Soil attributes and quality under treated domestic sewage irrigation in sugarcane

Abstract

A B S T R A C TUsing domestic sewage to irrigate and supply nutrients to plants is a sustainable practice; however, due to the physical and chemical properties of the domestic sewage, soil attributes and quality may be changed with its application. The aim of this study was to evaluate soil quality after two cycles of sugarcane irrigated with treated domestic sewage and surface reservoir water via subsurface drip irrigation, with and without nutritional supplementation by fertigation, and a non-irrigated control with top-dressing fertilization. Soil quality was established by applying the methodology proposed by Karlen & Stott. Physical, chemical and microbiological indicators were selected to compose the basic soil functions used to determine the quality index. Application of treated domestic sewage with fertigation increased soil electrical conductivity, Na + content and exchangeable sodium percentage. Reservoir water applications with fertigation increased microbial biomass carbon and reduced the metabolic quotient, besides promoting significant effects on soil acidification indicators in comparison to reservoir water irrigation without fertigation. Despite the alteration of some soil attributes, no significant changes in the soil quality index were observed among the treatments.Atributos e qualidade do solo irrigado com esgoto doméstico tratado em cultivo de cana-de-açúcar R E S U M O O uso de esgoto doméstico para irrigação e suprimento nutricional de plantas é prática sustentável; entretanto, devido às propriedades físico-químicas do esgoto doméstico os atributos e a qualidade do solo podem ser alterados. Assim, o estudo objetivou avaliar os atributos e a qualidade do solo após dois ciclos de cana-de-açúcar irrigada com esgoto doméstico tratado e água de reservatório, com e sem fertigação complementar, e testemunha não irrigada. A qualidade do solo foi estabelecida com a aplicação da metodologia proposta por Karlen & Stott. Foram selecionados indicadores físicos, químicos e microbiológicos para compor as funções básicas do solo adotadas no índice de qualidade. A aplicação de esgoto doméstico tratado com fertigação elevou a condutividade elétrica do extrato saturado, o teor de Na + e a porcentagem de sódio trocável. O tratamento com água do reservatório e fertigação, elevou o carbono da biomassa microbiana e reduziu o quociente metabólico, além de promover efeitos significativos nos indicadores de acidificação do solo em comparação ao tratamento sem fertigação. Apesar das alterações de alguns atributos do solo, não foi constatado efeitos significativos no índice de qualidade do solo entre os tratamentos.

Soil and crop spatial variability in maize irrigated with domestic effluent

“…Electrical conductivity (EC) and sodium content had similar results, with the highest values being observed in the WS treatment. It was also observed that, as the increase in the soil electrical conductivity, a greater availability of Na was also found, corroborating a study conducted by [8], when assessing the attributes and quality of soil irrigated with domestic treated sewage in sugarcane cultivation.…”

“…Despite the supply of nutrients, the water reuse and sewage sludge might impact the agronomic soil quality [8] and the agricultural sustainability, depending on its physicalchemical characteristics. Thus, proper management in agricultural production requires knowledge about the uniformity of crop yield and soil attributes, and their spatial variability, thus enabling the adoption of specific management zones [9].…”

Stock and indices of carbon management under different soil use systems

“…The conversion of natural areas into production systems can, in addition to modifying the landscape, change the edaphic quality when not properly handled (Freitas et al, 2018). The different uses and managements directly influence soil attributes, such as carbon (C) (Lal, 2018;Ozório et al, 2019), besides causing changes in physical (Sales et al, 2018;Falcão et al, 2020), chemical (Souza et al, 2018;Assunção et al, 2019), and biological attributes of the soil (Borges et al, 2015;Barbosa et al, 2018).…”

Application of treated domestic sewage effluent on the quality indicators of an Oxisol cultivated with castor bean

“…The use of residuary water in agriculture aims to promote sustainability of irrigated agriculture, since it spares non-polluted surface waters, maintaining environmental quality and providing a source of plant nutrition (Barbosa et al, 2018).…”

“…Research has proved the importance of irrigation using domestic sewage effluents to partly supply some of the elements, mainly nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, required by the crops, which increases agricultural yields (Molahoseini, 2014). However, due to the physicochemical properties of domestic sewage, it is necessary to identify the effects of this irrigation practice on the quality of soil because it may change the soil attributes and quality and could limit crop development and yields (Barbosa et al, 2018).…”