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IMPACT OF CMS ON SOIL ACIDITY AND ALUMINIUM TOXICITY IN THE SUGARCANE INDUSTRY

Acid soils are a common phenomenon in the South African eastern regions, and topsoil and subsoil acidity are a serious concern in most regions of KwaZulu-Natal. Low soil pH restricts plant growth and in most cases it mobilises toxic metals, particularly aluminum (Al), which restricts plant growth. Condensed Molasses Stillage (CMS) is used in the SA sugar industry as a K fertiliser. However, farmers are concerned that the low pH of CMS (4.5) will acidify soils even further. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of CMS on the chemical properties (pH, exchangeable acidity and exchangeable Al) of acid soils. A column experiment was laid out in a 2-way factorial design (three soils and five treatments) replicated five times. The treatments were control (no applications), inorganic fertiliser (5:1:5 (46)), CMS applied at 3 and 5 t/ha and CMS fortified with N and applied at 3 t/ha. Treatments were applied three times at an average interval of 11 weeks. The magnitude of pH, exchangeable acidity and exchangeable Al changes as affected by the amount, rate and frequency of the applied treatments were recorded. All the treatments mentioned above seemed to increase the pH of soils and maintained the higher pH for the duration of the trial (33 weeks). The reduction of exchangeable Al in acid soils by the selected treatments was in accordance with the increase in soil pH by the treatments. The addition of nutrients from CMS and inorganic fertiliser was also shown to improve the fertility of the soil, in particular the N, P and K status of the soils.