Studies on straw and compost decomposition and their effects upon nutrient metabolism in soils

• Main Author: Huq, Munirul
• Published: Imperial College London 1963
• Subjects: 631.8
• Online Access: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.602220

A review of the literature was made on composting and the effects of non-composted and composted materials on soil properties and plant growth. A comparison of the effects of three levels of straw and composted straw on the rate of mineralization of carbon from a soil over 311 days was made. In another experiment the rate of carbon mineralization from straw and compost added to a soil adjusted to four different pH levels and maintained at three different moisture levels, including waterlogging, was studied over 118 days. A comparison was made of the effects of uncomposted straw plus mineral nitrogen, composts prepared from straw with three different accelerators (nitrochalk, sewage sludge and dried blood), a grass compost, and mineral nitrogen alone on the performance of ryegrass and the uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium in pot tests using a soil of three different pH levels. The performance of ryegrass and uptake of major nutrients was studied in soil (at three pH levers) treated with three levels each of straw and straw composted with dried blood. A study was made of the effects of straw and four different composts on the performance of ryegrass in pot tests with a calcareous soil with either nitrogen or phosphorus as the only limiting nutrient. The residual effects of straw and four different composts were studied in a pot test by growing two successive crops of wheat. The availability of nitrogen from four straw composts, prepared with different accelerators, and containing very similar levels of total nitrogen was studied in a sand culture test and compared with the amount of nitrogen mineralized in an incubation test.