Transformation of soil organic matter in response to the application of various sources of organic carbon

Organic matter transformation was studied by analyzing changes in soil pH, microbial biomass-C, CO2 emission (soil respiration), ammonium and nitrate, available-P, available-K and available-Na content. Laboratory incubation experiment was conducted up to 90 days. In this study it was found that the application of different organic carbon sources in different level, significantly affected the above soil parameters and fluctuates with increasing incubation times. The increasing level of biochar showed the effective result than peat. Statistically found that effect of each treatment and incubation time was individually significant but in terms of NH4+ and available-P, the combined effect of treatment and incubation period was insignificant. Organic matter persistence in soil depend on its C:N ratio. The smaller the C:N ratio, the faster the decomposition processes. Peat treatment showed effective increase in NH4+ and NO3- than biochar treatment. Biochar treatments showed effective results in terms of pH, MBC, respiration, and available P, K and Na. Concentration of each nutrient in soil was higher than control. In this study, biochar treatments showed better results than peat treatments. Though the pH, concentration of MBC, CO2 emission, ammonium, nitrate, available-P, available-K, available-Na fluctuates with incubation period, the overall effect of each treatment and incubation period on soil was significant.

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