Using different organic wastes to improve the quality of desert soils and barley (Hordeum vulgare) plant growth

Mohamed Ramadan Aishah 1, *, Amna Kher Alshebani 1, Aiada Abdelsalam Romdan 1 and Qurban Ali Panhwar 2

1 Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Environment & Natural Resources, Wadi Al-Shatti University, Libya.
2 Soil & Environmental Sciences Division, Nuclear Institute of Agriculture (NIA) Tandojam 70060, Sindh Pakistan.
 
Research Article
International Journal of Science and Research Archive, 2022, 06(02), 193–205.
Article DOI: 10.30574/ijsra.2022.6.2.0161
Publication history: 
Received on 29 June 2022; revised on 15 August 2022; accepted on 17 August 2022
 
Abstract: 
The concept of the public in food safety, as well as environmental aspects, has newly improved to crops cultivated with organic fertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers. A study was conducted on various organic wastes for the improvement of desert soils and the growth of Hordeum vulgare plants. Desert soil sample, Hordeum vulgare plants, different organic wastes (Waste food and Animals waste), were used in a completely randomized design with three replications. Five treatments were used included T1=control (without composts), T2=25%, T3=50%, T4=75% and T5 100% with composts. Soil chemical properties were influenced by the use of waste compost amendments. There was a decrease in the soil pH from 8.7 to 7.0 at 50% waste food and mixed compost treatments. The EC and TDS were increased under composite treatments however, the treatments at 75% waste food compost gave high values for the CEC 38.75 cmol/kg. The exchangeable Ca, Mg, Na, K, N were increased in compost treatments. NO3 was increased from 1.29 mg/kg (in control) to 1.41 mg/kg in soil treated with 75% food waste compost. Among composts, the applications of food waste compost at 10% gave the highest plant height (18.1 cm), the number of plant leaves (6), and root biomass (6.77g dry weight). The use of various composts particularly food waste compost can be used in desert soils to improve crop growth and yield of Hordeum vulgare crop.
 
Keywords: 
Compost; Desert soil; Food waste; Manure; Soil amendment.
 
Full text article in PDF: 
 
Copyright information: 

Copyright © 2022 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0