Nutrient status of Soil as influenced by application of distillery spentwash R O Reject

Abstract

Distillery spentwash R O reject is the waste water obtained during production of ethanol. Preliminary analysis of this spentwash revealed that it contains large amounts of plant nutrients. So, to check the effect of this spentwash application to soil on nutrient status and fertility an experiment was conducted. The experiment consisted of seven treatments laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. The results indicated that the application of distillery spentwash R O reject to soil increased nutrient status of soil compared to initial status. Among the treatments, treatment receiving 150% N through distillery spentwash R O reject significantly increased the nitrogen (283.7 kg ha-1), phosphorus (24.1 kg ha-1), potassium (1213.5 kg ha-1), secondary and micronutrients in soil compared to all other treatments. Significantly lower content of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium (193.6, 10.6 and 588.5 kg ha-1, respectively) and other nutrient elements were recorded in treatment RDF only.