Effects of Municipal Solid Waste Compost and Chemical Fertilizers on Quality and Quantity of Sugar Beet Yield and Concentration of Some Nutrients in Soil

In recent years, application of municipal solid waste compost (MSW) on the farm land has received considerable attention. This research was conducted to evaluate the influences of municipal solidwaste compost (MSW) and chemical fertilizers on some nutrients concentration in soiland sugar beet yield. This field research was conducted with MSW at four levels (0, 10, 20 and 30 t ha-1) and chemical fertilizers at four levels (0, farmers’ conventional practice, based on soil test, and 25% lower than the soil test), using a factorial experiment based on a randomized complete blocks design with three replications, in Kermanshah region during 2014-15. Before cultivation, soil samples were taken and their characteristics were determined.  At post-harvest stage, root yield and nutrients concentration (N, P, K, Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu) and soil O.C, N, P, K, Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, Pb and Cd were measured.The results showed that between effects of different amounts of MSW and chemical fertilizers on root yield and qualitative characteristics of sugar beet (sugar content, extractable sugar, sodium, potassium, nitrogen content) and their interaction effect on root yield and sugar content was significant at 1% (P<0.01). The highest root yield (52.8 t ha-1) was obtained with the application of 10 t ha-1 MSW and chemical fertilizer application based on soil test, which increased 17.2 t ha-1 compared to the control treatment. Also, differences between effects of various amounts of MSW and chemical fertilizers on most of the nutrients concentrations in soil were significant (P<0.01) and their interaction effects on the organic carbon content, concentration of Zn, Fe and Cu were significant at P< 5%. The highest concentration of Zn, Fe, and Cu were observed with the application of 30 t MSW ha-1 and chemical fertilizer application based on farmers’ conventional practice, and their differences compared to the control treatment were 0.29%, 1.67, 2.7 and 0.7 mg kg-1, respectively. According to the results of this study in terms of yield, sugar content, and impurities, the combined application of 10 t ha-1 MSW and chemical fertilizer based on soil test is recommended.