humic acid in improving the efficiency of organic wastes

158 Pages·2016·2.91 MB·English

HUMIC ACID IN IMPROVING THE
EFFICIENCY OF ORGANIC WASTES

BY

SHREEMATHI.P
B.Sc. (Ag.)

THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE
PROFESSOR JAYASHANKAR TELANGANA STATE
AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF SCIENCE IN AGRICULTURE
(ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY)

CHAIRPERSON: Dr. K. JEEVAN RAO

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
RAJENDRANAGAR, HYDERABAD – 500 030
PROFESSOR JAYASHANKAR TELANGANA STATE
AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSIRTY
2015

1
DECLARATION

I, SHREEMATHI.P, hereby declare that the thesis entitled “HUMIC ACID IN
IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY OF ORGANIC WASTES” submitted to the
Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University for the degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN AGRICULTURE in the major field of
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY is the result of original research
work done by me. I also declare that no material contained in the thesis has been published
earlier elsewhere in any manner.

Place: Hyderabad (SHREEMATHI.P)
Date: I.D. No. RAM/13-98

2
CERTIFICATE

Ms. SHREEMATHI.P has satisfactorily prosecuted the course of research and that
the thesis entitled “HUMIC ACID IN IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY OF
ORGANIC WASTES” submitted is the result of original research work and is of
sufficiently high standard to warrant its presentation to the examination. I also certify that
neither the thesis nor its part thereof has been previously submitted by her for a degree of
any University.

(Dr. K.JEEVAN RAO)
Date: Chairperson

3
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the thesis entitled “HUMIC ACID IN IMPROVING THE
EFFICIENCY OF ORGANIC WASTES” submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of ‘MASTER OF SCIENCE IN AGRICULTURE’
(ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY) of the PROFESSOR
JAYASHANKARTELANGANA STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY,
Hyderabad is a record of the bonafide original research work carried out by
Ms.SHREEMATHI.P under my guidance and supervision. The subject of the thesis has
been approved by the Student’s Advisory Committee.
No part of the thesis has been submitted by the student for any other degree or
diploma. The published part and all assistance received during the course of investigations
have been duly acknowledged by the author of the thesis.

Thesis approved by the student’s advisory committee

Chairperson Dr. K. Jeevan Rao
Professor &University Head (FAC)
Department of Environmental Science & Technology (Signature)
College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar,
Hyderabad-500030
Member Dr. B.Anil Kumar
Assistant Professor
Department of Environmental Science & Technology (Signature)
College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar,
Hyderabad-500030
Member Dr. S. Harish Kumar Sharma
Associate Professor
Department of Soil Science &Agril. Chemistry (Signature)
College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar,
Hyderabad-500030
Date of final viva-voce:
4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My deep sincere thanks to the almighty Pilayar for his grace showered on me. With
immense pleasure, I wish to express my heartfelt thanks and affectionate gratitude to my
beloved mother Mrs. Meenatchi and father Mr. Parthiban whose everlasting love,
unfading faith, incessant inspiration, moral and financial support and blessings kept me
enthusiastic throughout my life and molded me to the present position, my dear brothers
Balu anna, Dhanapal anna and my dear sister Poornima whose constant encouragement
brings out the best in every one of my endeavors and without which this work could not be
completed.
I humbly consider it a privilege to have worked under esteemed guidance of
Dr. K. Jeevan Rao, Professor and Principal Investigator, Department of Environmental
Science and Technology, College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar and Chairman of my
Advisory Committee. I place on records and my deep sense of gratitude to him for
encouraging me to take up this research work and providing necessary guidance during the
course of my investigation, because of which I have been able to complete the work
assigned to me.
I am equally and deeply indebted to Dr. P. Prabhu Prasadini, Professor,
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture,
Rajendranagar, Hyderabad and Member of Advisory Committee for her valuable
suggestions, encouragement, affection, personal guidance, keen interest, immeasurable
help and constructive criticism given throughout my work and making it possible to bring
out this thesis. It was an honour and privilege for me to be associated with her who stood
by me with boundless patience in many difficult situations during my M. Sc. Degree
Programme.
I owe my effusive thanks to Dr. B. Anil Kumar, Assistant Professor, Department of
Environmental Science and Technology, College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar,
Hyderabad and Member of Advisory Committee for his encouragement, co-operation and
valuable counsel, note-worthy guidance and cordial co-operation during the course of
investigation.
I am deeply thankful to Dr. D. Jagdishwar Reddy, Dept. of Environmental Science
and Technology, for his constant encouragement, guidance and standing by me during
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difficulties and helped in solving those during my research work, due to which, which I
could complete my work in possible shortest time.
I am extremely thankful to Dr. Baby Akula, Dr. V. Sailaja, Dr. Sridevi in
the Department of Environmental Science and technology, Soil Science and Agricultural
Chemistry, College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar for their valuable suggestions and
whole-hearted help during my course work as well as research work.
I wish to make a special mention for the help rendered by Mrs. Anuradha, senior
research fellow and computer staff Mr. Praveen Mudiraj during research work for which I
am highly thankful to both, my sincere thanks to my seniors K. Bhavya, Archana Karuni,
Latika Devi, V. Rambabu Nayak, Praveen Solanki and to my classmates and friends
Susan Priyadarshini, Vijay Kumar, Ramya and non-technical staff Neermala and Padma
for their timely assistance and co-operation and all those who directly and indirectly
helped me in the Department of Environmental Science & Technology during my study
period and research work.
Diction is not enough to express love and affection to my late grandfather and
grandmother whose blessings gave me moral support without which I could not have
completed the thesis. My brothers Pavithiran, Karthick, Dinesh, Raguram ranjan,
Arutselvan, Suresh verma, sister Surya, Devadarshini, Karthiga and my nephew
Srinithish whose affection and encouragement have been the source of inspiration during
the course of my study. Uncles Kumaresan, Rajendran, Thiruvenkadam, Arumugam,
Eakambaram, Venkat, Thangamani and aunt Selvi, Jayalakshmi, Viji, Tamil Ozhi and
their children, brother-in-law Sankar.
Words are not enough to express my wholehearted and affectionate gratitude to my
friends Gomathi, Shyla, Deebika, Saranya, Gunavathi, Brindha, Kalaivanan, Gobu,
Suresh Kumar, Suresh Kannan, Myilvaganan, Madhumitha, Latha for their unbounding
love, unparallel affection and unstinted encouragement throughout my educational career.
Finally, I wish to extend my thanks to all my dear relatives and all who have
contributed even in a small way in the completion of my research work.

(SHREEMATHI.P)
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LIST OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER No. TITLE PAGE No.

I INTRODUCTION

II REVIEW OF LITERATURE

III MATERIAL AND METHODS

IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

V SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

LITERATURE CITED

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LIST OF TABLES
TABLE PAGE
TITLE
No. No.
1. Salient characteristics of water used in the experiment
2. Salient characteristics of experimental soil
Allowable limits for pollutant concentration (ppm) of biosolids

3.
for land application
Salient characteristics of organic wastes (namely Urban

4.
compost, Sewage sludge, Biochar and Humic acid)
Effects of different treatments on fruits quality parameters, dry

5.
matter production of plants and fruits, yield
Effect of different treatments in plant contents (%) and nutrient

6.
uptake (g plant-1)
Effect of different treatments on micronutrients and heavy
7. metals content in plants (g plant-1)
Effect of different treatments on Micronutrients and heavy

8.
metals uptake by plants (g plant-1)
Effect of different treatments in fruit content (%) and nutrient

9.
uptake (g plant-1)
Effect of different treatments on micronutrients and heavy
10. metals concentration in fruits (g plant-1)
Effect of different treatments on micronutrients and heavy
11. metals uptake in fruits (g plant-1)
Effect of different treatments on pH, EC (dS m-1), organic

12.
carbon (%), available N,P,K (kg ha-1) of soil
Effect of different treatments on micronutrients and heavy

13.
metals in soil (mg kg-1)

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
Title
S. No. Figure No.
No.

1. 1 General view of pot culture experiment

2. 2 Harvesting of fruits after 90 days
Micronutrients and heavy metals in organic wastes and

3. 3
humic acid (mg kg-1)
Effect of different treatments on dry matter production and

4. 4
yield (g plant-1)
Effect of different treatments on fruit quality parameters

5. 5
(mg 100g-1)

6. 6 Effect of different treatments on plant contents N, P, K (%)
Effect of different treatments on plant nutrients N, P, K

7. 7
uptake (g plant-1)
Effect of different treatments on micronutrient content in

8. 8
plants (g plant-1)
Effect of different treatments on heavy metal contents in

9. 9
plants (g plant-1)
Effect of different treatments on micronutrient uptake in

10. 10
plants (g plant-1)
Effect of different treatments on heavy metals uptake in

11. 11
plants (g plant-1)
Effect of different treatments on nutrient content in fruits

12. 12
(%)
Effect of different treatments on nutrient uptake in fruits (g

13. 13
plant-1)
Effect of different treatments on micronutrient content in

14. 14
fruits (g plant-1)
Effect of different treatments on heavy metals content in

15. 15
fruits (g plant-1)
Effect of different treatments on micronutrients uptake by

16. 16
fruits (g plant-1)
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Page
S. No. Figure No. Title19.
No.
Effect of different treatments on heavy metals uptake by

17. 17
fruits (g plant-1)
Effect of different treatments on pH, EC, organic carbon
18. 18
content in soils.
Effect of different treatments on major nutrient (N, P, K) in
19. 19
soils kg ha-1.
Effect of different treatments on micronutrients in soils (mg
20. 20
kg-1).
Effect of different treatments on heavy metal contents in
21. 21 soils (mg kg-1).

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