Water hyacinth [Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms.] engineered soil nutrient availability in a low-land rain-fed rice farming system of north-east India

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

Source: www.sciencedirect.com --- Friday, July 05, 2013
Publication date: September 2013 Source: Ecological Engineering, Volume 58 Author(s): D. Balasubramanian , K. Arunachalam , A. Arunachalam , A.K. Das A study was conducted to investigate the mulch role of water hyacinth ( Eichhornia crassipes ) on soil properties of a lowland rain-fed rice farming system in north-east India. The green mulch had higher carbon and nutrient contents as compared to its compost and vermicompost forms, and so were the hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin. Significant reduction in C/N ratio from fresh water hyacinth indicated rapid N release while composting. Over all, mulching significantly ( p < 0.05) increased soil C, total N, available P and K as compared to the non-mulched plots. Nonetheless, soil C was greater in the green mulch plots, followed by compost and vermicompost plots. Net N mineralization rate also followed similar patterns. Upon comparison with other aquatic weedy species, E. crassipes had 20?50% more C and 10?40% more N in its residues. Likewise, the compost prepared out of E. crassipes also seems to be of good quality as indicated by a C/N ratio less than 25, as compared to Hydrilla spp., Najas spp., Ottelia spp. and Pistia stratiotes . It is therefore suggested that recycling of water hyacinth can be an ecofriendly aquatic weed management strategy to improve soil health and nutrient redistribution through a faster turnover that can engineer sustainable agricultural production in t ...

Source: http://rss.sciencedirect.com/action/redirectFile?&zone=main&currentActivity=feed&usageType=outward&url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=GatewayURL&_origin=IRSSSEARCH&_method=citationSearch&_piikey=S0925857413002024&_

joseph kony ipad 3 release date apple store down apple live blog ohio primary cell phone jammer g8 summit