Enriched Coal Ash Utilization for Augmenting Production of Rice under Acid Lateritic Soil

The use of industrial wastes such as fly ash (FA) or rice husk ash (RHA), along with paper factory sludge (PFS), farmyard manure (FYM), and chemical fertilizers (CF), under integrated nutrient management, was studied in acid lateritic soil on rice. Application of combined fertilization sources increased growth, yield attributes, and yield (up to 92.3 and 9.7% over control and CF, respectively) of wet season rice. The uptake of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, and Co was increased under combined fertilization sources. The study also indicated that such integrated plant nutrition system improved physico-chemical properties of soil with respect to bulk density, pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon, and available nutrient content. Utilization of these wastes saved chemical fertilizers to the extent of 37.8, 59.7, and 86.5% N, P, and K respectively, with an added advantage of minimizing environmental pollution.