Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 11.7
Summary of the potential benefits of compost use-on-land in the short-,mid-, and long-
term retrieved from the literature review (adapted from Martínez-Blanco et al.
2013
)
Benefit
Indicator (unit)
Short-term
(< 1 year)
Mid-term
(< 10 years)
Long-term
(< 100 years)
Min.
Max.
Min.
Max.
Min.
Max.
N mineralized (% of N
applied)
5
22
40
50
20
60
Nutrient supply
P mineralized (% of P
applied)
35
38
90
100
90
100
K mineralized (% of K
applied)
75
80
100
100
Carbon sequestration
C sequestered in soil (% of
C applied)
40
53
30
2
16
Weed, pest, and dis-
ease suppression
Weed suppression (−)
ns
ns
-
-
-
-
Pest and disease suppres-
sion (−)
nad
nad
-
-
-
-
Crop yield
Crop yield gain
a
(% from
mineral fertilizers)
b
−138
0
−71
52
-
-
Soil erosion
Soil loss
a
(%)
b
-
-
−5
−36
-
-
Soil structural or aggregate
stability
a
(%)
29
41
0
63
-
-
Soil moisture content
WHC
a
(%)
0
50
-
-
-
-
PAW
a
(%)
0
34
-
-
-
-
Soil bulk density
a
(%)
b
Soil workability
−2.5 −21
−0.7 −23
−20
Soil biological
properties and
biodiversity
c
Microbial diversity
a
(%)
b
-
-
-
-
-2
4
Microbial biomass
a
(%)
22
116
10
242
3.2
100
Microbial activity
a
(%)
0
344
-
264
0
43
Crop nutritional
quality
Crop nutritional quality (−) nad
nad
-
-
-
-
WHC
water holding capacity,
PA W
plant available water,
ns
no significant differences,
nad
no
average data because of complexity of available dataset,
-
no reported benefits
a
Change in the indicator
b
Negative value indicates a decrease in the indicator
c
The ranges of benefit for three of the more used indicators are presented
• Use of chemical fertilizer could be reduced by compost application.
• Compost suppresses pesticides application as it got helpful microbes which may
safeguard plants form pests and diseases (Table
11.7
).
11.6
Compost Application
Soil health could be maintained by organic manure. Organic manures could not be
equated with synthetic fertilizers. It provides all nutrients to soil but in small quan-
tity. Five tons of enriched bio-compost is recommended per hectare land usually
applied as basic dose before sowing of crop.
