AbstractThe poultry industry is one of the largest and fastest growing agro-based industries in the world. This can be attributed to an increasing demand for poultry meat and egg products. However, a major problem facing the poultry industry is the large-scale accumulation of wastes including manure and litter which may pose disposal and pollution problems unless environmentally and economically sustainable management technologies are evolved. Most of the litter produced by the poultry industry is currently applied to agricultural land as a source of nutrients and soil amendment. However environmental pollution, resulting from nutrient and contaminant leaching can occur when poultry litter is applied under soil and climatic conditions that do not favour agronomic utilisation of the manure-borne nutrients. This review examines the composition of poultry litter in relation to nutrient content and environmental contaminants, its value as a nutrient source, soil amendment, animal feed and fuel source, and cost-effective innovative technologies for improving its value. Poultry litter provides a major source of nitrogen, phosphorus and trace elements for crop production and is effective in improving physical and biological fertility, indicating that land application remains as the main option for the utilisation of this valuable resource. The alternative use of poultry litter; as an animal feed and fuel source, is limited by contaminants, and high moisture content, respectively. The review proposes best management practices to mitigate environmental consequences associated with air and water quality parameters that are impacted by land application in order to maintain the continued productivity, profitability, and sustainability of the poultry industry.Keywords:: poultry litternutrientstrace elementsantibioticsfeed managementland application
In many parts of Eastern India that have a very high prevalence of rural poverty and food insecurity, the prevailing rice establishment practice of 'beushening' is characterized by low yields and modest profitability, while labor and energy inputs are high. Beushening consists of broadcasting ungerminated rice seed at high rates (>100 kg ha−1) prior to the onset of monsoon rain, followed by ploughing at 4–6 weeks after crop emergence to control weeds with subsequent manual gap filling through seedling redistribution to ensure stand uniformity. Dry-direct seeding of rice (DSR), both drill-DSR and precision broadcast-DSR in combination with integrated weed management (IWM) may offer a pathway for simultaneously reducing costs and markedly increasing productivity. On-farm trials were conducted from 2016 to 2018 in four districts of Odisha (Mayurbhanj, Cuttack, Bhadrak, and Puri) to evaluate the yield and economic performance of dry-DSR (drill and precision broadcast), coupled with herbicide-based IWM strategies, in comparison with conventional beushening. Drill-DSR with IWM increased grain yield by 1.7 t ha−1 in Mayurbhanj and 1.3 t ha−1 in Cuttack, but not in Bhadrak, compared to beushening. The combination of increased yield and lower variable cost in drill-DSR increased net benefit by 550, 395, and 166 US$ ha−1 in Mayurbhanj, Cuttack, and Bhadrak, respectively. For farmers without access to seed drills, precision broadcast-DSR with IWM increased yields by 0.91, 1.22 and 0.60 t ha−1, and net benefits by 270, 312, and 188 US$ ha−1 in Mayurbhanj, Puri, and Bhadrak, respectively. Among the IWM practices evaluated in dry-DSR, application of pretilachlor + safener @ 500 g ai ha−1 as pre-emergence, followed by bispyribac-sodium @ 20 g ai ha−1 at 15–25 days after sowing as post-emergence, and then one spot hand weeding at 30–35 days after sowing was effective in controlling weeds. These results suggest that rice yield gaps in eastern India can be reduced, and farmers' income from rice can be increased by more than 50 % by replacing beushening with drill-DSR or precision broadcast-DSR. The results could be applicable to approximately 6.4 million ha of lowland rice where beushening is currently practiced in Eastern India.
The present investigation was carried out to study the effects of combination of fertigation and consortium of bio-fertilizers in enhancing the production of banana cv. Robusta (AAA) and improving the soil biological properties. The results shown that, fertigation with 100% recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF) and 300 g of consortium of bio-fertilizers (CBF) produced significantly higher yield (115 MT ha−1) as compared to other treatments in the main crop. The yield increase was nearly 32 per cent as compared to soil application of fertilizers (78 MT ha−1). However, the yield difference between 100 and 75% RDF with CBF was not significant. Moreover, there was no significant yield difference between 75 and 50% RDF. In the ratoon crop, fertigation with 100% RDF and 100 g of CBF produced significantly higher yield (109 MT ha−1), which was 30 per cent higher as compared to soil application of fertilizers (76 MT ha−1) and 42 per cent higher than the treatment comprising of farm yard manure (FYM) + 300 g of CBF. In the ratoon crop, the yield difference between 100 and 75% RDF with CBF was not significant. Similarly, yield difference between 75 and 50% RDF was not significant. In both the cropping seasons, the soil biological activity in terms microbial population of was enhanced at higher level of consortium of bio-fertilizers.
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