Response of Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) to coffee waste application on a humid tropical sandy soil

Abstract

A greenhouse experiment was conducted to study the effect of coffee waste (CW) application on growth and mineral nutrition of Italian ryegrass in a tropical Arenosol. Dry CW was applied at three rates (5, 10, 20 t/ha) and thoroughly mixed with topsoil (0-25 cm), placed in pots and seeded with Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) according to a completely randomized design with six replicates. The application of CW greatly stimulated uptake of Ca, Mg, K, N and P, resulting in a significantly increased dry matter (DM) production over three consecutive cropping cycles. DM increases of at least 52, 87 and 81% compared with the unamended controls were obtained for the first, second and third cuts, respectively. Soil analysis after cultivation found that all CW-amended soils still contained available macronutrients (Ca, Mg, K, N), which could produce residual effects in subsequent crops. Furthermore, CW application increased soil pH owing to its liming effect. This brought about an increase in cation exchange capacity with substantial reduction in phytotoxic Al and a decrease in availability of a number of metals (Cu, Zn, Mn and Fe) and significantly reduced their uptake by ryegrass. The study reveals a high potential of CW to improve the fertility of sandy soils in the humid tropics.

Effects of lime and coffee husk compost on growth of coffee seedlings on acidic soil of Haru in Western Ethiopia

“…Therefore the application of coffee husk compost might be contributed not only by supplying nutrients (including N, P, K and micronutrients) through mineralization but also by making P available to the plant as a result of its liming effect. This finding agrees with Kasongo et al (2013) and Nduka et al (2015) who reported the liming effect of coffee husk amendments on tropical acid soils.…”

“…Similarly, application of coffee husk compost without lime increased coffee seedling leaf dry matter weight by 108.3-266.7%, over the control with increasing rate (Figure 1). The result was in line with Kasongo et al (2013) who reported the application of coffee husk increased dry matter of rye grass on tropical acid soil. The highest leaf dry matter weight( 0.44 g) was obtained from plots received the highest coffee husk compost rate without lime (18.75 g/pot) and followed by combined application of lime (4 g/pot) and coffee husk compost (12.5 g/pot) which gave 0.43 g leaf dry matter weight.…”

“…Also lime application on the highest coffee husk compost rate (18.75 g/pot) did not increased the shoot and root growth of coffee seedlings. This shows that the potential of the use of coffee husk compost to ameliorate soil acidity without lime as mentioned in the literatures (Kasongo et al, 2013;Nduka et al, 2015). As well as the reduction in shoot and root growth of coffee seedlings at increased rate of their combination attributed to a reduction in the solubility and availability of P to crops which might be caused by the formation of insoluble Ca-P compounds in the soil (Fageria and Baligar, 2008), to induced Fe, Mn, Zn and B deficiency (Fageria, 2009), to high level of Al in plant tissue and increased cation retention capacity of soil colloids and hence decreased availability of K and Mg (Fageria and Baligar, 2003).…”

“…The dry method is commonly practiced and easily available at coffee producing areas in Haru areas of Western Ethiopia. These coffee by-products are utilized in other coffee producing countries as soil amendments (Kasongo et al, 2011;Dzung et al, 2013;Kasongo et al, 2013;Nduka et al, 2015). While in Ethiopia enormous quantities are either dumped into streams or burnt in big piles, with contributions to environmental hazards (Solomon, 2006;Gezahegne et al, 2011;Henok and Tenaw, 2014).…”

Soil Acidity and Its Management Options in Western Ethiopia: Review

“…According to Solomon (2006), high quality compost can be prepared from a mixture of 70% coffee pulp/husk, 20% FYM and 10% top soil or 70% coffee pulp,10%FYM,10% leguminous plant materials and 10% top soil. Some literatures (Taye et al, 2003;Solomon et al, 2008;Kasongo et al, 2011;Dzung et al, 2013;Kasongo et al, 2013;Nduka et al, 2015) have indicated that coffee waste is a valuable organic amendment, particularly for highly weathered soils of the humid tropics. Kasongo et al (2011) demonstrated the efficiency of coffee waste in improving the physico-chemical quality of Arenosols under humid tropical conditions.…”