Impact of high rates of coal flyash on some pertinent soil characteristics and sugarcane yield in Mauritius
| MSI10P4458 | |
| Soobadar, A Bholah, M A Ng Kee Kwong, K F | |
| Impact of high rates of coal flyash on some pertinent soil characteristics and sugarcane yield in Mauritius | |
| periodical article | |
| 2010 | |
| Proc. int. Soc. Sug. Cane Technol. | |
| 27: 10 p. | |
| En | |
| En | |
| The combustion of coal for cogeneration of electricity by the sugarcane industry in Mauritius generates annually some 20 000 tonnes of ash that need to be disposed of in an environmentally sound manner. As large scale application of ash has been reported to impart agronomic benefits but data under conditions prevailing in Mauritius are lacking, the impact of disposing 50 to 100 t/ha coal flyash in sugarcane fields on soil quality and on sugarcane production was studied in field trials at Belle Rive (>3500 mm/y rainfall), Union Park (>3000 mm/y rainfall), Pamplemousses (>1500 mm/y rainfall) and Médine (900 mm/y rainfall). Though coal ash did not affect soil pH, soil salinity and even soil exchangeable bases, its application at 100 t/ha, when compared to mineral fertilizers, resulted in a reduction of sugar yield at three sites by an average of 1.18 t sugar/ha. At the lower rate of 50 t/ha coal ash, in spite of a significant yield decrease observed at Belle Rive, sugarcane production at Pamplemousses, Union Park and Médine was not significantly different from the control. The N and K uptake by sugarcane was not influenced by the coal ash, though P uptake was enhanced on account of the supplementary P provided in the ash. Additionally, because of its low heavy metal content, coal ash did not increase the heavy metal uptake by the sugarcane plant. In view of the adverse effects observed on sugarcane production, the disposal of rates of coal ash as high as 100 t/ha in sugarcane lands should not be contemplated | |
| sugar factory wastes cogeneration nutrients heavy Metals coal flyash sugarcane yields soil quality waste disposal heavy metal uptake | |
| Mauritius | |
| Sugarcane: Environment | |
| Sugar factory wastes: coal flyash | |
| 2010-03-17 | |
| EN | |
| LIB | |
| CAT | |
| CHEM |