The use of liquid organic fertilizers in improving soil chemistry and fertility without harming soil and the environment

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY …  BONIFACIO B NATAG-OY TOPIC TITLE: THE USE OF LIQUID ORGANIC FERTILIZERS IN IMPROVING SOIL CHEMISTRY AND FERTILITY WITHOUT HARMING SOIL AND THE ENVIRONMENT Bachelor Thesis Study Mode: Full-Time Major : Bachelor of Environmental Science and Management Faculty : International Training and Development Center Batch : K42 - AEP Thai Nguyen, 20/01/2015 CERTIFICATION This is to certify that the thesis entitled “THE USE OF LIQUID ORGANIC FERTILIZERS IN IMPROVING SOIL CHEMISTRY AND FERTILITY WITHOUT HARMING SOIL AND THE ENVIRONMENT” submitted by Bonifacio B Natag-oy towards the fulfillment of the undergraduate degree of Environmental Science and Management is based on his original research and study under the supervision of Dr Dedik Budianta and Dr Nguyen The Hung The thesis in part or full is the property of the Advanced Education Program of the Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry and thereof should not be used by any other public or private institution without prior consent Thai Nguyen, 23/ 01/ 2015 Supervisor Dr Nguyen The Hung Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry Signed by: DOCUMENTATION PAGE WITH ABSTRACT Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry Degree Program Bachelor of Environmental Science and Management Student Name Bonifacio B Natag-oy Student ID DTN1054140237 Thesis Title The Use of Liquid Organic Fertilizers In Improving Soil Chemistry and Fertility Without Harming Soil and the Environment Supervisors Dr Dedik Budianta and Dr Nguyen The Hung Abstract Soil has a very important role to the environment and if not manage well due to the overuse of some inorganic or chemical fertilizers may lead to soil degradation and soil destruction of the soil structure and the soil fertility However, with the proper use of liquid organic fertilizers (LOF) can bring back the life into the soil as it provides microorganisms and soil nutrients that improves the soil chemistry and fertility The study area was in the Soil Science Department greenhouse, Faculty of Agriculture, Sriwijaya University, Inderalaya Campus, South Sumatra Province The findings of the study are expected to help the farmers to have an idea on how to make and apply their own fertilizer that can costs much cheaper compared to some commercial fertilizers (Organic and Inorganic) The study analyzed the NPK of the LOF and pH, NPK of the soil after the experiment The study revealed that the best treatment for water spinach in a histosol soil type was in treatment with the rates of 7.5 L/ha but the results in statistical analysis was that all has no significant difference with each treatment except the K with significant difference Although, the soil type (histosol) used in this study affected the plants growth due to the compaction of the soil when wet or after watering Keywords Liquid organic fertilizer (LOF), Histosol (organosol),pH and NPK, environment Number of Pages Thirty four (34) pages Date of submission January 22, 2015 ii ACKNOWLEDGMENT The author wishes to extend his grateful appreciation to the following people for their valuable contribution in order to make this research possible First and foremost, to our Almighty God for giving the author wisdom, strength, courage and through Him everything was made possible To his family for their support and unconditional love necessary to fulfill the author’s dreams To the Advanced Education Program headed by Dr Duong Van Thao for their continuous support and assistance with their students To the lecturers at Sriwijaya University and TUAF especially to Dr Dedik Budianta and Dr Nguyen The Hung, his thesis supervisors, for their excellent advices and for providing him good atmosphere and motivations for doing the research To Dr Arinafril, without him the research in Sriwijaya University would not be possible and for the recommendation for his supervisor To his friends in Sriwijaya University, Faculty of Agriculture, ASEAN University Games Volunteers for their kindness in helping him for his research and for the friendship that they built during his stay in Indonesia To his classmates in K42 and to all the Filipino students for sharing the happy days and hard times in the last four years of his life in Vietnam To Mrs Herminia Teh-op, for giving him a financial and moral support in the last four years of study in Vietnam To Dr Serafin L Ngohayon and the Ifugao State University (IFSU), for giving him the full support and for giving him the chance to study in Vietnam Lastly, the author offers his regards and blessings to all of those who supported him in any respect during the completion of the project 33 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF TABLES PART I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Reasearch Rationale 1.2 Research’s objectives 1.3 Research questions and Hypotheses 1.4 Limitations PART II LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Organic fertilizers 2.1.1 The use and importance of organic fertilizers 2.1.2 The use of liquid organic fertilizers (LOF) 2.1.3 Advantages of liquid organic fertilizers 2.1.4 Disadvantages liquid organic fertilizers 10 2.2 Functions of lime in the soil 11 2.2.1 Importance of liming the soil 11 2.2.2 Neutralization of Soil Acids 12 2.2.3 The Influence of Calcium on Plant Growth 12 2.2.4 The effect of Lime on the Solubility of Soil Mineral Elements 12 2.2.5 Effect of Lime on Microbial Process of the Soil 13 2.2.6 The Effect of Lime on Soil Structure 13 2.2.7 The Influence of Lime on the Effectiveness of Fertilizers and Manure 13 2.3 Swamp area in South Sumatra, Indonesia 13 2.4 Histosol 14 PART III METHODS 16 3.1 Materials 16 3.1.1 Organic Materials, OM (Chicken Manure, Legume tree (Gliricidia sepium), Effective microorganisms EM4, Coconut Water) 16 3.1.2 Water, pots, soil, and lime 17 3.1.3 Water Spinach 18 3.1.4 Bucket 18 4 3.1.5 Laboratory room and equipments 18 3.1.6 Camera 18 3.1.7 Papers and pen 18 3.2 Methods 18 3.2.1 Experimental Process 18 3.2.2 Site Location 20 3.2.3 Experimental Design 20 3.2.4 Sampling and Analysis 20 3.2.5 Statistical Analysis 21 PART IV RESULTS 22 4.1 Liquid organic fertilizer (LOF) 22 4.2 Soil nutrients 22 4.3 Plants growth and biomass 26 PART V DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 30 5.1 Discussion 30 5.1.1 Liquid organic fertilizer (LOF) 30 5.1.2 Soil nutrients 31 5.1.3 Plants growth and biomass 31 5.1.4 The effects of Histosol on the Plants 32 5.2 Conclusion 32 REFERENCES 33 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1 Effect of applied lime on Soil pH 23 Figure 4.2 Effects of applied LOF on Soil Nitrogen Contents 24 Figure 4.3 Effect of applied LOF on Soil Phosphorus Contents 24 Figure 4.4 Effect of applied LOF on Soil Potassium Contents 25 Figure 4.5 Effect of applied rates of LOF on height of the plants 27 Figure 4.6 Effect of applied rates of LOF on the number of leaves 27 Figure 4.7 Effect of applied rates of LOF on fresh weight of the plants 29 Figure 4.8 Effect of applied rates of LOF on dry weight of the plants 29 LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Liquid Organic Fertilizer Results (Silalahi, 2014) Table 2.2 Chemical properties of organic soil material as related to degree of decomposition 14 Table 2.3 The results of the soil analysis from lowland dry swamp area (Silalahi, 2014) 15 Table 4.1 Nutrient concentration of liquid organic fertilizer used in the study 22 Table 4.2 Some properties of soil sampled after harvesting the water spinach 22 Table 4.3 Effect of applied rates of LOF on plants growth 26 Table 4.4 Effects of applied rates of LOF on plants weight 28 PART I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Reasearch Rationale Soils play a very important role in our life and in our environment It is the foundation of all the buildings, houses, roads, plants for forestry and agriculture and others It is where all living and non-living things standing including humans Soils are a combinations and interactions of solids (organic and inorganic materials including microorganisms), liquid (water) and gas (air) (Hyodo et al., 2006) Soil is very important to all plants and a plant does not depend on only with soil but also with soil fertility in order to grow properly The fertility or nutrients of the soil already exists since the soil was developed from rocks through chemical processes and time and the rocks contain all of the nutrients needed by plants Soil fertility depends on soil chemistry as we need to know the soil chemistry to determine its fertility Organic fertilizers are different from inorganic fertilizers Organic fertilizers provide food and nourish the plants while helping forming the structure of the soil Inorganic fertilizers the same thing but will soon destroy the soil and according to (Puma, 2010), the carbonic acid which is present in the soil, combines with the sodium from chemical fertilizers to form sodium carbonate This sodium carbonate act as a bonding agent causing soil particles to bind together and compact That process caused the soil becomes hard, difficult to work, and plant roots can't penetrate it Farmers most likely to use inorganic fertilizers because it gives the nutrients that are needed by plants faster than organic fertilizers which are slower According to Hadad and Anderson, 2004, inorganic fertilizers are generally simple to use, because it is easy to determine the fertilizer concentration with the use of a conductivity meter On the other hand, Organic fertilizers have been difficult to apply at a specific rate because the amounts of nutrients per unit of fertilizer solution were not known Liquid organic fertilizer (LOF) is the most likely to be used as a replacement to inorganic fertilizer because it’s easy for the plants to uptake the nutrients from it through the roots or leaves (Stomata) LOF provide better nourishment for plants resulting into healthy and strong plants They reduce incidences of plant pests and diseases making them more resistant (Agro Eco Louis Bolk Institute (AELBI), 2010) Farmers or gardeners may buy commercial LOF in the markets or make a homemade LOF 1.2 Research’s objectives To know how to prepare liquid organic fertilizer (LOF) that can be prepared at home and apply in the field, study the effects of LOF in soil chemistry to see the improvements after the applications, to find an alternative way to improve soil fertility in an environmental friendly way which has a similar or close to the effective time rate like inorganic fertilizers 1.3 Research questions and Hypotheses This study aims to give information to farmers and help or guide them with the help of this following research questions: How does soil chemistry affects soil fertility? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using liquid organic fertilizer in terms of economic and time value in comparison to inorganic fertilizer? How to prepare and apply liquid organic fertilizer? What are the effects and benefits of using organic fertilizer to soil and the environment? 8.33, treatment with 9.67, and treatment with Treatment has the worst or poorest results for the height as well as the number of leaves (see figure 4.6 and table 4.3.) Table 4.4 Effects of applied rates of LOF on plants weight Treatments Fresh Weight of the Dry Weight of the and Replications Plants (g) Plants (g) T0 R1 1.207 0.182 T0 R2 2.157 0.299 T0 R3 2.243 0.302 T0: Mean 1.87 0.26 T1 R1 1.361 0.244 T1 R2 3.029 0.418 T1 R3 2.235 0.360 T1: Mean 2.21 0.34 T2 R1 2.983 0.421 T2 R2 2.391 0.335 T2 R3 2.049 0.328 T2: Mean 2.47 0.36 T3 R1 1.72 0.216 T3 R2 1.145 0.194 T3 R3 2.433 0.358 T3: Mean 1.77 0.26 P>F LSD0.05 0.612 - NS 0.314NS - Note : Analyzed in the Soil Science Department Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture Sriwijaya University Inderalaya 2014 NS is non-significant different among treatment means 28 28 Figure 4.7 Effect of applied rates of LOF on fresh weight of the plants Figure 4.8 Effect of applied rates of LOF on dry weight of the plants The fresh and dry weight of the plants has no significant difference in weight after drying the plants (see figures 4.7 and 4.8 or table 4.4) Treatments gives the best results compared to other treatments 29 29 PART V DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 5.1 Discussions The results in the chapter four will be discussed and will be concluded at the same time in this chapter to give an explanations and clarifications regarding the results of the liquid organic fertilizer and the improvements in the soil nutrient contents as well as the biomass of the plants 5.1.1 Liquid organic fertilizer (LOF) The results in the total nitrogen contents of the LOF did not meet what was supposed to be the results as expected to have a higher result as compared to the result of the LOF made from water hyacinth The N-total percentage of the LOF that was made in this study has the result of 2.15 percent compared to the LOF that was made from water hyacinth which has the percentage of 3.107 (see table 4.1 and appendix 4) Therefore, most of the N-total nutrients that were used in this study are mainly produced by the leaves from the madre cacao (Gliricidia sepium) because the chicken manure that was used to create LOF was dry When the manure was dry, some of the nutrients are already evaporated in the atmosphere and only less would be left However, the LOF produced by the madre cacao leaves and dry chicken manure has a better results for phosphorus (P2O5) and potassium (K2O) contents compared with the LOF produced by water hyacinth In this study, it has 0.15 percent of the phosphorus (P2O5) content compared to 0.012 percent made from water hyacinth (see table 4.1 and appendix 4) On the other hand, the LOF produced in this study has a result of 0.33 percent in potassium (K2O) contents compared to 0.027 percent from water hyacinth (see table 4.1 and appendix 4) The LOF made from the combinations of the madre cacao (Glicidia sepium) and chicken manure or dung as the main 30 30 ingredients has better results in general most especially in improving or producing phosphorus and potassium contents in the fertilizers as compared to the LOF made from water hyacinth 5.1.2 Soil nutrients The soil pH was improved a little after the experiment was done for this study as expected as the results of the lime application before the experiment The main function of the lime is to raise the pH of the soil because in the results of the original soil pH was low for only 4.5 in pH (see appendix 5) The N, P, and K of the soil does not improved that much but it improves a little as the effects of the LOF and the plants also absorbed what it needs for its growth The small amount that increased in the nutrients of the soil can be the results for some of the excess or does not absorbed nutrients by the plants and still present in the soil 5.1.3 Plants growth and biomass As the plant heights and number of the leaves was provided in chapter (4.3) in the results, treatments provides the best results In this study, the expected results for the growth of the plants should be the best in the treatment because it was treated with 10 liters per hectare as compared to liters per hectare (treatment 1) and 7.5 liters per hectare (treatment 2) The rates of the LOF applied to treatment can be too much for the water spinach and that could be the effects not to grow well and the control even has the better plants growth and number of the leaves The biomass of the plants after harvesting has no significant difference as shown in the chapter (table 4.4 and figures 4.7, 4.8) The biomass of the plants is very important for the growers as it is the basis for selling the crops In this study, treatment 31 31 showed and was the best in the biomass as it was also the best in the heights and number of leaves in the chapter 5.1.4 The effects of Histosol on the Plants When the water spinach was transplanted in to the pot, the growth condition of the plants changed a little and not to growing as fast as where it is during the seedlings time It is due to the soil when it’s wet after watering the soil compacted and provides less air and space for the roots and become hard to penetrate That condition affects the growth of the roots and the plants overall because roots are responsible for absorbing the nutrients in the soil 5.2 Conclusion The best rate of the LOF to be applied for the water spinach is the 7.5 liters of LOF per hectare as it gives the best results in this study It has the best results in terms of the height, number of leaves and the biomass of the plants However, the rates of LOF applied has no significant difference in statistical results due to the small amount of LOF applied except in the results of K contents showed a significant result (see appendix d) The right amount of LOF to be applied in the soil is the most environmental friendly way of farming because if the amount of LOF is over may lead also to some adverse effects to the environment like inorganic fertilizers 32 32 REFERENCES Agro Eco Luis Institute (2010) Organic Fertilizers and Bio-Ferments: A Practical Manual for Smallholder Farmers Bockman, O C., Kaarstad O O, Lie, O H & Richards, I (1990) Agriculture and fertilizers Norsk Hvdro A.S pp 185—211 Danbara, A K & Green Planet International (2003) Evaluation of Power plant TM liquid fertilizer for potato production in Plateau State, Nigeria National Root Crop Research Institute, pp 1-4 Department of Agriculture and Horticulture of South Sumatra Province (2011) Annual Report Palembang Divers (1999) Biodynamic Farming and Compost Preparation Alternative farming system series ATTRA Dorner, M.E (2013) Organic Liquid Fertilizer: Biol Manual Eco Green Company (2015) Benefits of Organic Liquid Fertilizer Retrieve from: http://organicliquideco.com/our-story/benefits-of-the-organic-liquidfertilizer.html (accessed on 5/01/2015) Enujeke, E C., Ojeifo, I M & Nnaji, G U (2013) Effects of Liquid Organic Fertilizer on Time of Tasselling, Time of Silking and Grain Yield of Maize (Zea mays), Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vol 3, No 4, pp 186-192 Evanylo, G (1997) Effects of organic and chemical inputs on soil quality Retrieve from: http://www.sites.ext.vt.edu/newsletter-archive/cses/1997-12/1997-12- 03.html (accessed on 20/11/2014) Gore, J (2006) Advantages and Disadvantages of Organic Fertilizer Retrieve from: http://organic.lovetoknow.com/Advantages_and_Disadvantages_of_Organic_ Fertilizer (accessed on 3/12/2014) 33 33 Hadad, R & Anderson, G R (2004) Analysis of organic fertilizers for use in vegetable transplant production Retrieve from: http://www.uky.edu/hort/sites/www.uky.edu.hort/files/documents/orgfert1.pdf (accessed on 24/09/2014) Hyodo, M., Murata, H & Nakata, Y (2006) Geomechanics and Geotechnics of Particulate Media: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Geomechanics and Geotechnics of Particulate Media, Ube, Japan p 273 Millar, C.E & Turk, L.M (1943) Fundamentals of Soil Science p 151-174 Puma, J (2010) The Effects of Inorganic Fertilizers Retrieve from: http://www.gardenguides.com/119499-effects-inorganic-fertilizers.html (accessed on 24/09/2014) Schupan, W (1974) Nutritional value of corps ad influenced by organic and inorganic fertilizer treatments: Quality of plant-plant foods Human Nutrition p 333358 Silalahi, B.Y (2014) Effect of Liquid Organic Fertilizer Made from Water Hyacinth and Inorganic Fertilizer N, P, K on the Growth and Yield of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) in the Swamp Soil Summer, M.E (1999) Handbook of Soil Science p 186-198 Suparwoto & Waluyo (2009) Increasing Farmers' Income in the Community Diversification through the Valley Swamp Human development p 1-9 Vinje, E (2012) Organic fertilizer benefits”; Retrieve from: http://www.planetnatural.com/fertilizer-benefits/ (accessed on 24/09/2014) 34 34 APPENDICES Appendix Calculations of the Lime Dolomite Dolomite : CaMg(CO3)2 = Total = (40 + 24 + (12) + x 16 = 184 Note : Ca = 40 Mg = 24 C = 12 O = 16 Lime Reuirements per Kg of soil: = 20 x = 20 x mg CaMg(CO3)2 / 100gr = 20 x mg CaMg(CO3)2 / 100gr = 920 gr (CO3)2 / Kg = 0.92 gr CaMg(CO3)2 /Kg Total Lime needs for Kg of Soil : = 0.92 gr CaMg(CO3)2 Kg = 4.6 gr CaMg(CO3)2 /Kg 35 Appendix Calculations of Water Spinach per Hectare Total No of WS/ha = = = = 111,111.11 Therefore, the total number of water spinach per hectare is approximately equal to 110,000 WS/ha Appendix Rates of LOF per Plant A liters per hectare = Rate of LOF Water Dillution Rate 1,000 ml/ L = x 100 x 1,000 ml/ L = 500,000 ml Rate of LOF per Plant = 1/ 110,000 x 500,000 ml = 4.5 ml B 7.5 liters per hectare = Rate of LOF Water Dillution Rate Liter/ 1,000 ml = 7.5 x 100 x 1,000 ml/ L = 750,000 ml Rate of LOF per Plant = 1/ 110,000 x 750,000 ml = 6.82 ml C 10 liters per hectare = Rate of LOF Water Dillution Rate Liter/ 1,000 ml 36 = 10 x 100 x 1,000 ml/ L = 1,000,000 ml Rate of LOF per Plant = 1/ 110,000 x 1,000,000 ml = ml Appendix Liquid Organic Fertilizer Results (Silalahi, 2014) (NSI) Liquid Analysis Type Unit Result Organic Fertilizer pH 6.85 Meet N-Total % 3.107 Meet P-Total % 0.012 Does not meet K-Total % 0.027 Does not meet Note : Analyzed in the Soil Science Department Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture Sriwijaya University Inderalaya 2014 37 Appendix The results of the soil analysis from lowland dry swamp area (Silalahi, 2014) Analysis Type Unit Results Criteria pH (H2O) - 4.25 Very sour pH KCl - 4.08 Sour C-Organik % 6.92 Very High N-Total % 0.45 Medium ppm 6.00 Very Low K-dd cmol(+) kg-1 0.26 Low Na-dd cmol(+) kg-1 0.11 Low Ca-dd cmol(+) kg-1 0.28 Low Mg-dd cmol(+) kg-1 0.12 Very Low CEC cmol(+) kg-1 17.40 Medium Al-dd cmol(+) kg-1 1.36 - H-dd cmol(+) kg-1 1.24 - P-available (Bray I) Sandy Clay Texture Sand % 58.67 Dust % 34.24 Clay % 7.09 Note : Analyzed in the Soil Science Department Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture Inderalaya 2014 Sriwijaya University 38 Appendix Some properties of soil sampled after harvesting the water spinach a.) pH Source Model Error Corrected Total DF 11 Sum of Squares 0.12141667 0.08138333 0.20280000 Mean Square 0.02428333 0.01356389 F Value Pr > F 1.79 0.2490 DF 11 Sum of Squares 0.05230833 0.02978333 0.08209167 Mean Square 0.01046167 0.00496389 F Value 2.11 Pr > F 0.1953 DF 11 Sum of Squares 0.00208333 0.00541667 0.00750000 Mean Square F Value 0.00041667 0.46 0.00090278 Pr > F 0.7931 DF 11 Sum of Squares 22.64557500 5.34571667 27.99129167 Mean Square F Value 4.52911500 5.08 0.89095278 Pr > F 0.0363 b.) Nitrogen Source Model Error Corrected Total c.) Phosphorus Source Model Error Corrected Total d.) Potassium Source Model Error Corrected Total 39 Appendix Effect of applied rates of LOF on plants growth a.) Height of the Plants Source Model Error Corrected Total DF 11 Sum of Squares 55.2233333 49.5133333 104.7366667 Mean Square F Value 11.0446667 1.34 8.2522222 Pr > F 0.3622 Sum of Squares 26.08333333 10.83333333 36.91666667 Mean Square F Value 5.21666667 2.89 1.80555556 Pr > F 0.1144 b.) Number of Leaves Source Model Error Corrected Total DF 11 Appendix Effects of applied rates of LOF on plants weight a.) Fresh Weight Source Model Error Corrected Total DF 11 Sum of Squares 1.36314875 2.91458617 4.27773492 Mean Square 0.27262975 0.48576436 F Value 0.56 DF 11 Sum of Squares 0.03677342 0.03585083 0.07262425 Mean Square F Value 0.00735468 1.23 0.00597514 Pr > F 0.7286 b.) Dry Weight Source Model Error Corrected Total Pr > F 0.3979 40 Appendix Documentations during the research a.) Liquid organic fertilizer preparation and filtration 41 b.) Transplanting the water spinach seedlings and harvesting 42 [...]... was used also to dilute the liquid organic fertilizer The insecticide represented as soil pollutants The soil that was used in the experiment is Organosol Water This used to add also in making the LOF to add more liquid and helps in the fermenting or composting the LOF ingredients It also used for everyday watering of the plants and soils It used also in diluting the LOF to minimized its concentration... contents of the fertilizers and it is expected to add or contribute in Nitrogen contents of the LOF The researcher was also expecting to get good results for the soil and plant analysis after the applications of the lime and LOF in the experiments The rates of the LOF applications increases from the control, 5, 7.5, and 10 liters per hectare, the results of the plants growth should be better as the rates of. .. Analyzed in the Soil Science Department Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture Inderalaya 2014 Sriwijaya University The table above is the results of the liquid organic fertilizer (LOF) made from Water Hyacinth 2.1.3 Advantages of liquid organic fertilizers • Homemade liquid fertilizers are often costs much cheaper than commercial inorganic fertilizers, because the material can be found in the vicinity of the. .. It used in potting the soil to grow the plants These materials can be purchased in gardening supplies in markets Soil (Organosol or Histosol) This type of soil was used in this study to test the LOF effectiveness This type of soil can be found on dried swamp area Lime This used to raise the pH of the soil as organosol has low pH even though it was made from organic materials The amount of lime used... slightly acid soils, and with increasing acidity its availability decreases Liming acidic soils has a tendency to make the phosphate compounds in the soil more available When soils become deficient in bases, the solubility of aluminum, iron, and manganese increases; in strongly acid soils, the high concentrations of these elements may be toxic to crop plants Caution is therefore necessary in the use of lime... (increase nutrients), and biological (high population of beneficial microorganisms) composition • Improve yields and the quality of products • Source of food for soil organisms 2.1.2 The use of liquid organic fertilizers (LOF) The use of liquid organic fertilizer could greatly improve the health of plants and their yield within the production area Biol liquid fertilizer is made by the anaerobic decomposition... aids in neutralizing organic acids within the plant or in regulating the acid-base balance in plants (Millar & Turk, 1943) Calcium in general is not only good for the growth of the crops but it also helps in neutralizing the soil pH 2.2.4 The effect of Lime on the Solubility of Soil Mineral Elements According to Millar and Turk, (1943), Soil phosphorus is generally most readily available to plants in. .. and amended with lime and need to wait for the soil to absorb the lime within 2 weeks (14 days) There are 5 kg (dry soil) of top soil (Organosol) that were used in every pot Before applying the 18 18 treatments, the soil in the pots were amended with lime (4.6 g/pot) for 2 weeks to raise the pH of the soil After 30 days, the LOF is ready to be filtered LOF were filtered and collected about 3.60 L of. .. treatment 2, 1.5 rates and group D, treatment 3 in 2 rates of LOF application Before applying the LOF in the soil, it was diluted with water to minimize its concentration The rate of the LOF dilution were at the ratio of 1:100 (e.g 1 L of LOF : 100 L of water) The rate of LOF (diluted with water) that were applied in this experiment was 5 liters (L) LOF/hectare (ha) in treatment 1 at 1 rate and it is equivalent... equivalent to 4.5 ml of LOF per spinach Treatment 2 at 1.5 rates was 7.5 L/ha is equivalent to 5.25 ml/spinach Treatment 3 at 2 rates was 10 L/ha and it is equivalent to 9 ml of LOF per spinach The application of the LOF to the soil is right after transplanting the water spinach in the pot The water spinach was watered everyday from the seedling to transplanting until harvesting After harvesting the crops, we ... that the thesis entitled THE USE OF LIQUID ORGANIC FERTILIZERS IN IMPROVING SOIL CHEMISTRY AND FERTILITY WITHOUT HARMING SOIL AND THE ENVIRONMENT submitted by Bonifacio B Natag-oy towards the. .. forestry and agriculture and others It is where all living and non-living things standing including humans Soils are a combinations and interactions of solids (organic and inorganic materials including... chemical fertilizers may lead to soil degradation and soil destruction of the soil structure and the soil fertility However, with the proper use of liquid organic fertilizers (LOF) can bring back the