Vol. 12, Issue 8 (2023)

Author(s):
Rahul K Suradkar, Popat P Kadu, Ashok D Kadlag, Anil G Durgude and Ulhas S Surve

Abstract:
An investigation carried out to study the impact of zeolite on the chemical and physical characteristics of soil under pre-seasonal sugarcane cultivation. The treatment included of absolute control, GRDF (340:170:170 N:P₂O₅:K₂O + 20 t FYM ha^-1) as the, eight zeolite levels (300, 600, 900, 1200, 1800, 2100, and 2400 kg ha^-1) in addition to GRDF. Ten treatments and four duplicates were used in a randomized block design for the experiment. At the grand growth stage and following the harvest of preseasonal sugarcane, soil samples were taken at a depth of 0–20 cm in order to measure several soil parameters, including pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon, calcium carbonate, cation exchange capacity, bulk density, and available water content. Zeolite was discovered to have a considerable impact on both pH and EC. When it came to organic carbon, the rise was 1.3 times more than the starting value of 0.58% throughout the grand growth stage and 1.2 times after the preseasonal sugarcane was harvested. In treatment T₁₀ (GRDF + Zeolite @ 2400 kg ha^-1), the percentage of calcium carbonate content was found to be considerably higher during the grand growth stage (6.91%) and after harvest (6.80%). Application of zeolite was found to increase the soil's cation exchange capacity and accessible water content. However, the addition of zeolite caused the bulk density of the soil to decrease. Therefore, it was discovered that adding zeolite to the soil improved its physico-chemical qualities.