Improving Soil Quality and Increasing Peanut Production by Addition of Composted Green Waste and Carbonized Rice Hull Amendments

ABSTRACT

Increased population pressure coupled with unsustainable cropland management has resulted in soil degradation and a decline in crop productivity in China. This study tested the hypothesis that the soil with combined addition of composted green waste (CGW) and carbonized rice hulls (CRHs) as amendments will improve soil properties and increase peanut production. Some selected parameters of soil and peanut plant were measured, which were best if the soil was amended with 35 t ha⁻¹ CGW and 10 t ha⁻¹ CRH and were worst in the nonamended soil. Relative to the soil without amendment addition, amendment of the soil with 35 t ha⁻¹ CGW and 10 t ha⁻¹ CRH increased seed yield, total pod yield, root nodule number, and nodule dry weight by 50.0, 52.4, 55.4, and 57.9%, respectively, and increased total Kjeldahl nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, and total chlorophyll content of plants by 53.2, 54.4, 53.7, and 56.8%, respectively.

KEYWORDS:

• Bulk density
• carbonized rice hulls
• composted green waste
• peanut production
• plant nutrient
• soil quality

Acknowledgments

We also thank Prof. Bruce Jaffee for his linguistic modification of this article.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31700537) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (NO. BLX2015-07).