Quantifying the Loss of Nutrients From the Immediate Area When Sugarcane Residues Are Burnt

摘要

Retention of crop residues, instead of burning them, may allow greater organic matter and nutrient retention. This would have implicatiosn for fertiliser requirements and water use. The recovery of nutrients (nitrogen, N; calcium,Ca; magnesium, Mg; phosphorus, P; potassium, K; and Sulphur, s) and dry matter (DM) from burnt trash were quantified in a series of seven field experiments, and by ignition of small samples of trash in a furnace (at 600 deg C and 900 deg C). The nutrient and DM recoveries after the fires rangedfrom 5-77