Effect of fertigation through treated paperboard mill effluent on soil microbial properties and growth of banana

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at agricultural farm belonging to ITC paperboard mill situated at Thekkampatty Village, Coimbatore District to evaluate the influence of fertigation through treated board mill effluent on microbial property of soil and the growth of banana. From the study it was observed that biometric observations viz., the plant height, pseudostem girth, number of leaves, number of suckers and leaf area increased due to fertigation of effluent with 75 per cent NK over basin application of the effluent and farmer’s practice. Combined addition of fly ash + biocompost + green manure recorded more number of leaves. Application of green manure along with fly ash and biocompost under effluent fertigation with 75 per cent NK improved, soil biological properties (soil bacterial, fungal, actinomycetes population and soil enzymatic activity (urease, amylase, phosphatase, invertase, catalase, peroxide activity). The above findings indicated that the treated effluent from paperboard mill could possibly be used through drip irrigation along with fertigation to banana crop without any adverse effect on soil properties and crop growth.