Chandraju S, Nagendraswamy R, Girijanagenrdaswamy, Chidankumar C. S. Studies on the Impact of Irrigation of Distillery Spentwash on the Yields of Tuber/Root Medicinal Plants. Biomed Pharmacol J 2010;3(1)

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Manuscript received on :March 10, 2010
Manuscript accepted on :April 14, 2010
Published online on: 21-11-2015

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S. Chandraju*¹, R. Nagendraswamy²,  Girijanagenrdaswamy³ and C. S. Chidankumar⁴

¹Department of Studies in Sugar Technology, Sir M. Visweswaraya Postgraduate Center, University of Mysore, Tubinakere, Mandya - 571 402 India.

²Department of Chemistry, Government First Grade College, Hanagodu - 571 105 India.

³Girija Nagenrdaswamy, Department of Chemistry, Maharani’s Science College for Women, JLB Road, Mysore - 570 005 India.

⁴C. S. Chidankumar, Department of Chemistry, Bharathi College, Bharathi Nagar-571 422 India.

Abstract

Cultivation of some tuber/root medicinal plants was made by irrigation with distillery spentwash of different concentrations. The spentwash i.e., primary treated spentwash (PTSW), 50% and 33% spentwash were analyzed for their plant nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and other physical and chemical characteristics. Experimental soil was tested for its chemical and physical parameters. Seeds of tuber/root medicinal plants (Namadhari and Mayhco) were sowed in the prepared land and irrigated with raw water (RW), 50% and 33% spentwash. The influence of spentwash on the yields of tuber/root medicinal plants at their respective maturity was investigated. It was found that the yields of all tuber/root medicinal plants were more in 33% spentwash irrigation than raw water and 50% spentwash irrigations.

Keywords

Distillery spent wash;Yields; Tuber; root; medicinal plants; Seeds; Soil

Introduction

Molasses (one of the important byproducts of sugar industry) is the chief source for the production of ethanol in distilleries by fermentation method. About 08 (eight) liters of wastewater is discharged for every liter of ethanol production in distilleries, known as raw spentwash (RSW), which is characterized by high biological oxygen demand (BOD: 5000-8000mg/L) and chemical oxygen demand (COD: 25000-30000mg/L))  , undesirable color and foul smell (Joshi,1994). Discharge of raw spentwash into open land or near by water bodies is a serious problem since it results in a number of environmental, water and soil pollution including threat to plant and animal lives. The RSW is highly acidic and contains easily oxidisable organic matter with very high BOD and COD (Patil, 1987). Also, spentwash contains high organic nitrogen and nutrients (Ramadurai and Gearard, 1994). By installing biomethenation plant in distilleries, reduces the oxygen demand of RSW, the resulting spentwash is called primary treated spent wash (PTSW) and primary treatment to RSW increases the nitrogen (N), potassium (K), and phosphorous (P) contents and decreases the calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), chloride (Cl^–), and sulphate (SO₄^2-) (Mahamod Haroon and Subhash Chandra Bose, 2004). The PTSW is rich in potassium (K), sulphur (S), nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) as well as easily biodegradable organic matter and its application to soil has been reported to increase yield of sugar cane (Zalawadia, 1997), rice (Devarajan and Oblisami, 1995), wheat and rice (Pathak et al., 1998), quality of groundnut (Singh et al., 2003) and physiological response of soybean (Ramana et al., 2000). Diluted spentwash could be used for irrigation purpose without adversely affecting soil fertility (Kaushik et al., 2005; Kuntal et al., 2004;Raverkar et al., 2000), seed germination and crop productivity (Ramana et al., 2001). The diluted spentwash irrigation improved the physical and chemical properties of the soil and further increased soil microflora (Devarajan, 1994; Kaushik et al, 2005; Kuntal et al., 2004). Twelve pre-sowing irrigations with the diluted spentwash had no adverse effect on the germination of maize but improved the growth and yield (Singh and Raj Bahadur, 1998). Diluted spentwash increases the growth of shoot length, leaf number per plant, leaf area and chlorophyll content of peas (Rani and Srivastava, 1990). Increased concentration of spentwash causes decreased seed germination, seedling growth and chlorophyll content in Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) and the spent wash could safely use for irrigation purpose at lower concentration (Rajendra, 1990; Ramana et al., 2001). The spent wash contained an excess of various forms of cations and anions, which are injurious to plant growth and these constituents should be reduced to beneficial level by diluting the spentwash, which can be used as a substitute for chemical fertilizer (Sahai et al., 1983). The spent wash could be used as a complement to mineral fertilizer to sugarcane (Chares, 1985). The spentwash contained N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S and thus valued as a fertilizer when applied to soil through irrigation with water (Samuel, 1986). The application of diluted spentwash increased the uptake of Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe) and Manganese (Mn) in maize and wheat as compared to control and the highest total uptake of these were found at lower dilution levels than at higher dilution levels (Pujar, 1995). Mineralizations of organic material as well as nutrients present in the spentwash were responsible for increased availability of plant nutrients. Diluted spentwash increase the uptake of nutrients, height, growth and yield of leaves vegetables (Chandraju et al., 2007; Basvaraju and Chandraju, 2008), nutrients of cabbage and mint leaf (Chandraju et al., 2008)^, nutrients of top vegetable (Basvaraju and Chandraju, 2008), pulses, condiments, root vegetables (Chandraju et al., 2008), and yields of condiments (Chandraju and Chidankumar, 2009). However, not much information is available on the influence of distillery spentwash irrigation on the yields of tuber/root medicinal plants. Therefore, the present investigation was carried out to study the influence of different proportions of spentwash on the yields of tuber/root medicinal plants.

Materials and Methods

Physico-chemical parameters and amount of nitrogen (N), potassium (K), phosphorous (P) and sulphur (S) present in the primary treated diluted spentwash (50% and 33%) were analyzed by standard methods (Manivasakam, 1987). The PTSW was used for irrigation with a dilution of 33% and 50%. A composite soil sample collected (at 25 cm depth) prior to spentwash irrigation was air-dried, powdered and analyzed for physico-chemical properties (Piper, 1996: Jackson, 1973: Walkeley and Black, 1934: Subbaiah and Asija, 1956: Black, 1965: Lindsay and Norvel, 1978).

Tuber/root medicinal plants selected for the present investigations were, Ginger (Zingiber officinale) Radish (Raphanus sativus) Turmeric (Curcuma longa) Onion (Allium cepa) Garlic (Allium sativum). The seeds/ sets were sowed and irrigated (by applying 5-10mm/cm² depends upon the climatic condition) with raw water (RW), 50% and 33% SW at the dosage of twice a week and rest of the period with raw water as required. Trials were conducted for three times and at the time maturity, plants were harvested and the yields were recorded by taking the average weight (Table- 4).        

Table 1: Chemical characteristics of distillery spentwash

Units: a – μS, b – mg/L, c– %, PTSW – Primary treated distillery spentwash                         

Table 2: Amount of N, P, K and S (Nutrients) in distillery Spentwash

Unit: b – mg/L,    PTSW – Primary treated distillery spentwash

Table 3: Characteristics of experimental soil

Units: a – μS, b – mg/L, c– %      

Table 4: Characteristics of experimental soil (After harvest)

Units: a – μS, b – mg/L, c– %

Table 5: Average weight of tuber/root medicinal plants at different irrigation (Average weight is taken from 25 plants)

RW – Raw water:  PTSW- Primary treated distillery spentwash

Figure 1: Yield of tuber/root medicinal plants in raw water (RW), 50% PTSW, 33% PTSW Click here to View figure

Results and Discussion 

Chemical composition of PTSW, 50% and 33% SW such as pH, electrical conductivity, total solids (TS), total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), settelable solids (SS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), carbonates, bicarbonates, total phosphorous (P), total potassium (K), ammonical nitrogen (N), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulphur (S), sodium (Na), chlorides (Cl), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr) and nickel (Ni) were analyzed and tabulated (Table-1). Amount of N, P, K and S contents are presented in Table-2.

Characteristics of experimental soils such as pH, electrical conductivity, the amount of organic carbon, available nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), potassium (K), sulphur (S) exchangeable calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), DTPA iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) were analyzed and tabulated (Table-3). It was found that the soil composition is fit for the cultivation of plants, because it fulfils all the requirements for the cultivation of plants.         

The yields were very high in the case of 33% SW irrigation for all types of tuber/root medicinal plants, and moderate in 50%, while comparatively poor in RW (Table-5). In our previous studies we also found 33% SW irrigation favors the growth, yield and nutrients in plants. This could be due to the maximum absorption of NPK by the plants at higher dilution (33%). In the case of 50% SW irrigation the yields were less, this could be due to more acidic nature than 33% SW. However, the percentage yield is maximum in the case of Radish (Raphanus sativus) (81.77%) and minimum in case of Turmeric (Curcuma longa) (56.53%). [Garlic (Allium sativum) (70.0%), Onion (Allium cepa) (64%) and Ginger (Zingiber officinale) (60.29%)].  The soil was tested after the harvest of roots and tubers, shows there is enrich in the plant nutrients (N.P.K) in the soil and no adverse effect on other parameters (Table-4).  

Conclusion

It was noticed that the yields of all the tuber/root medicinal plants were maximum in the case of 33% and moderate in 50% SW and minimum in RW irrigations. In 33% SW irrigation the plants are able to absorb maximum amounts of nutrients both from the soil and the spent wash resulting good yields. This concludes that, the SW can be conveniently used for the cultivation of tuber/root medicinal plants without external (either organic or inorganic) fertilizers. This minimizes the cost of cultivation and hence elevates the economy of the farmers.

Acknowledgements

The authors R.N.S and G.N.S are thankful to The commissioner of collegiate education in Karnataka, India, for permission to carryout research and N.S.L.Koppa, Maddur Tq.Karnataka, for providing spentwash.

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