Open AccessTrash disposal and its relation to cane yield, soil and water losses
Author(s) -
J. A. Bonnet,
Fernando Abruña,
M. A. Lugo López
Publication year - 1950
Publication title -
the journal of agriculture of the university of puerto rico/the journal of agriculture of the university of puerto rico
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.123
H-Index - 10
eISSN - 2308-1759
pISSN - 0041-994X
DOI - 10.46429/jaupr.v34i3.12833
Subject(s) - humanities , chemistry , philosophy
The effect of leaving the trash as a mulch or burning it, for each of four crops of sugar cane growing in a lateritic soil with a 40 percent slope, has been compared with respect to cane and sugar yield and soil and water losses. No significant difference was found between the cane and sugar yield and the water losses between the mulched and unmulched treatments. But a highly significant difference was found between soil losses; it was about 11 times higher for the unmulched plots. The amount of water consumed per ton of cane was estimated to be 286 tons. The losses of available phosphorus, ammonium and nitrate, were very small in the eroded soil and water run-off. The mulching was not effective in raising the soil organic matter.