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Possible Use of Wood Ash and Compost for Improving Acid Tropical Soils

Chapter · July 2011

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-19354-5_7

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 Geoderma 153 (2009) 402–407

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Geoderma
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / g e o d e r m a

Composts with wood ash addition: A risk or a chance for ameliorating acid tropical soils?
B.P. Bougnom a,⁎, J. Mair a, F.X. Etoa b, H. Insam a
a
University of Innsbruck, Institute of Microbiology, Technikerstraße 25 d, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
b
University of Yaoundé I, Department of Biochemistry, P.O. Box 812 Yaoundé, Cameroon

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Within the framework aiming at assessing the potential risk of the use of wood ash amended composts to
Received 19 February 2009 tropical acid soils, a greenhouse experiment was conducted with two acid soils (Oxisol and Ultisol) collected
Received in revised form 2 July 2009 from Cameroon and amended with three types of compost 3:1 (w/w) prepared with 0, 8 and 16% wood ash
Accepted 7 September 2009
prior to composting, respectively. They were planted with soybean (Glycine max L.) for 100 d. Addition of
Available online 27 September 2009
organic waste composts increased soil pH, SOM, WHC, EC, total C and N. Concentrations of exchangeable Al
−
and NH+ 4 –N decreased while those of NO3 –N and phosphorous increased. The exchangeable cation (Ca, Mg, Na
Keywords:
Wood ash
and K) and micronutrient (Zn and Cu) concentrations increased while concentrations of Fe and Mn decreased.
Compost The C/N ratio of treated soils ranged from 12 to 14. Soil pH, concentrations of Fe and Mn were higher; EC and
Tropical acid soils nitrate concentration were lower under ash compost amendment. Eight percent ash amendment to compost
Nutrients deficiency yielded best results in many aspects. Concentration of exchangeable Al was most decreased in soils treated
Aluminium toxicity with compost without ash. Plant biomass production was not significantly enhanced by compost amendment.
Available phosphorus This lack of an effect may be attributed to a soil pH (> 7.7) beyond the optimum for soybean (6.2).
Summarising the results, composts with ash addition could serve the purpose of ameliorating acid tropical
soils, albeit the optimal amendment rates still need to be addressed in future research.
© 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Oxisols (Ferralsols in FAO soil taxonomy) and Ultisols (Acrisols in
FAO soil taxonomy) cover over 500 million hectares (16.2%) of the
African continent (Bationo et al., 2006). The main characteristics of
these soils are their low pH and organic matter; Ca, Mg, P, or Mo
deficiency, Al and/or Mn toxicity, and very low mineralization and
nitrification. Poor nodulation or mycorrhizal infections are further
constraints to plant productivity (Foy, 1984, Kochian et al., 2004).
Several agricultural practices have been recommended to overcome
the problem of tropical acid soil infertility. Among them, the most
common and widely used method is liming, which is defined as the
application of ground calcium and/or magnesium carbonates, hydro-
xides, and oxides aiming at increasing the soil pH, modifying its physical,
chemical and biological properties (Edmeades and Ridley, 2003).
Liming, however, has some limits: the effectiveness of surface
application of lime to soils under a particularly no-till (NT) system
with regard to subsoil acidity is uncertain, agricultural liming materials
are relatively insoluble and lime effects may be restricted to the top few
cm of soil for many years (Shainberg et al., 1989; Costa and Rosolem,
2007). Large quantities of lime are generally required for improving
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +43 512 507 6394; fax: +43 512 507 2928.
E-mail address: blaise.bougnom@student.uibk.ac.at (B.P. Bougnom).
plant growth, and for many subsistence farmers the high cost of lime
prevents its use (Haynes and Mokolobate, 2001).
Organic waste materials have proved to be an efficient alternative to
the use of lime (Hue, 1992; Noble et al., 1996). Uncomposted plant litter,
composts, manures, peats and coal products are generally used to
remediate acid soil infertility. Composting may also help to solve the
problem of the ever increasing heaps of waste that may even be harm-
ful for humans and it is a key to maintaining soil functions and crop
production. The use of compost in agriculture aids in replenishing and
maintaining long term soil fertility by enhancing soil biological activity
and providing nutrients that are slowly released in accordance with the
crop needs (Gobat et al., 2003; Ros et al., 2006). Wood ash is a by-
product of the wood industry resulting from burning of wood residues
for either energy production or waste reduction (Nkana et al., 2002). In
many African regions, fuelwood constitutes 61 to 86% of primary energy
consumption and generates big quantities of wood ash, causing serious
environmental problems (Samir Amous, 1999). After combustion most
of the inorganic nutrients, trace elements and heavy metals from
biomass are retained in the ash which could be a significant source of P,
K, Mg, Ca, lime and could well be used as a supplement to fertilizers
(Naylor and Schmidt, 1989; Ohno, 1992; Bougnom and Insam, 2009).
Ash fertilization can compensate for the nutrient losses caused by
harvesting, nutrient leaching and soil acidification (Saarsalmi et al.,
2006). Wood ash has similar properties as lime with the advantage of
additionally carrying micronutrients and has been used to alleviate

0016-7061/$ – see front matter © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2009.09.003
 B.P. Bougnom et al. / Geoderma 153 (2009) 402–407 403

nutrient deficiencies and acidification (Nkana et al., 2002; Maljanen
et al., 2006; Insam et al., 2009). Wood ash—and in this context only the
so-called bottom ash of biomass incineration plants is meant—does not
impair the composting process and the quality of the end product and
thus may further enhance beneficial effects of compost use in
agriculture (Kuba et al., 2008; Hultman et al., 2009).
The aim of this research was to investigate if compost with ash
additive could present any risk or offer new chances for a sustainable
agriculture in the tropics. We studied the response of some soil prop-
erties and soybean (Glycine max L) to compost with ash application in a
greenhouse experiment.
2. Material and methods
2.1. Study site and soil collection
ratio, the CaCO3 content was measured according to Raad (1978). The
physical and chemical parameters are given in Table 2.
2.3. Greenhouse study
The experiment was conducted at the University of Innsbruck from
April to July 2008. The different composts (K0, K8, and K16) were mixed
with soils in a 1:3 (w/w) ratio and transferred to plastic pots (11 cm
deep, 9 cm diameter) a week prior to seeding with soybean (G. max L.).
The trial was a completely randomised block design with 6 replicates
per treatment, a set of control plots was left untreated. Plants (one per
pot) were grown at 20–28 °C, watered with deionised water to maintain
the moisture content for 100 d and then harvested. After the harvesting,
the replicates of soil per treatment were collected, air-dried, sieved
(<2 mm) and used for physical and chemical analysis.

Experiments were conducted with soils collected in March 2008
from two different farms in the humid agro ecological zone in
Cameroon, one from Nkolbisson (Yaoundé) (3°51'N 11°30'E), and the
other from Bokito (4°34'N, 11°7'E), labeled Nkol and Bok respectively.
No chemical fertilizers had been used in the past. Maize (Zea mays),
groundnut (Arachis hypogea), soybean (G. max) and cassava (Manihot
esculenta) were the main crops cultivated. Each site was randomly
sampled (0–20 cm) at 10 different places of approximately 0.2 ha,
and bulked. Once arrived at the laboratory the soils were sieved
(< 2 mm), air dried, and their physical and chemical parameters were
determined (Table 1). Soil reserved for the greenhouse experiments
was not sieved and not dried. The soil from Nkol was classified as
Oxisol and the one from Bok as Ultisol.
2.2. Compost origin and characteristics
The composts were obtained from the composting plant Weer
(Tyrol, Austria) produced from communal biowaste and tree-bush-
cutting (53:47) (w/w), amended with 0%, 8%, and 16% wood ash
(labelled K0, K8 and K16, respectively). The ash was obtained from the
combined heat and power plant Kufstein (Austria) that works with
bark, sawdust and wood chips as input materials. Ashes were added at
the beginning of the composting process. All the produced composts
met the legal standards for agricultural use (Kuba et al., 2008). The pH
and EC were determined in 1:6.25 (compost: demineralised water)
Table 1
Physical and chemical characteristics of the soils.
2.4. Physical and chemical analysis
2.4.1. Soil analyses
Soil pH and EC were measured in a 1:2.5 (soil: demineralised water)
ratio using a glass electrode, soil organic matter (SOM) was determined
by loss-on-ignition as described by Ben-Dor and Banin (1989) with an
ashing temperature of 550 °C for 3 h. Water holding capacity (WHC)
was measured as described by Öhlinger (1995). Total and organic C (Ctot
and Corg), total N (Ntot) were analyzed using a CN analyzer (TruSpec
CHN; LECO, Michigan, U.S.A.). Exchangeable ammonium (NH+ 4 –N) and
nitrate (NO− 3 –N) were extracted with 0.0125 M CaCl2, ammonium
was quantified using the indophenole blue method (Mulvaney, 1996),
nitrate was quantified after reaction with 10% H2SO4 (Kandeler, 1995).
Phosphorus was determined with the colorimetric Mo-blue method
(Olsen and Sommers, 1982), total (Pt) and inorganic P (Pi) were
determined by applying the modified ignition procedure of Saunders
and Williams (1955), they were extracted with 0.5 M H2SO4, organic
P (Po) was calculated by subtraction, and available P (Pa) was extracted
with 0.4 M LiCl. Hitachi U-2001spectrophotometer (Hitachi Instru-
ments, Inc. San Jose, USA) was used for the determination of exchange-
able N and extractable P.
Exchangeable Al was extracted from the soil with 1 M KCl, ex-
changeable cations (Ca, Mg, K, and Na) with 1 M CH3COONH4 adjusted to
pH 7, micronutrients (Fe, Zn, Cu and Mn) with NaC2H3O2 3H2O and
glacial CH3COOH adjusted to pH 4.8. These measurements were done
with the atomic absorption spectrophotometer ContrAA 700 (Analytik
Jena, Jena, Germany). Exchangeable Al was measured by inductively
coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES Plasma 400,
PerkinElmer. Waltham, Massachusetts, USA).

Bok Nkol

Soil moisture (%) 1.1 3.6 Table 2

pH (water) 5.1 4.6 Physical and chemical characteristics of the composts (data partly from Kuba et al.,
EC (mS cm−1) 0.5 0.3 2008).
SOM (% dw) 3.2 8.9
K0 K8 K16
Corg (% dw) 0.5 1.3
Total N (% dw) 0.1 0.1 pH (water) 7.9 8.57 8.59
C/N 11.1 11.5 EC (mS cm− 1) 2.43 1.99 2.03
−1
NH+ 4 (mg kg dw) 5.1 6.5 CaCO3 (%) 7.36 14.6 15.4
NO− 3 (mg kg
−1
dw) 12.9 15.3 Corg (% dw) 21.7 19.2 16.9
Exchangeable Al (mg l− 1 dw) 118.5 95 N (% dw) 1.7 1.6 1.4
Available P (% dw) 2.4 1 C/N 13.1 12.4 12.3
Ca (mmolC kg− 1 dw) 0.4 0.7 P (% dw) 0.42 0.39 0.36
Na (mmolC kg− 1 dw) 0.03 0.03 Mg (% dw) 1.2 1.57 1.58
Mg (mmolC kg− 1 dw) 0.3 0.4 K (% dw) 1.18 1.33 1.28
K (mmolC kg− 1 dw) 0.05 0.06 Exchangeable Al (mg l− 1 dw) 3 2.5 1.5
Cu (mg kg− 1 dw) 0.05 0.05 Pb (mg kg− 1 dw) 58.0 39.3 34.6
Zn (mg kg− 1 dw) 0.09 0.12 Cd (mg kg− 1 dw) 0.8 0.6 0.7
Fe (mg kg− 1 dw) 13.5 15.1 Cr (mg kg− 1 dw) 25.2 27.1 27.9
Mn (mg kg− 1 dw) 22.3 35.5 Cu (mg kg− 1 dw) 67.3 66.6 55.4
Sand 45 43 Ni (mg kg− 1 dw) 16.4 22.1 20.6
Silt 24 12 Hg (mg kg− 1 dw) 0.4 0.2 0.2
Clay 31 47 Zn (mg kg− 1 dw) 181 183 189
404 B.P. Bougnom et al. / Geoderma 153 (2009) 402–407

2.4.2. Plant analyses Table 4

−
Plants were dried at 60 °C for 24 h and biomass, total C and N of Concentration of exchangeable NH+ 4 –N, NO3 N and Al; and inorganic, organic and
available P in the different soils treated or not with compost (mean ± SD).
both the aboveground and belowground (root) were determined as
described above. Treatment

Parameters Soil K0 K8 K16 Cont

2.5. Statistical analysis (mg kg-1 dw)

NH+
4 –N Bok 3.6 (0.2) a 3.2 (0.3) a 3 (0.5) a 19.4 (0.5) b
The data obtained were subjected to a two way analysis of variance Nkol 7.3 (0.8) a 6.8 (0.7) a 6 (0.5) a 22.3 (1.9) b
(ANOVA) followed by a Tukey's B-test at 5% level. For some NO—
3N Bok 286 (5.9) d 106 (4.4) b 198 (4.7) c 19.5 (2.2) a
parameters the correlations were computed. The data were analysed Nkol 374 (13.6) d 143 (5.2) b 251 (6.7) c 19.8 (1.7) a
Exchangeable Al Bok 5.5 (0.05) a 6.5 (0.1) b 6.5 (0.1) b 177 (0.2) c
using SPSS 15®. Nkol 5.5 (0.1) a 7.5 (0.2) b 14.5 (1.4) c 58 (1.9) d
Pi Bok 761 (12) c 590 (8) b 695 (12) b 15.8 (3.5) a
3. Results Nkol 657 (18.8) b 724 (11.3) c 705 (15) c 25.6 (4.2) a
Po Bok 197 (26) b 267 (15.7) c 293 (7) c 128 (4.6) a
Nkol 356 (48.7) c 252 (41.3) b 300 (10) bc 139 (15.1) a
3.1. Soil analyses
Pa Bok 50.9 (1.3) c 42.1 (1.1) b 41.7 (1.7) b 1.1 (1.1) a
Nkol 18.1 (1.1) b 17.1 (1.2) b 17.7 (1.0) b 2 (1.1) a
The soil pH, SOM, WHC, EC, Corg, increased and the C/N ratio
Dissimilar letters in a column indicate statistically significant differences among the
decreased significantly due to compost amendment, compared to the different treatments (n = 6; Tukey B-test).
control (Table 3). Among the treated soils, pH was approx. 0.3 units
higher, while SOM, WHC and EC were 18–27%, 11.5–16.0% and 13.0–
15.5% lower in soils treated with ash compost compared to compost
without ash. The C:N ratio in treated pots ranged from 12.3 to 13.8 and 3.2. Plant analyses
was thus much lower than in the control.
Concentrations of exchangeable NH+ 4 –N and Al decreased upon
Plant biomass of both aboveground and belowground did not
compost treatment. The different exchangeable P fractions increased significantly differ between the treatments. The leaf and root C/N ratio
after compost amendment (Table 4). Among the different compost ranged from 10–12 to 12–13 in plants grown in treated soils (Table 6).
− No significant differences were found among the different compost
treatments, NH+ 4 –N did not significantly differ. Concentrations of NO3
were 1.5–3.0 times lower in soils treated with K16 and K8, compared treatments.
to soil treated with K0. Exchangeable Al was lowest in soil treated
with K0, intermediate with K8 and highest among the compost 4. Discussion
treatments with K16. Phosphorus availability was higher in soil
treated with K0 than in the ash amended soils in the case of the Ultisol 4.1. Soil parameters
(Bok). For the Oxisol (Nkol) no difference in P availability was found
among the compost treatments. The two investigated soils were acid and nutrient deficient; the
The concentration of extractable cations (Ca, K, Mg and Na) and SOM, C, N, and P contents were low, the level of exchangeable Al was
micronutrients (Zn and Cu) increased, while concentration of high. The pH of the used composts was higher than that of the soils
micronutrients Fe and Mn decreased due to compost treatment (Table 2), and thus as expected the soil pH increased after compost
(Table 5). Concentrations of K and Na were elevated in K0 pots while amendment, confirming results by Noble et al. (1996) and Haynes and
those of Zn, Fe and Mn were higher in K8 and K16 pots. No difference Mokolobate (2001). The reason is a flow of protons from the soil to the
in concentrations of Ca and Cu was observed among the treated soils. organic matter sites; composts are stable products rich in humic
No significant interaction between treatments and soil type (data substances with functional groups (carboxyl, phenolic and enolic)
not shown) was found for SOM, EC, Ca, Na, and NH+ 4 –N, however, the
conferring binding and buffering capacities (Hue, 1992; Haynes and
interaction was significant for the other parameters. Mokolobate, 2001; Wong and Swift, 2003). The performances of

Table 3
PH, SOM , WHC, EC, Total C, Org C, total N and C/N ratio in the different soils treated or Table 5
not with compost (mean ± SD). Concentration of exchangeable Mg, K, Na, Ca Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn in the different soils
treated or not with compost (mean ± SD).
Treatment
Treatment
Parameters Soil K0 K8 K16 Cont
Parameters Soil K0 K8 K16 Cont
pH (water) Bok 8 (0.1) b 8.3 (0.1) c 8.3 (0.1) c 5.1 (0.2) a
Nkol 7.8 (0.01) b 8.2 (0.04) c 8.1 (0.04) c 4.5 (0.2) a Mg (mmolC kg−1) Bok 1.8 (0.04) b 2.3 (0.1) c 1.9 (0.1) b 0.4 (0.01) a
Total C (% dw) Bok 5.8 (0.1) c 5.1 (0.5) b 4.6 (0.2) b 0.9 (0.01) a Nkol 2.2 (0.1) b 2.1 (0.1) b 2.2 (0.1) b 0.3 (0.01) a
Nkol 5.7 (0.1) c 5.4 (0.2) c 5.7 (0.2) b 1.7 (0.05) a K (mmolC kg− 1) Bok 2 (0.04) c 1.9 (0.1) bc 1.8 (0.01) b 0.06 (0.01) a
Org C (% dw) Bok 5.5 (0.2) c 4.6 (0.5) b 4.1 (0.2) b 0.7 (0.01) a Nkol 2.4 (0.02) d 1.9 (0.02) b 2 (0.02) c 0.05 (0.01) a
Nkol 5.6 (0.1) c 4.8 (0.2) b 5.2 (0.3) b 1.5 (0.05) a Na (mmolC kg−1) Bok 0.6 (0.04) c 0.6 (0.04) c 0.5 (0.04) b 0.04 (0.02) a
Total N (% dw) Bok 0.5 (0.01) c 0.4 (0.05) b 0.3 (0.01) b 0.02 (0.00) a Nkol 0.7 (0.1) c 0.6 (0.03) b 0.5 (0.01) b 0.03 (0.01) a
Nkol 0.5 (0.02) c 0.4 (0.03) b 0.5 (0.03) bc 0.1 (0.01) a Ca (mmolC kg− 1) Bok 12.2 (2.3) b 12.2 (2.6) b 12.7 (1.6) b 1.2 (0.02) a
C/N Bok 12.5 (0.5) a 13.8 (0.6) a 13.6 (0.8) a 42.3 (0.3) b Nkol 17.2 (4) b 13 (1.8) b 13.4 (1.1) b 0.8 (0.1) a
Nkol 12.3 (0.3) a 12.8 (0.4) a 12.4 (0.1) a 18.7 (0.5) ab Cu (mgkg−1) Bok 0.06 (0.01) b 0.08 (0.01) c 0.08 (0.01) bc 0.03 (0.01) a
SOM (% dw) Bok 10.5 (0.8) b 8.9 (1.3) b 8.7 (0.7) b 3.1 (0.3) a Nkol 0.06 (0.00) b 0.06 (0.00) b 0.06 (0.01) b 0.04 (0.00) a
Nkol 16.8 (0.6) d 14.1 (0.3) c 13.0 (0.2) b 8.3 (0.4) a Zn (mgkg− 1) Bok 0.6 (0.01) b 0.6 (0.03) c 0.7 (0.02) d 0.2 (0.01) a
WHC Bok 0.4 (0.02) b 0.4 (0.04) b 0.41 (0.01) b 0.2 (0.03) a Nkol 0.3 (0.02) b 0.5 (0.05) c 0.5 (0.03) c 0.1 (0.02) a
(mlH2Og−1 dw) Fe (mgkg− 1) Bok 1.1 (0.1) a 1.3 (0.05) b 1.8 (0.01) c 16.6 (0.06) d
Nkol 0.6 (0.02) c 0.5 (0.01) b 0.5 (0.03) b 0.4 (0.01) a Nkol 1 (0.2) a 1.3 (0.1) b 1.5 (0.04) b 13.1 (0.05) c
EC (mS cm− 1) Bok 1.6 (0.2) c 1.1 (0.1) b 1.3 (0.1) b 0.1 (0.01) a Mn (mgkg )−1
Bok 6.6 (0.1) a 12.9 (0.2) b 15.3 (0.5) b 30.5 (0.2) c
Nkol 1.6 (0.1) c 1.2 (0.1) b 1.4 (0.1) c 0.04 (0.02) a Nkol 3.6 (0.1) a 8.9 (0.1) b 11.2 (0.2) c 36.8 (2.7) d

Dissimilar letters in a column indicate statistically significant differences among the Dissimilar letters in a column indicate statistically significant differences among the
different treatments (n = 6; Tukey B-test). different treatments (n = 6; Tukey B-test).
 B.P. Bougnom et al. / Geoderma 153 (2009) 402–407 405

Table 6 ash admixture, an observation also made by Kuba et al. (2008). That
Biomass, C, N and C/N ratio of the aboveground and belowground of soybean from the attribute is very important since nitrate retention is important from an
different soils treated or not with compost (mean ± SD).
agricultural as well as from a groundwater perspective.
Treatment Increase of extractable cations (Ca, K, Mg and Na) as well as
Aboveground Soil K0 K8 K16 Cont micronutrients (Cu and Zn) following organic matter amendments
were already reported by others (Smith, 2009; Mokolobate and
Biomass Bok 12.1 (2.7) a 12.1 (1.9) a 10.9 (0.5) a 10.5 (1) a
(g pot-1) Haynes, 2002). The increase of extractable Ca is of great interest
Nkol 12.9 (1.6) a 13.4 (2.3) a 12.3 (0.6) a 9.9 (0.6) a since the buffering capacity of the soil depends on the amount of
C (% dw) Bok 37.8 (0.2) a 40.1 (0.3) b 41.8 (0.7) c 43.5 (0.2) d available calcium which lowers the leaching potential of nutrients
Nkol 44.8 (4.1) b 40.(0.01) a 40.6 (0.3) a 42.2 (0.4) b from the soil. Nutrient deficiencies occur in tropical acid soils when
N (% dw) Bok 3.3 (0.01) c 3 (0.1) b 4 (0.02) d 2.4 (0.1) a
Nkol 4 (0.02) cd 3.8 (0.02) b 4.2 (0.1) d 2.2 (0.03) a
Al has taken over the buffering role when calcium is depleted
C/N Bok 11.4 (0.1) b 13.4 (0.4) c 10.5 (0.1) ab 17.8 (0.7) a (Harter, 2002). No significant differences among the compost
Nkol 11.1 (1) b 10.6 (0.1) c 9.7 (0.2) a 19.2 (0.1) d treatments were found in terms of exchangeable Ca. If the decrease
Root of Fe and Mn in soil means less susceptibility to Fe and Mn toxicity,
Biomass Bok 1.6 (0.3) a 1.9 (0.4) a 1.6 (0.4) a 1.4 (0.2) a their major reduction could be detrimental to the plant which could
(g pot− 1) suffer from Fe and Mn deficiencies (Dee et al., 2003). K8 and K16 are
Nkol 1.8 (0.4) a 1.7 (0.2) a 1.7 (0.2) a 1.5 (0.2) a therefore interesting in this respect as their suppressive action is less
C (% dw) Bok 40.8 (0.2) b 42.1 (0.3) b 36.4 (0.4) a 41.3 (1.2) b
Nkol 36.1 (3.3) a 34.2 (2) a 33.4 (2.9) a 44.1 (0.1) b
pronounced than the one of K0. The heavy metal contents of the
N (% dw) Bok 2.9 (0.02) a 3.1 (0.01) b 3 (0.03) b 2.8 (0.03) a composts were low enough to meet the standards for organic
Nkol 3.4 (0.15) c 2.8 (0.28) b 3 (0.14) bc 2.2 (0.01) a agriculture (see Table 2; Kuba et al., 2008). However, since compost
C/N Bok 14.2 (0.2) bc 13.8 (0.1) b 11.9 (0.01) a 14.6 (0.6) c application, and in particular the use of ash composts may increase
Nkol 10.7 (1.4) a 12.1 (0.5) a 11.2 (1.5) a 19.7 (0.1) b
soil heavy metal contents, great care has to be taken concerning the
Dissimilar letters in a column indicate statistically significant differences among the quality of the used materials.
different treatments (n = 6; Tukey B-test).
In consequence to the increase of the salt content, EC was also
increased in treated soils. Agricultural soil EC levels range from 0 to
4 dS m− 1 (Brady and Weil, 1996). Despite the fact that the values in
compost in raising soil pH also depend on its CaCO3 content, the study were in this range, we should notice that composts with ash
conferring proton consumption capacity (Mokolobate and Haynes, lowered the EC, mainly with K8 in both soils when compared to K0.
2002). The good performance of K8 and K16 in increasing the soil pH This observation confirms the results by Kuba et al. (2008).
may be attributed to their higher pH and CaCO3 content. Al toxicity is one of the main growth-limiting factors for crop
The association of soil minerals and SOM is essential in fertility, production in acid soils (Foy, 1988; Coscione et al., 1998). The efficiency
productivity and sustainability of agricultural and non agricultural of organic residues in alleviating Al toxicity has been shown in many
ecosystems (Martius et al., 2001). SOM is well known to be able to studies (Mokolobate and Haynes, 2002; Naramabuye et al., 2008).
modify soil properties like water infiltration, water holding capacity, Increase in soil pH and SOM has been found to decrease exchangeable Al
aeration, surface crusting, soil strength and resistance to root growth (Wong et al., 1998; Patiram, 1996). As expected, concomitant increase of
(Scholes et al., 1994). SOM is composed of C compounds and also these parameters was thus followed by a decrease of exchangeable Al.
contains over 90% of the N in soil in organic form (Batjes, 1996). It is Many mechanisms are known how OM may decrease exchangeable
thus not surprising that Corg and Ntot increased with SOM and these Al: organic compounds and mainly complex humic material may
increases were higher in soil treated with K0 since the 16% and 8% ash bind with Al and through chelation, complex formation, adsorption and
composts contained 16.9% and 19.2% Corg with 1.4% and 1.6% N while co-precipitation, Al is rendered insoluble, or soluble associations with
the 0% ash compost contained 21.7 % Corg with 1.7% N. The composts humic material reduce its toxicity (Harper et al., 1995; Wong et al.,
were not applied at a C equivalent basis but on a dry matter equivalent 1998). However, despite the stronger effect of wood ash composts on
basis. Summarized, the composts improved the organic matter status, pH, they did not perform better in terms of Al immobilisation than K0.
which is a very important attribute as the loss of organic matter is of Measurement of exchangeable Al, however, does not give a perfect
major concern in tropical soils (Jenkinson and Ayanaba, 1977). indication of the potential for Al toxicity to crops, an estimation of
Increased WHC in the amended soils may be regarded as a direct monomeric aluminium (Almono) in soil solution would be preferable
effect of increased SOM. Despite the findings of Etiegni and Campbell (Mokolobate and Haynes, 2002). The inverse relationship between
(1991) that more than 80% of wood ash is composed of particles exchangeable Al and available P was expected (Demetz and Insam,
<1.0 mm, and wood ash particles could swell in contact with water 1999; Mokolobate and Haynes, 2002; Naramabuye et al., 2008). Another
and thus increase water holding capacity, no such additional effect by reason is the fact that residues with a P content of more than 0.3%—as in
the wood ash was found. The lower performances of K8 and K16 our composts—are known to lead to a net P mineralization and
in increasing Ctot and Ntot can be explained similar to the response adsorption of the released P (Iyamuremye et al., 1996). A higher level
concerning SOM. of Pi in amended soils means higher mineralization of Po to Pi and
The majority (>90%) of total compost N is contained in the organic therefore more Pa. The Pearson correlation of Pi with Pa was significant
N pool. For optimal plant availability a C/N ratio <20 is required (Hue and positive (P < 0.01, r = 0.721). Two-way ANOVA has shown that soil
and Sobiesczyk, 1999); a C/N ratio <12 would infer the risk of N type significantly (P < 0.001) influenced the availability of phosphorus
leaching (Insam and Merschak, 1997) while a C/N ratio > 20 could (F(3,40) = 573). In the Bok soil Pa was more strongly increased than
cause N immobilisation. The C/N ratio of our composts ranged from in the Nkol soil. Since phosphorus adsorption is significantly corre-
12.3 to 13.1, therefore neither N immobilization nor nitrate leaching lated with clay content (Murthy et al., 1996), a higher Pa content was
was expected. The C/N ratios of the treated soils ranged from 13.3 to expected in Bok compared to Nkol because of its lower adsorption
13.8, which is a range found in fertile soils (Springob and Kirchmann, capacity and limitation of P availability by clay minerals. The optimum
2003). pH for P availability is near 6.5, under alkaline soil conditions (pH > 7.2)
A stimulation of nitrification was probably the reason for lower excess calcium can precipitate with P as insoluble calcium phosphate
−
concentrations of NH+ 4 –N and higher concentrations of NO3 N in treated compounds that are slowly converted to apatite, decreasing P avail-
soils, in accordance with Naramabuye et al. (2008). Exchangeable nitrate ability (Foth, 1990). The soil pH in K8 and K16 was higher than the pH in
concentrations were lower when the composts had been prepared with K0 pots which may have rendered P less available.
406 B.P. Bougnom et al. / Geoderma 153 (2009) 402–407
4.2. Plant parameters
We analysed both the above- and belowground plant biomass to
assess the overall response on compost amendment and in particular
to the decrease of exchangeable Al. Al is known to inhibit plant
growth by affecting plant roots and development. Both cell divisions
in the apical root meristem and cell elongation are affected by Al
(Foy, 1988). In our study, we did not find a significant effect on
above- or belowground biomass, albeit trends of an increase were
evident in both soils. The lack of significant differences may be
explained by the big influence of soil pH. It has been reported that
the optimum pH for soybean (G. max L.) growth lies between 5.8
and 6.2 (Pendleton and Hartwig, 1973). The amended soils in our
case had a pH > 7.
5. Conclusion
The aim of this study was to investigate if compost with ash
addition could present any risk to a sustainable agriculture in the
tropics, or might open up new chances. Our results showed that wood
ash addition to compost has some benefit in term of raising the soil pH,
lowering the EC and nitrate leaching potential, as well as exerting a less
suppressive action on Fe and Mn concentrations. The ash did not have
an adverse effect on compost performance regarding the C/N ratio,
exchangeable Al and available P, in particular at an ash amendment
rate of 8%. In the tropics, where lime is often not affordable for resource
poor farmers, balanced ash compost could alleviate problems of soil
infertility, provide a solution for wood ash disposal and reduce the
amount of compost needed to increase soil pH to suitable levels. This
research needs to be further deepened in field studies, applying
compost at different amounts (e.g. 5–20 Mg ha− 1), and looking for
the right quantities of ash amendment necessary to reach a soil pH of
6.5–7.0. Also, the long term effects should be investigated.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Austrian Academic Exchange
Service (ÖAD) with a grant for Blaise Pascal Bougnom and by the
Tiroler Zukunftsstiftung (Regional Competence Center BioTreaT). The
authors thank Dr. Dieudonné Nwaga for his help during the sampling
time.
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