EFFECT OF COMBINED APPLICATION OF CHARRED

POULTRY LITTER AND MUDPRESS ON THE

PHOSPHORUS UPTAKE AND EARLY GROWTH OF
CORN (Zea mays L.) IN AN ULTISOL
ALDWIN PAUL M. PARAC MS-1 HORTITULTURE
VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
VISCA, BAYBAY CITY, LEYTE
SOIL ACIDITY

 Global serious problem

 31% of total land area is classified acidic (Garrote et al., 1986)
 Encompasses soil physical, chemical and biological properties
 Characterized by:
 P deficient (Kochian et al., 2004; Setiawati and Hadayanto,
2004)
 SOIL ACIDITY

 Low Organic Matter content and microbial activity

 Low pH (5.5 and below)
 Deficiencies of N, Ca, Mg, K and Mo
 Toxicities of Fe, Al and Mn
 CORN (ZEA MAYS L.)

 Staple food of 20% of the Philippine population (Greenpeace,

2011)
 Second to rice as the most important crop
 Vegetative phase is one of the most critical stage of life cycle
 Requires adequate amount of P to compensate the need for
development of ATP, sugars and nucleic acids.
 BIOCHAR
 Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of biomass in an oxygen depleted
environment and the charcoal that is produced is referred to as biochar
(Lehmann et al., 2006).
 cause changes in the soil nutrient and C availability, provide physical
protection to microorganisms against predators and desiccation;
 may alter the microbial diversity and taxonomy of the soil (Lehman et al.,
2011).
 BIOCHAR

 Research on tropical soils indicates that charcoal amendments can

increase and sustain soil fertility (Steiner et al., 2007).
POULTRY LITTER CHAR (PLC)

■ Chemical properties:
 P (0.18-1.16%) (Chan et al., 2008)
 N (0.85-2%)
 pH (8.9 – 10.27)
 OC content (15-16%),
 high in other micronutrients (Chan et al., 2008;Van Zwieten et al., 2010; Liesh et al., 2010; Sarong, 2012)
MUDPRESS AS AN ORGANIC FERTILIZER

 Contains following nutrients: (Diaz, 2016)

 2-3% Total P
 1-2% K
 1% Total N
 pH of 8.07
 50% OC
 Traces of Cu, Mn, and Zn
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

 To evaluate the effect of the single and combined application of poultry

litter char and mudpress char on the P-uptake and early growth of corn
in an ultisol.
 To determine the direct and residual effects of the combined and sole
application of poultry litter char and mudpress char on chemical
properties of the soil.
Materials and Methods
Soil Collection
-Soil samples will be collected from department of
animal science

Soil preparation
-Soil will be air-dried, pulverized and sieved

Initial Soil Analysis

-Soil pH (1:2.5 soil to H2O) and Extractable P (Bray P-2)
Collection of poultry litter and mudpress

Air drying of poultry litter and mudpress

Heated at 400-450 0C

Overnight cooling

Sieving of PLC and Mudpress Char

Analysis of PLC and Mudpress Char

 Laboratory Analysis
Termination after 30 days
Soil pH (1:2.5 soil to H2O)
Extractable P(mg
RCBDkg-1 soil) (Bray and Kurtz,
1945)
Plant Tissue Analysis (Total P)
Shoot and
15 days of Root Ratio
Incubation
Plant Height

Unamended 40g PLC kg-1 soil 40g MPC kg-1 soil 20g PLC + 20g MPC
kg-1 soil
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

 The pH and extractable P in soil and total P in plant tissue will be

analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and will be computed using
Statistical Tool for Agricultural Research (STAR) v. 2. 0. 1.
 If found significant, the treatment means will be compared using Least
Significant Difference (LSD) test at 5% level of significance.
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