Fly ash-a potential source of soil amendment and a component of integrated plant nutrient supply system

In sub-tropical climate the high rainfall and high temperature is responsible for low soil productivity due to losses of bases and low organic matter content in soil. In acid lateritic soil low availability of P and high content of Al and Fe posses nutritional imbalance which is generally corrected by lime materials. Alkaline fly ash can be used in such problematic soil as an amended material and also it acts as source of plant nutrition for crop production. An attempt was made to develop an integrated plant nutrient supply system utilizing the fly ash along with other organic wastes like paper factory sludge, farm yard manure, crop residue and chemical fertilizers for rice-peanut cropping system. Direct and residual effects of fly ash were assessed based on crop yield, nutrient uptake and changes in soil characteristics. The application 10 t ha−1 of fly ash in combination with organic sources and chemical fertilizer increased the grain yield and nutrient uptake of rice, and pod yield of peanut compared to chemical fertilizers alone. The heavy metal contents in plant and soil system was analyzed and found to remain below the permissible level. The results indicated that fly ash could be applied safely to tropical agro eco-systems for retaining productivity of acid lateritic soil.