Journal of Environmental Biology

Effect of phosphogypsum amendment on soil physico-chemical       

properties, microbial load and enzyme activities

 

Author Details

 

Soumya Nayak

Department of Zoology and Biotechnology, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, College

of Basic Sciences and Humanities, Bhubaneswar - 751 003, India

C.S.K.Mishra (Corresponding author)

Department of Zoology and Biotechnology, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, College

of Basic Sciences and Humanities, Bhubaneswar - 751 003, India

e-mail: cskmishra@yahoo.com

B.C. Guru

Post Graduate Department of Zoology, Utkal University, Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar - 751 004, India

Monalisa Rath

Department of Zoology and Biotechnology, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, College

of Basic Sciences and Humanities, Bhubaneswar - 751 003, India

 

 

 

 

Publication Data

Paper received:

30 October 2009

 

Revised received:

12 July 2010

 

Accepted:

29 October 2010

 

Abstract

Phosphogypsum (PG) is produced as a solid waste from phosphatic fertilizer plants. The waste slurry is disposed off in settling ponds or in heaps .This solid waste is now increasingly being used as a calcium supplement in agriculture. This study reports the effect of PG amendment on soil physico chemical properties, bacterial and fungal count and activities of soil enzymes such as invertase, cellulase and amylase over an incubation period of 28 days. The highest mean percent carbon loss (55.98%) was recorded in 15% PG amended soil followed by (55.28%) in 10% PG amended soil and the minimum (1.68%) in control soil. The highest number of bacterial colonies (47.4 CFU g^-1 soil), fungal count (17.8 CFU g^-1 soil), highest amylase activity (38.4 µg g^-1 soil hr^-1) and cellulase activity (38.37 µg g^-1 soil hr^-1) were recorded in 10% amended soil . Statistically significant difference (p<0.05) has been recorded in the activities of amylase and cellulase over the period of incubation irrespective of   amendments. Considering the bacterial and fungal growth and the activities of the three soil enzymes in the control and amended sets, it appears that 10% PG amendment is optimal for microbial growth and soil enzyme activities.

Key words

Phosphogypsum, Soil bacteria, Fungi, Soil enzyme

 

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