Efficacy of pulping waste and distillery slop as potassium fertilizer for baby corn planted in Ubon soil series

In order to evaluate the use of pulping wastewater from sa paper (paper mulberry, Broussonetia papyrifera L.) production using potassium hydroxide in the production process, and distillery slop from alcohol production as the potassium (K) sources for baby cor planted in Ubon soil series, this study was divided into 2 experiments. The first experiment was performed in laboratory. The experimental results showed that the pulping wastewater was strongly alkaline, high in electrical conductivity as much as 19.50 dS/m, high in K content as much as 7,400 mg/l but low in other plant nutrient contents. The distillery slop was very strongly acid, high in electrical conductivity as much as 72.50 dS/m, high in K content as much as 16,300 mg/l and considerably high in other plant nutrient. Ubon soil series was very strongly acid, low in exchangeable K and organic matter and low in cation exchange capacity. The application of both wastes to Ubon soil increased available K in the soil. Release of K from the distillery slop in Ubon soil was more or less the same rate as that from the KCl but it was considerably faster than that from the pulping wastewater. As much as 60-95 percent of K was released from both waste at the second week of incubation. The second experiment was the pot trial in order to study the possibility of using the pulping wastewater and the distillery slop as K source for baby corn planted in Ubon soil series. In pot experiment, those baby corns grown in both wastes or the KCl treatments showed their yield and growth performance significantly better than those grown in the control one. The pulping wastewater and distillery slop increased growth, yield and uptake of K of baby corn more or less the same as KCl. The application of both wastes did not affect the soil pH and electrical conductivity. The result of this study indicates that the pulping wasewater and the distillery slop can be use as the potassium source for baby corn planted in Ubon soil series.