1Post Doctoral Fellow, Centre of Excellence in Sustaining Soil Health, Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research Institute, Trichirappali, Tamil Nadu-620 027
2Professor and Head, Department of Sustainable Organic Agriculture, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu-641 003
3Principal Scientist, ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research, Modipuram, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh-250 110
Centre of Excellence in Sustaining Soil Health, Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research Institute, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu-620 027
*Corresponding author's Email: dhaya.jeni@gmail.com
Online Published on 29 January, 2022.
The study was conducted during 2019 at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University to identify the functional groups, nutrient and proximate composition of residues such as groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) shell, coir (Cocos nucifera L.) pith and rice (Oryza sativa L.) husk. Proximate analysis of the residues showed that, moisture, ash content, cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin were in the range of 2.11–12.6, 6.1–17.3, 24.6–32.5, 13.1–21.4, and 15.6–30.2% respectively. Furthermore, nutrients including N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, Fe, Zn and Cu were also analysed in all residues. The functional group analysis revealed the presence of significantly different hydroxyl and carbonyl groups. The results showed that, cation-exchange reactions, water-retention capacity and other properties were attributed to the functional groups present in the crop-residual composition. Hence these residues turn out to be an environmental friendly and relatively simple to use in agriculture.
Crop residues, Nutrients, FTIR, Functional Groups, Organic Agriculture
