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• Sewage sludge compost as an alternative source of phosphorus to rye in acidic sandy soil

  11-18

  Csilla Almási

  Viktória Orosz

  Tímea Tóth

  István Henzsel

  Ibolya Demeter

  Mostafa M. Mansour

  Marianna Makádi

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  47

  Today, the use of chemical fertilisers is significantly determined by their production and purchase costs, which are high. In contrast, phosphorus (P) is present in sewage sludge in a form that is easy for plants to absorb. Good quality sewage sludge compost (SSC) could contain a high quantity of P, together with other macro- and microelements and organic matter. The effect of regular SSC application on soil characteristics as well as plant parameters has been studied since 2003 in Nyíregyháza in a small plot experiment. Focusing on the P in the soil-plant system, our hypothesis was that SSC covers plants’ P demand through enhancing soil P content and its plant availability in the acidic sandy soil. The effect of the SSC was examined at the doses of 0, 9, 18, and 27 t ha^-1 on rye as a test crop. Some soil chemical parameters (pH, soil organic matter - SOM, ammonium lactate (AL) extractable P₂O₅), and the relationship between plant development (green weight, shoot length), physiological parameters (SPAD index), plant shoot P content, and soil available P content were studied. The obtained data indicated that the SOM content, pH, and available P content of the treated plots increased as a result of the long-term applied SSC compared to the control. Measurement of the relative chlorophyll content showed a strong correlation with the available P content of the soil, but surprisingly less correlation with shoot P content was found. The results of plant biomass and soil P content proved that SSC could be used as a low-cost and good source of P for plants.