Environmental Impact to Utilizing Some Food Industries Waste as a Liquid Organic Fertilizer and Their Effects on Plants Under Saline Calcareous Soil

Abstract

The objective of this work is to assess the suitability of utilizing food industries waste (molasses and orange waste) to produce natural liquid organic fertilizer and evaluation their effects on plant and soil. A preliminary experiment was conducted at the greenhouse of Agricultureal Research Centre (ARC) at Giza Governorate, Egypt to test the effect of molasses or orange waste extract on the growth of maize (zea maize) during the summer seasons of 2011 followed with barley (Hordeum vulgare) during the winter seasons of 2011/2012. The field experiment was carried out to verifying the effect of molasses or orange waste extract on maize plants. Maize grains were planted in the experimental farm of Nubareia Research Station (El-Behira Governorate), Egypt. Grains of maize were sown in summer growing season of 2012. The obtained results showed that applying both aqueous extracts to soil increases the amount of soil organic matter and decreases the ECe of the soil. Avery slightly differences were observed in pH and CaCO3% of soil. There is positive effect of both P1 and P2 (molasses or orange waste) on the growth of field crops. The application of these extracts significantly, increased grain and straw yield as well as improved nutritional values of grain, i-e., total carbohydrates, crude protein, oil, total amino acids, organic acids, and hormones. The efficiencies of either extracts as a fertilizer or as amendments compared to control treatment are very different. There was excellent potential to obtain a natural fertilizer and an amendment using molasses. On the other hand, the best results of orange waste extract were obtained as an amendment rather than a fertilizer.