Abstract

Mineralization of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and suphur was studied by incubating soil samples for 90 days at 30°C temperature with four different organic materials viz. Press mud, sugarcane trash, paper mill bagasse and pine needle. The results showed that the carbon mineralization in soil was significantly higher from sugarcane trash followed by press mud as compared to control. The cumulative percent of carbon mineralization increased with incubation period and maximum mineralization was recorded at 90 DOI (days after incubation). The maximum cumulative percent N-mineralization (16.88%) in soil was shown by paper mill bagasse followed by sugarcane trash and pine needle. The percent N-mineralization from all added organic amendments increased incubation period up to 45days of incubation DOI (days after incubation) after then it gradually declined, while the pine needles showed maximum cumulative P-mineralization in soil followed by sugarcane trash while minimum was recorded from press mud. The paper mill bagasse showed highest cumulative S-mineralization in soil followed by sugarcane trash. Irrespective of organic wastes, cumulative S-mineralization significantly increased after 15 days of incubation up to 45 days later on it showed declined trend. Among the organic wastes, sugarcane trash showed maximum Cmineralization in soil exhibited fast decomposition in comparison to other wastes. So, it can be used for composting. The paper mill bagasse showed more N and S mineralization while maximum mineralization of P was found in pine needle. The press mud and sugarcane trash showed potential for short duration enriched compost.

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