Effect of Coal Fly Ash on Agricultural Crops: Showcase Project on Use of Fly Ash in Agriculture in and around Thermal Power Station Areas of National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd., India

摘要

NTPC is the largest thermal power generating company in the country and has a coal based installed capacity of 25,375 MW with the production of 46 MT of ash . Fly ash accumulation is more and storage creates problem in the power producing units using coal as fuel. Use of coal fly ash in agriculture is one way of disposal of fly ash and at the same time it improves the yields of variety of agricultural crops and physico-chemical properties of soils. With this background NTPC and Annamalai University undertaken showcase project on use of coal ash in agriculture to create awareness among the farmers on utilization. We have conducted more than 100 field trials in and around NTPC- Simhadri, Dadri, Talcher Thermal and Vindhyachal. 50 MT of fly ash /ha applied in soil in the treated plot and maintained control plot (with out fly ash) separately side by side. Except fly ash application all other operations were common for treated and control plots. Results of the trials revealed that the application of coal ash increased the yields of cereal crops to 15-20%; sugarcane to 20-30%; maize to 40%; red gram to 50%; potato to 25%; plantation crops to 30%; mustard to 30% and vegetables to 10%. Besides increasing the yields of crops it also improved nutrient uptake in crops and physical properties of soils especially water holding capacity and fertility status of soil. Farmers are convinced about the use fly ash in agriculture and interested to apply in more areas in the coming years.