Agric. Sci. Digest., 36 (2) 2016: 97-101 Print ISSN:0253-150X / Online ISSN:0976-0547 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATION CENTRE www.arccjournals.com Role of fly ash in improving soil physical properties and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum) H.S. Dhindsa, R.D. Sharma and Rakesh Kumar* Irrigation Management and Training Institute, Kota-324 009, India. Received: 20-07-2015 Accepted:06-05-2016 DOI: 10.18805/asd.v36i2.10626 ABSTRACT The poor infiltration and fine texture of clay soil causes water logging problem and reduces biological activities in soil. In contrast to this, loose particle and higher in filterability in sandy soil results in low water holding capacity and poor nutrient retention. Fly ash, a waste product of thermal power plants, causes environmental pollution and is hazardous to human health. It is produced in plenty; therefore, safe disposal is very difficult. Fly ash may be used as amendment to improve soil properties and plant growth in such soils. The addition of 20% fly ash in clayey soil and up to 30% in sandy soils improved the germination, tillering, plant height, biological and grain yield of wheat. The addition of fly-ash has also shown improvement in the soil properties viz. texture, structure and bulk density. Permeability of clay loam soil increased from 0.54cm/hr to 2.14cm/hr by the addition of 50% fly ash whereas it decreased from 23.80 cm/hr to 9.67 cm/hr in sandy soil by 50% fly-ash addition. Water holding capacity of sandy soil also increased from 0.38 cm/cm to 0.53 cm/cm at 50% level. Key words: Fly-ash, Soil physical properties, Wheat. INTRODUCTION The poor infiltration of clay soil causes water logging, soil salinity and reduce biological activity. On the other hand, sandy soil due to loose particles and high infiltration causes low water holding capacity and poor nutrient retention, both the problems persist in different areas of Rajasthan. Among the ten agroclimatic zones Rajasthan, Agroclimatic Zone-V (Hadoti region) having clay soils and Agroclimatic Zone-A (western Rajasthan) having sandy and course textured soils. A large area is under both the zone having potential for crop production, furthermore, the productivity can be enhanced by improving the soil physical and chemical properties. Fly ash a by product of thermal power project, available in plenty in both the problematic area may offer a solution to these problems. Fly ash is considered as environment pollutant but, when properly blended in soil can act as a boon in agricultural sector by improving soil properties and simultaneously provide solution for safe disposal. It is reported that fly ash can be utilized in agriculture as an ameliorant or fertilizer. In addition fly ash has many beneficial physical characteristic like texture, water-holding capacity, porosity etc. Clay soil after mixing with fly ash may overcome the water logging problem due to increase in infiltration rate whereas mixing with fly ash may increase water holding capacity in sandy soils. Fly ash being a burnt residue of coal is rich in mineral like K, Ca, Mg, SO4 Cu, Fe, Zn, Mo, Mn, etc and hence acts as a secondary source of fertilizer. A very scanty information is available about its use for improving soil property. However, favourable effect of fly ash on soil properties and plant growth has been reported by some workers (Lal et al,1996; Rajkumar, 2000 and Thakare,1996). Keeping in view the beneficial physical and chemical characteristics for improvement in soil texture, water holding capacity as well as for its safe disposal, an experiment was undertaken to know its potential in enhancing wheat productivity in these problematic soils by improving soil properties and as a sourse of micronutrients. MATERIALS AND METHODS The fine textured clayey soil was collected from IMTI research farm, Nanta Kota. The soils belong to typic chromstert of vertisol group. These soils are dark grayish brown in colour, clay loam in texture, slowly permeable, non-calcareous, non-saline sodic in nature. The soil had sand 28.5 percent, dry bulk density 1.45 gms/cc, water holding capacity (WHC) 65%, permeability 0.54 cm/ hr, ph 8.16 and EC 0.64 ds/ m. The sandy soils were collected from Chattargarh Bikaner division. The soils belongs to sandy arid plain yellowish brown in colour, sandy in texture, highly permeable, non-calcareous and non-saline sodic in nature. The soil had sand 97.18 percent, clay 1.81 percent, dry bulk density 1.60 gms/cc, WHC 38%, permeability 23.80 cm / hr. ph 8.27 and EC 1.01 ds/m. *Corresponding author s e-mail: drdudi_rk@rediffmail.com and present address: FR&MC, NDRI, Karnal-132 001, India.
98 AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE DIGEST- A Research Journal The fly ash collected from NTPC Kota, which was used in the experiment, had sand 82.20%, silt 15.25 percent and clay 2.55 percent. The dry bulk density was 1.21 gm/cc, W.H.C 54%, permeability 9.0 cm/ hr, ph 8.05 and EC 0.66 ds/ m, respectively. Fly ash has ability to improve physical properties of both clayey as well as sandy soils, if suitably blend in each soil. Therefore, to know the optimal blend ratio to improve soil physical parameter for attaining maximum yield, fly ash was mixed @ 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 100% in clayey as well as sandy soils. A pot experiment was conducted at IMTI research farm, Nanta Kota to investigate the effect of different proportion of fly ash on wheat crop. Fly ash was mixed with both the above soils in various percentages on weight basis. The earthen pots were filled with a mixture of soil and fly ash in different proportions (T0-0, T1-10, T2-20, T3-30, T4-40, T5-50, and T6-100% fly ash). The experiment was laid out in the pattern of completely randomized design (C.R.D.) in pots with three replications. Equal number of seeds was sown in all experimental pots. All other inputs were applied as per standard cultivation practices. The pots were watered as per requirement. The seedlings were allowed to grow till maturity and harvested. The observations on yield and yield attributes of wheat crop were recorded. The physicochemical composition of KTPS fly ash as estimated by Shri Ram Institute of Industrial Research, New Delhi is given in Table 1. Data were analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Analysis of variance of the experimental data was carried out as per completely randomized design (Gomez and Gomez, 1983). In case of significant F test in ANOVA with 5 % significance level (P < 0.05), the means Table 1: Physico-chemical properties of KTPS fly ash. Properties /Constituents Quantity SiO 2 +Al 2 O 3 + Fe 2 O 3 (%) 94.74 SiO 2 (%) 57.78 MgO (%) 2.19 SO 3 (%) 0.0099 Na 2 O (%) 0.74 Loss on Ignition (%) 1.42 Total N (%) 0.86 Total P (%) 0.97 Total K (%) 1.42 Organic Carbon (%) 0.114 Colour Gray Finess (M 2 kg -1 ) 397-505 Particle (Micron) 120 Lime Reactivity 4.57-7.20 Water holding Capacity (%) 64 Porosity (%) 47.10 Specific Gravity 1.84-2.67 Source: Anonymous (1999). Table 2: Effect of fly ash on growth, yield Attributes and yield of wheat (Raj 3765). were compared using the critical difference (CD) test at = 0.05. RESULTS AND DISSCUSSION Effect on crop growth and yield of wheat crop: The data on the effect of fly ash treatment on the growth, yield attributes and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum) variety Raj 3765 are presented in Table 2. The result indicated that addition of fly ash to clay soil enhanced the wheat germination and it was increasing as the proportion of fly ash increases and attained 100% germination on 20% addition. It remained constant up to 40% fly ash. Further increase in fly ash proportion decreases germination. The Treatment Germination % No of tiller / Height of Grain yield Straw yield Biological plant plant(cm) (q/ha) (q/ha) Yield (q/ha) Clay loam soil + Fly ash T0 95 10.0 75.2 31.00 38.50 69.50 T1 95 11.0 84.2 35.25 42.75 78.00 T2 100 10.5 79.4 32.50 40.50 73.00 T3 100 9.5 73.4 29.50 36.00 65.50 T4 100 8.5 72.2 26.25 34.00 60.25 T5 95 8.0 68.4 22.50 31.25 53.75 T6 70 6.0 52.5 18.25 26.25 44.50 CD at 5% 4.5 1.5 9.6 3.8 3.6 6.7 Sandy soil + Fly ash T0 90 9.5 66.2 22.60 31.55 54.15 T1 100 10.5 71.5 24.10 33.30 57.40 T2 100 10.7 72.2 24.85 34.10 58.95 T3 100 8.6 66.5 24.25 33.80 5805 T4 100 7.8 62.7 21.15 30.10 51.25 T5 85 7.5 60.5 19.50 27.65 47.15 T6 70 6.0 52.5 18.25 26.25 44.50 CD at 5% 9.8 1.4 4.9 3.8 1.78 3.1
similar trend was observed for sandy soil with fly ash treatments. Significant difference was also observed in yield attributes viz. number of tiller/plant and plant height. Maximum number of tiller/plant(11.0) and plant height(84.2 cm) were recorded on mixing 10% fly ash in clay soil, whereas, in sandy soil maximum number of tiller/plant(10.7) and plant height(72.2 cm) were recorded on mixing 20% fly ash. Further increase in fly ash reduced the number of tiller/ plant and plant height in both soils. A maximum of 13.7% increase in yield was observed on mixture of 10% fly ash in clay soil and 10% increase was recorded on mixture of 20% fly ash in sandy soil. At 100% fly ash level there was 41% decline in yield over control. Similar trend was observed for sandy soils. Similar trend was observed for straw and biological yield. The positive impact of fly ash application on growth and yield of crops has been reported by scientists working at Punjab Agriculture University (Anonymous, 1993). Effect on soil physical parameters: The addition of fly ash in clayey as well as sandy soil significantly improved the soil physical properties viz. texture, density, permeability and water holding capacity etc (Table 3). The fine textured soils changed from clay loam to sandy loam and sandy to loamy sand on mixing with to 40% fly ash and with 50% fly ash, respectively. The changes in soil texture by addition of appropriate quantities of fly ash has also been reported by Rajkumar (2000), Thakare (1996) and Yeledhalli et al. (2007). Table 3: Effect of Fly ash on soil properties Volume 36 Issue 2 (2016) 99 The bulk densities of both clay loam and sandy decreased with increasing fly ash proportions. Similarly, Lal et al. (1996), Matte and Kene (1995) and Miller, (1999), also reported that fly ash amendment to agriculture soils tending to decrease the bulk density. The permeability of clay loam soil was 0.54 cm/hr. which comes under the class slow that leads to water logging and soil salinity problems. Addition of fly ash in different proportions have changed its permeability class to moderately slow on addition of 10% FA and to moderate on addition of 50% FA (Fig.1). Such improvement in soil permeability will provide favourable environment in the root zone of plants and suitable drainage conditions which ultimately help in reclamation of soil salinity and water logging problems and enhance the productivity. On contrary in sandy soil the permeability was 23.80 cm/hr. which is highly permeable. that percolates the irrigation water below the root zone causing nutrient and water losses. On addition of 10% F.A. the permeability reduced to 16.63 from 23.80 cm/hr and on addition of 30% F.A. it reduced to 12.14 cm/hr which is moderately rapid category (Fig.1). Thus mixing of fly ash may enhance the water and nutrient retentivity of sandy soils. The water holding capacity (WHC) and available water holding capacity (AWHC) was found 0.65 and 0.23 cm/cm for clay loam soil and 0.54 and 0.19 cm/cm for flyash, respectively (Fig.2). On addition of fly-ash AWHC reduced very slightly not affecting the irrigation scheduling. The application of fly ash has been found to increase the available water content of loamy sand and sandy soils Treatment Texture Bulk Density Permeability Water Holding Field Permanent Available Ece ph Mg M -3 Cm/cm Capacity Capacity WiltingPoint water Holding (ds/m) Cm/cm cm/cm (cm/cm) capacity (cm/cm) Clay loam soil + Fly ash T0 Clay loam 1.45 0.54 0.65 0.56 0.33 0.23 0.64 8.16 T1 Loam 1.41 0.62 0.62 0.53 0.31 0.22 0.64 8.14 T2 Loam 1.39 0.73 0.60 0.51 0.30 0.21 0.64 8.10 T3 Loam 1.36 0.94 0.58 0.48 0.27 0.21 0.64 8.08 T4 Loam 1.33 1.35 0.56 0.47 0.26 0.21 0.65 8.08 T5 Sandy loam 1.31 2.14 0.55 0.45 0.25 0.20 0.65 8.06 T6 Loamy sand 1.21 9.00 0.54 0.39 0.20 0.19 0.66 8.05 CDat 5% 0.02 1.15 0.03 0.02 0.02 0.02 NS NS Sandy soil + Fly ash T 0 Sandy 1.60 23.80 0.38 0.21 0.10 0.11 1.01 8.27 T1 Sandy 1.55 16.63 0.44 0.24 0.11 0.13 0.97 8.25 T2 Sandy 1.52 13.90 0.48 0.27 0.13 0.14 0.93 8.23 T3 Sandy 1.50 12.14 0.51 0.30 0.15 0.15 0.90 8.20 T4 Sandy 1.45 10.80 0.52 0.32 0.16 0.16 0.87 8.15 T5 Sandy 1.42 9.67 0.53 0.34 0.18 0.16 0.83 8.12 T6 Loamy sand 1.21 9.00 0.54 0.39 0.20 0.19 0.66 8.05 CD at 5% 0.03 4.53 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.01 NS NS
100 AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE DIGEST- A Research Journal Fig 1: Permeability of sandy and clay soil as affected by fly ash mixing. Fig 2: Water Holding Capacity (cm/cm)of sandy and clay soil as affected by fly ash mixing. (Anonymous, 1993). Chang et al. (1977) reported that an addition of fly ash (8% w/w) increased the water holding capacity of soil. The Table 3 shows that in sandy soil the WHC and AWHC was 0.38 and 0.11 cm/cm, respectively. On addition of 20% F.A. in sandy soil, 26% increase in WHC was observed, which will enhance the water and nutrient availability. Similar findings were also observed by Kalra, et al. (2003), Kene, et al. (1991), Khan and Khan (1996), Lal et al. (1996), Matte and Kene (1995), Miller, (1999), Rajkumar (2000), Thakare (1996). and Yeledhalli et al. (2007). the improvement of water holding capacity is beneficial to plants especially under rain fed agriculture. The mixing of fly ash with clay loam and sandy soils did not show any appreciable change in ph and ECE. CONCLUSIONS Fly ash can be used in combination with chemical fertilizer and / or organic carbon to get additional benefits in terms of improvement of soils physical characters for increased yield of crops. From this study it can be concluded that mixing of up fly ash to 20% with clay loam and upto 30% in the sandy soil is useful to improve soil physical properties as well as to increase the yield of wheat. The experiment was limited to pot experiments and there is a
need to conduct experiment at field level in both the types of soils, (clayey and sandy) for validation of the results and suitability on large scale application of fly ash. The Volume 36 Issue 2 (2016) 101 long term impact on micronutrient, heavy metal and soil physical and chemical properties need to be studied further. REFERENCES Anonymous. (1993). Annual report Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiyana, Panjab. Anonymous. (1999). Chemical analysis of fly ash. Annual report of Shri Ram Institute of industrial Research. New Delhi. Change, A.C.; Lund, C.L.; Page, A.L. and Warneke, J.E. (1977). Physical properties of fly ash amended soils. Journal of Environmental. Quality. 6: 623-631. Gomez K A and Gomez A. (1983). Statistical Procedures for Agricultural Research. Willy, New York. pp. 680. Kalra, N.; Jain, M. C.; Choudhary, R.; Hari, R. C.; Vatsa, B. K.; Sharma, S. K. and Kumar, V. (2003). Soil properties and crop productivity as influenced by fly ash in corporation in soil. Environment Monitoring Assessment, 87: 93-109. Kene,D.R.; Lanjewar,S.A.; Ingole, B.M. and Chjaphale, S.D. (1991). Effect of application of fly ash on physico-chemical properties of soil. Journal of Soils and Crops, 1 : 11-18 Khan, M. R. and Khan, M. (1996). The effect of fly ash on plant growth and yield of tomato. Environment Pollution, 92: 105-111. Lal, J. K.; Mishra, B.; Sarkar, A. K. and Lal, S. (1996). Effect of fly ash on growth and nutrition of soybean. Journal of the Indian Society of Soil Science, 44: 310-313. Matte, D.B. and Kene, D.R. (1995). Effect of fly ash application on yield performance of kharif and rabi crops. Journal of Soils and Crops, 5: 133-136. Miller, E. (1999). Changes in the properties of sandy soil fertilized with different doses of ashes from Dolna Odra Power Station, Florida University of Agricultural Research Station, 78: 189-202. Page, A. L.; Miller, R. H. and Kefney, D. R. (1982). Methods of Soil Analysis: Part-2 Chemical and Microbiological Properties, American Society of Agronomy, Madison,Wisconsin, USA. Rajkumar, G. R. (2000). Effect of fly ash on growth and yield of crops, nutrient uptake and soil properties with special emphasis on toxic elements and radio nuclides. Ph. D. thesis, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, India. Thakare K.K. (1996). Proc. Regional Workshop cum symposium. On fly ash disposal and utilization at KTPS Kota. Yeledhalli, N. A.; Prakash,S. S.; Gurumurthy, S. B. and Ravi, M.V. (2007). Coal fly ash as modifier of physico-chemical and biological properties of soil. Karnataka J. Agric. Sci.20: 531-534