Pamper your soil with cakes

 

Pamper your soil with cakes

Soil that is low in organic content needs organic amendment along with the application of conventional nutrients. Manuring the soil with organic matter becomes extremely essential for maintaining soil fertility to ensure better plant productivity. Manure is organic matter that is obtained from the plant and animal waste that can be applied to the soil to maintain its fertility by improving the soil structure, building up the population of microorganisms in the soil, and slowly releasing the nutrients present in them. Organic manure can be broadly classified into two groups:

1. Bulky organic manure (Compost, FYM, Green manure, etc.)

2. Concentrate organic manure (Oilcakes, Bone meal, etc.)

Bulky organic manures contain a small percentage of nutrients and they are applied in large quantities to meet the requirement of plants. Bulky manure is best when they are produced and applied and used on the same farm as transportation of such bulky material is not an easy task. So, those farmers who don’t have the source of such bulky manure in their farm prefer to go for an alternative source of organic manure i.e. Concentrated organic manure.

Oil cakes are commonly used concentrated organic manure by farmers. Oil cakes are a good source of nitrogen and they are relatively faster in action as compared to bulky organic manure.

Oil cakes are broadly classified into two:

1.Edible oil cake (Mustard oil cake, Groundnut oil cake, Soyabean Oil cake, Sesame oilcake, etc.)

2.Non-Edible oil cake (Neem oil cake, Cator oil cake, Mahua oil cake, etc.)

Both edible oil cake and non-edible oil cake are used for manuring by the farmers. But edible oil cakes are used as feed for cattle and fishes while non-edible oil cakes are solely used for manuring. A well-powdered oil cake ensures even distribution and quicker decomposition and the nutrients present in them are made available to the plants after 5-7 days of application.

Manuring the soil with oil cakes are numerous benefits some are listed below:

1. Alkaloid present in the oil cake prevents the rapid conversion of nitrogen by slowing the process of nitrification and hence prevents leaching loss.

2. Oil cakes are a good source of N:P: K.

3. They also provide micronutrients required by the plants like Calcium, Magnesium, Sulphur, Iron, Zinc, Manganese, Copper, etc.

4. Applied oil cake will act as a food source for soil microorganisms and thus increasing their population.

5. They help in the solubilization of insoluble phosphate and other nutrients

6. They improve the soil properties like soil structure, cation exchange capacity, soil PH, water-holding capacity, aeration, etc.

7. Oil cakes like neem oil cakes, castor oil cakes are known to control termites and nematodes.

8. They improve the yield and quality of the products.

9. They are completely free from heavy metals and hence totally safe for use in home gardens or large agricultural fields.

10. And they will not cause any kind of pollution as they are biodegradable.

How to use:

1. They should be applied at the recommended dose depending on the crop at the time of the last plowing.

2. Neem oil cake and Castor oil cake should be applied after deep plowing to disrupt the habitat of soil pathogens that hibernates in the lower layer soil.

3. The oil cakes should be well powdered before application to ensure even distribution.

4. Mahua cakes are low in nitrogen and take a long time to nutrify and hence they should be applied two  three months before planting.