IMPROVEMENT OF SOIL CHARACTERISTICS UNDER CROP-STOCK INTEGRATION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31357/fesympo.v0i0.1319Abstract
Soil characteristics and vegetation properties of Diggassawela farm belong to Diddenipothaplantation Limited (approximately 10 km from Kamburupitiya) was studied in view ofevaluating the impact of crop > stock long term integration. Crop - stock integration hasbeen practiced in this farm for more than a decade. Compost and farmyard waste wereintensively used for tea replanting purposes and pasture cultivation respectively. Soilsamples were collected randomly from (3 replicate/location) cattle courtyard, pasture landand compared with an abandoned tea land soil in the same area.
The soil pH ranged from 806 for pasture land and 4.53 for an abandoned tea land (P <0.(5). Moisture content of the soil was highest in pastureland (19.7%) while the lowestvalue was observed in the abandoned tea land (8.63'Yo). Pasture land soil had the highestporosity (52.63%) with the lowest bulk density (Ll Jg/crrr'). In contrast the abandoned tealand soil had the lowest porosity (42.04%) 'with the highest bulk density (l.54g!cm3) due toit's high clay percentage. True density of pasture land soil, cattle court yard soil and erodedtea land soil were 2.20 g/crrr', 2.25 g/cnr' and 2.48 g/cnr' respectively (P>0.05). The soilcharacteristics of pastureland compared with other two sites shows improvement due tonutrient recycling via dairy washings and litter accumulation.
The observations also revealed that the grass yield and longevity of the pastures andfodder were improved significantly with a pplication of farmyard waste. Application ofcompost also improved the soil properties and increased the rate of survival of tea plants(replanting).
The results suggest that the waste materials such as excreta, residues of feeding materials,bedding and dairy washings thus produced various benefits with passage of time anddemonstrated potential for the sustainability of a crop - livestock integration system. It issuggested that crop - livestock integration could be successfully used for the rehabilitationof tea lands on a long-term basis
