. One of the most adequate ways of managing this problemis the agricultural use of these wastes as organic amendments. Three organicresidues (AC, olive mill waste water sludge compost; MWC, municipal solid wastecompost; and PS, paper mill sludge) were used in a 3-year field experimentinvolving orange production. The effect of their application on crop productionand on soil quality was investigated. Soil samples (0–20 cm depth)collected 11 months after the last soil amendment were analysed for: pH and EC,Kjeldahl-N, available-P, available-K, total organic carbon, humic substances,dehydrogenase, phosphatase, β-glucosidase, urease andbenzoyl-argininamidehydrolysing protease (BAA-protease) activities. Generally, the application of the MWC and PSincreased orange yield when compared to control. Moreover, total organic carbonand humic substances significantly increased in soils treated with all theorganic amendments. Organic fertilisation increased the Kjeldahl-N andavailable-P contents of the soil. The application of the organic residues also causedsignificant increases in dehydrogenase, β-glucosidase, urease andBAA-protease activities of the soil. Significant positive correlations (p <0.01) between these enzymatic activities and total organic carbon were foundforall treatments. Significant positive correlation between dehydrogenase, urease,β-glucosidase, and BAA-protease and orange yield was also found. However,a clear inhibition of phosphatase activity was observed in soils treated withPS. The results indicate that the repeated application to the soil of moderateamounts of organic amendments has positive effects on the chemical andbiochemical properties of the soil, as well as on the orange yield.