Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 2(12): 1191-1198, 2006

© 2006, INSInet Publication

Efficiency of K-feldspar Combined with Organic Materials and Silicate Dissolving

Bacteria on Tomato Yield

M.A. Badr

Department of Plant Nutrition, National Research Center Cairo, Egypt.

Abstract: Potassium is one of the three essential elements viz., NPK, for the growth and reproduction of
the plants and it plays many vital roles in its nutrition. The crop production in Egypt relies completely on
imports to meets its annual requirement of potash fertilizers besides; the high cost of conventional, water-
soluble K fertilizers constrains their use by most of the farmers in the country. In order to reduce the
dependence on imported potash, feldspar a potash mineral, contains 11.25 % K 2 O and therefore it could be
a potential K-source for crop production. Novel approaches are needed to unlock K from the silicate
structure of this mineral in order to render K more available for plant nutrition. A strain of silicate dissolving
bacteria SDB (Bacillus cereus) was used as bioinoculant. These studies were undertaken to evaluate the
effectiveness of bacterial inoculation in combination with feldspar and rice straw on K-releasing capacity
as well as the effect of feldspar charged compost (F-compost) as biofertelizer on tomato yield in field
experiment. F-compost prepared through rice straw significantly enhanced the content of total K in the final
product as organic materials decreased during composting process. However, incorporation of feldspar with
organic materials at different rates had no or little effect on the degradation. Concentration of available K
released from feldspar increased markedly through composting process and the maximum increase was
observed with 40 % feldspar addition. Inoculation with SDB into the composting mass appears to enhance
the percent of available K in the mature compost compared to its counter part without inoculation. Similarly,
the response of tomato plants to the F-compost inoculated with SDB was dramatic when added to sandy soil
of low K content and its effect was higher than potassium sulphate. The conjunctive use of F-compost plus
SDB also produced maximum potassium use efficiency (KUE), total K uptake and considerable higher K
recovery than potassium sulphate. Application of organic K-sources considerably improved the fertility status
of the soil as measured by organic C and available NPK contents of the soil after harvest, while feldspar
and potassium sulphate had no or little effect on fertility build up. The effect of compost prepared through
rice straw only on organic C was more pronounced, while available P and K were higher under F-compost
plus SDB. The benefit of this compost however, demonstrated the validity and possibility of sustained
agronomic performance of tomato and reduce the cost of cultivation through the use of cheep feldspar.

Key words: feldspar, organic materials, compost, silicate dissolving bacteria, tomato.

INTRODUCTION however, became the target of criticism mainly because

Potassium is an abundant element, ranking seventh
among all the elements in the earth crust, 2.59 percent
of which is potassium in combined forms. Importance
and significance of potassium in agriculture as well as
for human and animal health is well established. For
attaining the self-sufficiency in food production,
potassium fertilizers has played important role in
Egyptian agriculture. In spite of the fact that a total
conditional resources of potassium of the world 24.3
million ton K 2 O from various sources (evaporate
deposit, brines, glauconite etc.) [1 ], but there is practically
no production of potassium in the country. The subject
matter is of specific interest and importance of Egypt as
hundred percent of its requirements of potassium
fertilizers are met only by imports. Chemical fertilizers,
of heave use in the developing countries, where it was
suspected of having an adverse impact on
environment. Moreover, the use of K-fertilizers which is
often essential for sustained crop production in Egypt,
the high cost of conventional water soluble fertilizers
constrains their use by many farmers of the country.
The alternative to depending on expensive
imported fertilizers is to exploit indigenous resources
such as K-bearing minerals. Making use of such
minerals are meaningful in increasing crop yield and
quality, competing capacity of Egyptian agriculture
production in international markets and protecting
ecological environment. The main source of K for
plants growing under natural conditions comes
from the weathering of K

Corresponding Author: M. A. Bard, Department of Plant Nutrition, National Research Center Cairo, Egypt

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 J. Appl. Sci. Res., 2(12): 1191-1198, 2006
minerals and organic K-sources such as composts and
plant residues. The most important K minerals are K-
feldspar, leucite, K-mica such as biotite, plogopite and
glauconite and clays such as illite. Potassium occurs in
feldspars in very weathering-resistant framework lattice
positions [2 ] . The potassium ion is not easily released and
is therefore not suitable for direct application to the
plants.
However, it is recognized that the weathering
process can be further mediated by organisms and their
metabolites. Respiration by plant roots and microbial
degradation of organic matter can elevate carbonic acid
concentrations in the soils and ground water, leading to
an increase in the weathering rates of minerals [3 ,4 ]. In
addition to carbonic acid, direct contact between bacteria
and minerals may be important in mineral alteration
reaction, as microbial surfaces can complex with metal
ions [5 -7 ] . Microorganisms attached to mineral surfaces
can also create micro-environments where concentrations
of ligands, acidity and redox activity can be substantially
elevate compared to the bulk solution, thus affecting
mineral exchange reactions [8 -1 3 ]. A number of ligands
notable oxalate but also pyruvate, citrate, succinate,
malate, gluconate, lactate and fumarate, have been
detected in soils and on weathered rocks colonized by
bacteria and fungi [1 4 -1 7 ].
Bacteria, fungi and plants also produce other soluble
compounds that are capable of interacting with mineral
surfaces and altering mineral reaction rates. Under
conditions of Fe limitation, organisms produce a specific
class of soluble ligand, siderophores that bind very
strongly to Fe 3 + , solubilizing normally insoluble iron
compounds and making the iron available to the
organism. Siderophores can also bind with other metals,
particularly Al 3 + and can therefore, by ligand mediated
dissolution mechanism, affect aluminum-silicate mineral
solubility and dissolution rates [1 8 ,1 9 ,1 1 ,1 2 ].
Hence, these experiments were undertaken to
explore the efficiency and rational combination of
feldspar and rice straw inoculate with silicate dissolving
bacteria on K releasing capacity from the mineral
through composting process. The anther purpose was to
evaluate the comparative effectiveness of this
boifertilizer with other K sources on yield and uptake of
K by tomato plants.
M ATERIALS AND M ETHODS
Preparation of carrier material: Rice straw collected
from Kalubia province was used as carrier material and
is approximately (organic C. 42.3, N 0.54, P 0.14, K 1.2
% and C/N ratio 78.3). The straw was chopped
about one-inch pieces and mixed with chicken
manure as 4:1 (by weight) on dry weight basis. The
compost activator, Trich o d erm a harzianum , a
cellulolytic fungus was broadcast into the substrates at
1192
0.5 g per kg of rice straw (on fresh mycelia weight
basis) to hasten the composting process. Optimum
moisture content was maintained at 60-70 % throughout
the composting period. After one month, composted
materials were air-dried, ground finely until the particles
are tiny to pass through 2mm screen and then sterilized
with dry head.
Feldspar charged compost: Fine powder of feldspar
(orthoclase) 125-250 µm size from Red Sea Company
was used as a source of potassium to charge the carrier
material. The composition of this mineral was
determined for pervious mineral dissolution experiment
in our laboratory and is approximately (K 2 O 11.25, SiO 2
65.23, Na 2 O 3.68, CaO 0.26, Al 2 O 3 18.72 and SO 4 0.41
%) [2 0 ]. Feldspar charged compost (F-compost) was
prepared by mixing feldspar with carrier material to be
0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 percent of total dry weight. Silicate
dissolving bacteria (SDB) viz. Bacillus cereus in a
concentration of (10 1 0 cells/ml) was inoculated into the
substrates at 20 ml per kg of F-compost, transferred to
plastic containers and then allowed to decompose for 90
days. The mixtures were regularly moistened as required
to keep the moisture content at about 60-70 %
throughout the composting period. The mixing was done
periodically (every 15 days) until the C/N ratio reached
a level between 20:1 to 25:1 after 90 days. Compost
samples were drawn from each pot after 0, 30, 60 and
90 days and analyzed for organic C, total N, total and
available K according to standard methods described by
(Jackson) [2 1 ].
Cultivation experiment: The effect of feldspar charged
compost (F-compost) along with K-sources was studied
on tomato plants var. Castle rock as test crop in field
experiment. The soil was sandy in texture and having
organic C 0.25 %, available N 18 mg/kg, NaHCO 3
soluble P 13 mg/kg, CH 3 COONH 4 available K 45
mg/kg. The treatments were feldspar, compost alone, F-
compost, F-compost + SDB and potassium sulphate. The
later was applied in two equal splits as soil application
at transplanting and flowering stage. The entire K from
different sources was applied to establish 0, 120, 240
and 360 kg/ha. The F-compost was obtained by
incorporation of feldspar with carrier material in a ratio
of 2:3 on dry weight basis. Basal doses of N and P were
applied to all treatments at 280 and 140 kg/ha as urea
and single super phosphate respectively. Treatments
were arranged as factorial experiment in a RCB Design
with three replicates in plots (6 x 10 m).
Twenty-eight old seedlings of tomato were
transplanted to the main field on the middle of August.
W ater was applied by drip irrigation system and the
seedlings were planted on two side of the lateral with
spacing 150 cm between the rows and 50 cm between
the plants in a raw. The crop was grown up to maturity
 J. Appl. Sci. Res., 2(12): 1191-1198, 2006

and the dry matter yield of shoots and fruits were
recorded at harvest. Surface soil (0-20) samples were
collected from the field at harvest and analyzed for
organic C and available NPK using standard methods
(Jackson) [2 1 ]. Samples from tomato shoots and fruits
were digested with tri-acid mixture and analyzed for K
content to determine the uptake of K from the soil as
described above. Apparent K recovery (percentage) from
the applied K was calculated as:
(K t - K 0 / K) × 100
where K t equal K total uptake under treatment, K 0
equal K total uptake under control and K equal
applied K (kg / ha).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Total – K: The rice straw contains about 1.2 % and
chicken manure contains 2.5 % total K at initial stage of
decomposition. Application of feldspar to organic
materials significantly enhanced the content of total K
in the final product after decomposition compared to
control where no K was added through feldspar (Table
1). The concentration of total K increased in all
treatments as organic materials decreased during
composting (the reduction in weight took place mainly
in organic fraction). Incorporation of feldspar with
organic materials had no or little effect on the rate of
degradation up to the highest level of charge, which
indicates that feldspar mineral, had
no toxic effect on microbial activity at higher
concentrations. However, as far as the levels of K
addition to composting mass was concerned, charging
with feldspar at 40 % resulted in significant higher K
content in the final product compared to 10 % addition.
C/N ratio: The total organic carbon concentration
declined drastically for all mixture during composting.
Because of the higher bio-oxidation of decomposable
carbonaceous substrates, the initial percentage of total
nitrogen increased in the final product for all compost
mixtures. The increase in total N may be also due to the
net loss of dry mass as the loss of organic C as CO 2
during composting. Concentration of total nitrogen
decreased with increasing the rate of feldspar
application, which may be referred to the dilution effect.
The total nitrogen content although increased on
decomposition but the increase with all treatments was
less than theoretically expected, which indicates that a
significant portion of nitrogen was lost. The values of
C/N ratios showed higher reduction at the final product
after 90 days of decomposition. However, the C/N ratio
is one of the main characteristics that described the
composting process. Although, the C/N ratio in the solid
phase can not be used as an absolute indicator of
compost maturation due to the large variation that is
dependent on the starting materials, a value around or
below 20 could be considered satisfactory [2 2 ] . The final
C/N ratio in this study was ranged from 22-24 for all F-
composts at the end of the compositing process.

Table 1: Total K, degradation of organic m atter and C /N ratio in various feldspar charged com post at the end of com posting process.
Rate of charge Total K D egradation W eight loss Total N O rganic C C/N ratio
%
0 3.76 54 54 1.37 30.2 22
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10 5.48 58 52 1.25 27.6 22
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20 6.15 56 45 1.12 24.4 22
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
30 6.63 54 38 0.96 21.7 23
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40 7.46 52 31 0.78 18.5 24
LSD (0.05) 0.24 2 3 0.012 1.4
Initial organic C and total N content of rice straw were 42.3 and 0.54 % respectively.

Fig. 1: Available K from various feldspar charged compost during the composting process: (a) non-
inoculated; (b) inoculated with silicate dissolving bacteria.

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 J. Appl. Sci. Res., 2(12): 1191-1198, 2006

Table 2: Tom ato fruit and shoot yields (t/ha) under different K -sources and rates of application. Figures in parenthesis indicate dry m atter
of shoot yield.
Equivalent K- kg / ha
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
K-source 0 120 240 360 Average
Feldspar 27.21(1.58) 27.87(1.74) 28.45(1.80) 28.76(1.83) 28.07(1.74)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Com post 27.15(1.68) 30.85(1.93) 34.17(2.27) 32.35(2.05) 31.13(1.98)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F-com post (a) 27.37(1.57) 34.28(2.26) 40.16(2.58) 44.68(2.74) 36.62(2.29)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F-com post (b) 27.12(1.62) 42.31(2.63) 51.72(3.15) 58.75(3.56) 44.98(2.74)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
K 2 SO 4 27.29(1.65) 38.56(2.45) 45.18(2.87) 50.41(3.32) 40.36(2.57)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average 27.23(1.62) 34.77(2.20) 39.94(2.53) 42.99(2.70)
LSD (0.05) K-source = 2.08 Rate = 3.25 K-source × Rate = 5.48
(a) Non-inoculated; (b) inoculated with silicate dissolving bacteria

Available – K: Compost prepared through organic
materials only (control) treatment contains significant
amount of available - K (16.7 g/kg - 44 % of total K) in
the final product compared to their initial contents in the
raw materials (Fig. 1a). This may be attributed to greater
mobilization of K from organic materials through
composting process. Addition of feldspar into
composting mass significantly enhanced higher
available-K compared to compost prepared through
organic materials alone. This may be attributed to the
fact that during the process of composting a wide
variety of organic acids, carbonic acid and chelating
substances are liberated, which might help in feldspar
dissolution. The results are in close conformity of work
done by (Gardener) [2 3 ]. After 30 days of decomposition,
the highest pick of K released from F-compost was
observed which presumably indicate that the occurrence
of such organic acids was very high within this period.
However, the release of K across the different rates
of charge was consistent up to the end of composting
process at 90 days. As far as the level of feldspar
addition to the composting mass is concerned, charging
with 40 % resulted in significantly higher available K
content (32.75 g/kg) in the final product compared to 10
% addition (21.53 g/kg). Furthermore, inclusion of
SDB into composting mass resulted in significantly
higher concentration of available K in the final
product (48.26 gm/kg - 64.7 % of total K) compared to
its counter part without bacterial inoculation after 90
days of decomposition (Fig. 1b). However, inclusion of
bioinoculant appreciably increased the concentration of
available K, which persisted up to the end of
composting period due to release of organic acids in
large extent from microorganisms during the process of
composting with the help of bioinoculm. Increase in
dissolution of directly applied feldspar in soil by
inoculated SDB has been reported earlier by (Badr et
al.) [2 0 ].
Previous studies universally demonstrated that
organic ligands can enhance dissolution rates of feldspar
compared to controlled experiments in the absence of
these ligands. Generally, it has been found that low and
high molecular weight organic ligands capable of
forming strong complexes with Al+ 3 in solution and
therefore, by analogy, with Al-sites on the mineral
surface, have greatest positive impact on dissolution
rates [2 4 ,2 5 ]. The best example of this effect is oxalate ion.
Al + 3 forms strong bidentate inner-sphere complexes with
many multifunctional organic ligands (such as oxalate)
in solution and many of these ligands dramatically affect
feldspar dissolution [2 6 ,2 7 ]. Bacteria can also produce and
excrete high concentration of organic acids when grown
under conditions of nutrient stress, relatively high carbon
availability, but limited availability of other nutrients
such as N and P [2 8 -3 0 ].
Although organic acids were not measured in this
experiment, a previous study confirmed that this
bacterial strain produces several organic acids such as
acetate, butyric, pyruvic, lactic and formic acid during
their biological activates. It is well known that many
organic compounds produced by microorganism, such as
acetate, citrate and oxalate can increase mineral
dissolution rates in laboratory experiments [1 5 ,2 5 ,3 1 ] and in
the soil [3 2 ,2 0 ]. Carboxylic acid groups, which were shown
to promote dissolution of silicate [3 3 ], are also common
in extra cellular organic materials. Moreover, some
microorganisms in soil environment contain enzymes
that function in ways analogous to chitinase and
celluloses, i.e. they specifically break down mineral
structures and extract elements required for metabolism
or structure purposes (e.g., mineralizes) [3 4 ].
Tomato yield: The response of tomato plants to F-
compost containing 7.46 % total K (prepared by mixing
feldspar with organic materials by the ratio of 2:3) either
with SDB or without was compared to potassium
sulphate and feldspar in field experiment. Application of
different K-fertilizer significantly increased tomato fruits
and shoots compared to control where no K was added
except with feldspar application, which gave little
increase (Table 2). The variation in yield due to source
and rates of application were statistically significant.

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Table 3: Concentration of K in tom ato fruits and shoots (percentage) under different K-sources and rates of application. Figures in parenthesis
indicate concentration of K in shoots.
Equivalent K- kg / ha
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
K-sources 0 120 240 360
Feldspar 2.11(0.64) 2.23(0.70) 2.25(0.72) 2.27(0.74)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Com post 2.07(0.62) 2.38(0.75) 2.41(0.78) 2.45(0.76)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F-com post (a) 2.15(0.65) 2.50(0.79) 2.45(0.82) 2.58(0.85)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F-com post (b) 2.12(0.62) 2.67(0.81) 2.71(0.85) 2.76(0.87)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
K 2 SO 4 2.08(0.67) 2.59(0.79) 2.64(0.83) 2.71(0.85)
(a) N on-inoculated; (b) inoculated with silicate dissolving bacteria.

Table 4: Total K uptake (fruits + shoots) (kg/ha) and apparent K recovery (% ) by tom ato plants under different K-sources and rates of application.
Equivalent K- kg / ha Equivalent K- kg / ha
---------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0 120 240 360 120 240 360
---------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
K-sources Total K uptake K recovery (% )
Feldspar 38.8 43.2 44.9 46.2 4 3 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Com post 38.4 51.1 58.7 55.3 11 9 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F-com post(a) 39.7 60.8 71.5 81.1 18 13 12
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F-com post(b) 38.1 77.9 97.0 112.4 33 25 21
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
K 2 SO 4 38.9 69.4 83.5 96.5 25 19 16
(a) N on-inoculated; (b) inoculated with silicate dissolving bacteria.

The interaction effects between the source of K and
rates of application on tomato yield were varied.
Application of feldspar did not significantly increase
tomato fruit yield at any rate. Feldspar however was not
suitable for direct application due to the fact that
potassium ion is tightly bound within its mineral
structure and little release appeared to have occurred
with its application. Tomato fruit yield increased with
increasing rates of F-composts and potassium sulphate
up to the highest level of 360 kg/ha but, with the
application of compost prepared through organic
materials (mainly rice straw) the yield was greater at
240 kg/ha and decreased at 360 kg/ha. This result
referred to the incorporation of large amounts of
carbonaceous cereals residues, which might have caused
excessive N immobilization and temporally N starvation
of plants in the early stages of growth. At all rates of
application, the conjunctive use of F-compost plus SDB
contributed to maximum tomato yield and registered
more fruit yield than potassium sulphate which
accounted for 16.5 % yield increase at the highest rate
of application.
The better performance of F-compost plus SDB
could be attributed to better maintenance of soil
nutrients status in the root zone, which in turn helped
the plants to utilize nutrients more efficiently; rather
release of potassium took place frequently, which
favorably affects growth of the crop. Locascio and
Hochmuth [3 5 ] reported that the potassium supply by the
soil is an extremely important factor in tomato
production and the high yield depend on high level
of K available to the plants. Results such as this
support the present finding that increasing the rate of
application up to 360 kg/ha led to higher tomato yield
than the lower K rate.
Similarly, potassium use efficiency (KUE) by
tomato plants was significantly superior in F-compost
plus SDB compared to potassium sulphate and other
treatments but in all cases, KUE was more with lower
level than higher level of applications. The highest
values of 126.4, 102.5 and 87.9 of KUE was recorded
in the F-compost plus SDB while it was 93.9, 74.5 and
64.2 with potassium sulphate at 120, 240 and 360 kg
K/ha respectively. The better conservation of potassium
in the root zone with biofertilizer is thought to be the
reason behind better KUE, which led to the highest
production of tomato fruits.
Potassium uptake and recovery: On dry weight
basis, K concentration and then K uptake were
determined from tomato fruits and shoots at 150 days
after transplanting. The differences in K concentration
and uptake among K-sources were large and significant
in both fruits and shoots (Table 3&4). As expected total
uptake of K increased with increase in rate of
application (except with compost alone), not only by
promoting dry matter production but also by
increasing the K concentration in different plant
parts. Total uptake was greater when F-compost plus
SDB was applied followed by potassium sulphate and
the lower was from feldspar. However, this result
indicates that a major portion of K present in feldspar
mineral as well as in the organic materials became
available for uptake and contributed considerably
towards the nutritional requirements of the crop.
Further, this increase in uptake was due to the
reduce loss of nutrients primarily because of the
presence of

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 J. Appl. Sci. Res., 2(12): 1191-1198, 2006

Table 5: Residual soil fertility after harvest of tom ato plants under different K-sources and rates of application (kg/ha).
Available nutrients (m g/kg soil)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Treatm ent O rganic C% N P K
K-sources
--------------------------
Feldspar 0.24 24 14 42
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Com post 0.35 37 17 47
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F-com post (a) 0.37 32 21 65
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F-com post (b) 0.39 35 28 72
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
K 2 SO 4 0.23 22 13 44
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rate of application
--------------------------
0 0.25 24 12 38
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
120 0.29 28 15 49
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
240 0.32 30 18 54
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
360 0.35 35 21 60
(a): N on-inoculated; (b) inoculated with silicate dissolving bacteria
Initial organic C and available N PK content were 0.25 % and 18, 13 and 45 m g/kg soil respectively.

organic materials which have chelating properties
compared to soil application of potassium sulphate. On
the other hand, with increased uptake of K, apparent
recovery of applied K fertilizers decreased in all cases.
However recovery of K decreased more when the rate
of application of chemical fertilizer (potassium sulphate)
increased than with increasing the rate of biofertilizer
(F.Compost+SDB),possible because of the ready
available of K from this source and the great
susceptibility of K to loss by leaching particularly in
sandy soil.
Residual soil fertility: Application of different K-
sources to tomato plants led to varying amounts of
organic C and available NPK in the soil after harvest
(Table 5). Organic C and available N content increased
appreciably by the application of all organic sources,
while mineral sources (feldspar and potassium sulphate)
had no or little impact on fertility build up. Organic
materials reduce N losses [3 6 ] and conserve soil N by
forming organo-mineral complexes. Soil available K and
P increased markedly with organic sources through the
level reached maximum with F-compost plus SDB. The
increase in available P could be attributed to
mineralization of organic P, solubiliztion action of
certain organic acids and displacement of phosphate
with organic anions. The concentration of organic C and
available nutrients was improved considerably with
increasing rates of application of organic sources.
However, use of F-compost in the fields is found to
be economical as well as eco-friendly as there are no
leaching loses of nutrients from feldspar. The equivalent
quantity of K 2 O from such fertilizer will be available in
three to four times cheaper than imported potash.
Further, loses due to drainage, leaching and
percolation of potassium from feldspar charged compost
are negligible as compared to soluble potassium salts.
Hence, use of feldspar in biological form will, further,
be more economical than imported potash fertilizers.
Moreover, this compound also contains some other
nutrients suitable for plants in small quantities.
However, use of feldspar as potash fertilizer will prove
to be eco-friendly, as the residual material, after release
of potassium and other nutrients, is porous silica along
with
associated clay minerals (kaolinit). This residual material
easily gets homogenized with the soil.
Finally, potassium from feldspar mineral was
solubilized and transformed into available form as
evident from its higher available K when incorporated
with organic materials along with inoculation of silicate
dissolving bacteria. Tomato plants utilized potassium
efficiently from this combination which serves as
biofertilizer and its effect was superior to potassium
sulphate when added to sandy soil. Thus, this
biofertilizer is highly efficient to achieve the economy
of potash fertilizer and reduce the cost of cultivation
through the use of cheap and locally potash source.
ACKNOW LEDGM ENT
The author wishes to express his appreciation to Dr.
S.H. Sharaf EL-Deen prof. and head of Microbial
Genetics Dept., National Research Center, for providing

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 J. Appl. Sci. Res., 2(12): 1191-1198, 2006
silicate dissolving bacteria (SDB), Bacillus cereus and
Trichoderma harzianum.
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