Journal of Environment and Waste Management

Vol. 2(2), pp. 079-083, June, 2015. www.premierpublishers.org, ISSN: 1936-8798x

JEWM

Research Article

Phosphorus mineralization of bioslurry and other

manures in soil
M. Asadul Haque1*, M. Jahiruddin2, M. Mazibur Rahman3 and M. Abu Saleque4
1*

Department of Soil Science, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Patuakhali, Bangladesh.
Department of Soil Science, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh.
4
Coordinator for Advanced Studies and Research, Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Gazipur, Bangladesh.
2,3

The experiment was conducted to see the phosphorus (P) mineralization pattern of bioslurry
under aerobic and anaerobic soil conditions. Two bioslurry (cowdung bioslurry and poultry
manure bioslurry) and their original manure (cowdung and poultry manure) at 3, 5, 10 and 20 t
-1
ha , respectively were thoroughly mixed with soil and incubated in aerobic and anaerobic
moisture condition for 12 weeks. Among the four different types of manure, P release from
poultry manure slurry was the highest. Poultry manure and cowdung slurry recorded very
closer amount of available P. Both cowdung slurry and poultry manure slurry released higher
amount of P compared to their original state (cowdung and poultry manure). P mineralization
reaches in peak within 4-6 weeks of incubation. Under anaerobic condition the P mineralization
was found higher compared to aerobic condition. The P mineralization data fitted strongly to the
first order kinetic model. The bioslurries had lower rate of mineralization but had higher
potentiality to release P in the soil compared to their original state.
Key words: Bioslurry, cowdung, incubation, phosphorus mineralization, poultry manure

INTRODUCTION
Phosphorus (P) is the second important key plant nutrient
after nitrogen (N) which strongly affects the overall
growth of plants by influencing the key metabolic
processes such as cell division and development, energy
transport
(ATP,
ADP),
signal
transduction,
macromolecular biosynthesis, photosynthesis and
respiration of plants (Shenoy and Kalagudi, 2005; Khan
and Sharif, 2012, Khan et al., 2009, 2014). Phosphorus is
added to the soils as soluble P fertilizers, a part of which
(1 %) is utilized by plants and the rest is rapidly converted
into insoluble complexes (Mehta et al., 2014) by entering
into the immobile pools through precipitation reaction with
3+
3+
2+
highly reactive Al and Fe in acidic, and Ca in
calcareous soils (Khan et al., 2009). These metal ion
complexes precipitated about 80 % of added P fertilizer
hence, the recovery efficiency of P throughout the world
is not more than 20 % of applied P (Qureshi et al., 2012).
Considering the low recovery of applied and native P and

high cost of chemical phosphatic fertilizers besides

increasing concern of environmental degradation (Aziz et
al., 2006; Khan et al., 2014), it has become imperative to
find viable solutions to tackle the problem. In this regard,
two management options can be workout simultaneously
for efficient utilization of P fertilizers i.e. (i) to increase the
recovery and solubility of applied P fertilizers and (ii) to
replace the expensive chemical P fertilizers by novel,
cheaper, more ecological but nevertheless efficient P
sources, such as use of organic manures in our
agriculture inputs system.

*Corresponding Author: Dr. M. Asadul Haque,

Associate Professor, Department of Soil Science,
Patuakhali Science and Technology University,
Patuakhali, Bangladesh. Email: masadulh@yahoo.com
Tel.: 8801715066089

Phosphorus mineralization of bioslurry and other manures in soil

Haque et al.

079

Table 1. Chemical composition of different manures

Manure

C
(%)

N
(%)

P
(%)

K
(%)

S
(%)

C:N

C:P

C:K

C:S

Cowdung (CD)

38.6

1.70

0.88

2.02

0.41

22.8

43.8

19.1

95.3

CD slurry

29.3

1.84

1.30

0.93

0.42

16.0

22.6

31.6

69.4

Poultry manure (PM)

34.9

2.28

1.48

2.23

0.53

15.3

23.5

15.6

65.7

PM slurry

19.2

1.70

2.52

0.67

0.67

11.3

7.6

28.5

28.5

Unbalanced use of chemical fertilizers has an adverse

effect on soil. To achieve improved and sustainable soil
fertility and crop yield, judicial use of chemical fertilizers
coupled with organic manure is essential (FRG 2012).
Organic manure in Bangladesh includes cowdung,
poultry manure, compost and green manure.
Karim et al. (2010) reported that there are 22.9 million cattle
and 262.62 million poultry birds in Bangladesh which
-1
produce manure at 68700 and 10505 mt day , respectively
with effort of both GO and NGOs. Recently in this country,
biogas technology has been introduced to meet the energy
crisis. Cowdung and poultry manure are commonly used in
biogas plant. After extraction of biogas (50-70% CH4, 3040% CO2), bio-slurry comes out of the digester as an
anaerobically decomposed manure (Mosquera et al.,
2000).
Nutrient mineralization potential and decomposition
patterns of organic residues are variable depending on
the chemical composition (Mtambanengwe and
Kirchmann, 1995). During decomposition, organic
material changes in both its physical and chemical
structure. Easily decomposable part of soil organic matter
undergoes quick mineralization and becomes a part of
soil humus, a small portion of which may remain in soil
for thousands of years (Reddy et al., 2002).
There have some differences in the mineralization of
organic manure under aerobic and anaerobic conditions.
The most striking difference between anaerobic and
aerobic decompositions lies in the nature of end
products. In normal, well drained soils, the main end
products are CO2, water, nitrate, sulphate and resistant
humus; in submerged soils they are CO2, water, H2, CH4,
NH3, mercaptans, H2S and partially humified residues.
Despite recent literature provides valuable information on
many aspects of phosphorus (P) mineralization, the
interaction between the kind of organic manures and P
mineralization under aerobic and anaerobic conditions is
not well understood. The present paper comparatively
discusses the P mineralization pattern in the bio-slurry and
other manure amended soils under aerobic and anaerobic
conditions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The

incubation experiment was

conducted in the

laboratory of the Department of Soil Science, Bangladesh

Agricultural University (BAU), Mymensingh. Bangladesh
Agricultural University (BAU) located 24.75 N latitude
and 90.5 E longitude with an elevation of 18 m from the
sea level. The experimental location is characterized by
sub-tropical humid weather conditions. The mean annual
rainfall of the experimental area during 2011-2012 was
around 2500 mm and five months from May through
September receives more than 2000 mm rainfall. March
is the peak evaporation month, soil moisture stress
continues from December through April. The monthly 208
mm average rainfall, 20.1C minimum temperature,

29.5 C maximum temperature and 73.2% relative

humidity were recorded at BAU during study period. The
BAU soil belongs to Sonatala soil series an Inceptisol
(Brammer 1980; FAO 1988) under the AEZ 9 (Old
Brahmaputra Floodplain) and characterized by NonCalcareous Dark Grey Floodplain Soil.
Soils were collected from the BAU farm, Mymensingh at
0-15 cm depth of a field and were thoroughly mixed. The
soil sample was brought to the laboratory and spread on
brown paper for air-drying. The air-dry soils were ground
and passed through a 2-mm sieve to remove roots and
other debris. The soil was silt loam, with 1.14 % O.C., 6.5
-1
pH, 1.17 % N, 6.0 mg kg NaHCO3 extractable P, 0.12
-1
-1
cmol kg NH4OAc extractable K, and 14.0 mg kg CaCl2extractable S. The elements were determined by some
standard methods, as outlined by Page et al., (1982).
Four types of organic manure viz. cowdung, cowdung
slurry, poultry manure and poultry manure slurry were
used in this study. The manures were air-dried, ground
and passed through a 2-mm sieve. The chemical
composition of various manures is presented in Table 1.
An amount of 100g air-dry soil was weighed into a series
of small plastic containers. Air dry finely ground cowdung,
cowdung slurry, poultry manure and poultry manure
-1
slurry at 1.5, 2.5, 5.0 and 10.0 g kg (equivalent to 3, 5,
-1
10 and 20 t ha , respectively) were thoroughly mixed with
soil in separate containers. A control container (without
organic manure) was run along with each set of
incubation. Two moisture levels one field
capacity/aerobic (25% soil moisture) and another
submerged/anaerobic condition (1 cm standing water
above soil) were maintained. The containers were
incubated at room temperature (25 2C) for 12 weeks.

Phosphorus mineralization of bioslurry and other manures in soil

J. Environ. Waste Manag.

All the treatments were replicated twice.

Every week soil moisture contents were monitored. The
weight loss due to evaporation of moisture was
minimized by adding required amount of water and was
mixed with soil properly to maintain specific moisture
content (field capacity and saturated condition) of the soil.
Destructive sampling was done in this experiment. The
first sampling was done just the next day of incubation
and this analysis was used as initial content of the soil.
The second measurement was taken at 7 days after
incubation, thereafter at 7-day intervals and after 8 weeks
measurement was done at 2-week intervals. Available P
was extracted from soil by 0.5M NaHCO3 solution at pH
8.5 (Olsen and Sommers, 1982). The data were
corrected for moisture content and reported on oven dry
basis.
Net P mineralization data was fitted to the first-order
-kt
kinetic model. The equation for P was Pt = P0 (1-e ),
where Pt is the net phosphorus mineralized at time t, P0 is
the potentially mineralizable phosphorus and k is the rate
constant. The fits and kinetic parameters were carried out
using the Sigma Plot 12.0 software.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Phosphorus mineralization was varied by the types and
rates of manure, soil moisture content and incubation
time (Figure 1). Among the manures, P release from
poultry manure slurry was the highest. Poultry manure
and cowdung slurry recorded very closer amount of
available P. Among the four different types of manure,
cowdung recorded the lowest amount of available P
(Figure 1). Figure 1 further confirms that cowdung slurry
and poultry manure slurry released higher amount of P
compared to their original state (cowdung and poultry
manure).
-1

Comparing the effects of manure rates, the 3 t ha

recorded the lowest amount of P mineralization and it
progressively increased with increasing rates of manure
application and accordingly the highest P mineralization
was noted with the highest rate of manure application (20
-1
t ha ). There was a remarkable variation in P
mineralization between aerobic and anaerobic soil
conditions.
Under
anaerobic
condition
the
P
mineralization was found higher compared to aerobic
condition (Figure 1). The maximum P mineralization of
-1
-1
9.1, 11.9, 26.3 and 40.4 mg kg at 3, 5, 10 and 20 t ha
manure rates, respectively was recorded under aerobic
soil condition; these values in anaerobic condition were
-1
12.1, 18.4, 27.1 and 44.9 mg kg , respectively. Such
result reveals that anaerobic condition is favorable for P
mineralization than aerobic condition. The reason can be
attributed to the attainment of neutral soil pH during
submergence which condition favored P availability in
soils.

080

A distinct variation in P mineralization was observed

across the incubation times. Phosphorus mineralization
progressively increased with passage of time and
th
th
reached its peak within 4 to 6 week of incubation and
thereafter it gradually decreased until expiry of incubation
time (Figure 1). Naher et al. (2004) reported that the P
mineralization of fresh poultry manure, partially
decomposed cowdung and rice straw took place after 15
days of application and with the passing of time it
increased steadily. They found higher P mineralization in
the cowdung and poultry manure treated soils. Abbasi et
al. (2015) reported that integrated use of phosphate
solubilizing bacteria (PSB) and poultry manure (PM) with
rock
phosphate
(RP)
treatment
stimulated
P
1
mineralization by releasing a maximum of 25 mg P kg
that was maintained at high levels without any loss.
These results suggest that use of PSB and PM with
insoluble RP or with soluble P fertilizers (SPF) could be a
promising management strategy and viable technology to
utilize both PM or low-grade RP and SPF efficiently for
crop production and nutrient improvement in the cropping
systems.
The net P mineralization data were fitted to different
kinetic functions. The best fit was using a first-order
-kt
kinetic model Pmin= P0 (1-e ), being Pmin the phosphorus
mineralized from soil in a given time, P0 the potentially
mineralizable pool of P, k the mineralization rate
constant, and t the time. The parameter values and
coefficients of determination for the P mineralization
kinetics are presented in Table 2. The P mineralization
data fitted strongly in the first order kinetic model, the r
value being found from 0.7001 to 0.8117 across the
manure types and manure application rates. Across the
manure types and rates the P0 value (mineralization
potential) was always higher in anaerobic condition
compared to respective aerobic condition, which
indicates the higher scope of P mineralization under
anaerobic soil system. Among the manures, the highest
-1
of 10.65, 12.93, 20.92 and 39.23 mg kg P0 was
-1
recorded by poultry manure slurry at 3, 5, 10 and 20 t ha
rates, respectively under anaerobic condition. In this
moisture condition second, third and forth position was
ranked by poultry manure, cowdung slurry and cowdung,
respectively across the manure rates. Regarding aerobic
condition, considering P0 value poultry manure slurry
further ranked the first position in all the manure rates.
-1
Poultry manure ranked second position in 3 and 20 t ha
-1
rates, cowdung slurry being second in 5 and 10 t ha
rates. In most of the cases, slurry whether cowdung and
poultry manure had the higher mineralization potential
compared to their original state. The overall results
indicate that poultry manure source is able to supply
more P compared to cowdung source in relation to
mineralization potential values.
The mineralization rate constant (k value) of first order
kinetic model was found higher in cowdung source

Phosphorus mineralization of bioslurry and other manures in soil

Haque et al.

081

Aerobic condition

9
6
3
0
0
24
20
16
12
8
4
0

CD

CD sl

7
PM

8 10 12
PM sl

CD

CD sl

7
PM

8 10 12
PM sl

e. Manure 10 t/ha

0
56
48
40
32
24
16
8
0

c. Manure 5 t/ha

0
36
30
24
18
12
6
0

CD

CD sl

7
PM

8 10 12
PM sl

g. Manure 20 t/ha

Weeks

15

PM sl

Mineralization (mg/kg)

PM

Mineralization (mg/kg)

CD sl

8 10 12

Mineralization (mg/kg)

12

CD

a. Manure 3 t/ha

Mineralization (mg/kg)

Mineralization (mg/kg)

Mineralization (mg/kg)

Mineralization (mg/kg)

Mineralization (mg/kg)

15

Anaerobic condition

12

CD

CD sl

PM

PM sl

8 10 12

PM

PM sl

b. Manure 3 t/ha

9
6
3
0
0
24
20
16
12
8
4
0

CD

CD sl

CD

CD sl

7
PM

8 10 12
PM sl

f. Manure 10 t/ha

0
56
48
40
32
24
16
8
0

d. Manure 5 t/ha

0
36
30
24
18
12
6
0

CD

CD sl

7
PM

8 10 12
PM sl

h. Manure 20 t/ha

8 10 12

Weeks

Figure 1. Trend of net P mineralization from manures under aerobic and anaerobic conditions
CD- Cowdung, CD sl- Cowdung slurry, PM-Poultry manure, PM sl-Poultry manure slurry

compared to poultry manure source across the soil

moisture conditions (Table 2). It indicates that cowdung
source mineralize faster and require less time to
mineralization than the poultry manure source. When
slurries and their original state were considered it found

that maximum cases slurries had the lower k value than

their original state. The results clearly indicate that
slurries had lower rate of mineralization but had
potentiality to supply higher P to the soil compared to
their original state.

Phosphorus mineralization of bioslurry and other manures in soil

J. Environ. Waste Manag.

082

Table 2. Parameter values and coefficients of determination for the P mineralization kinetics of different manures

Rates
of
manure
-1
3 t ha

5 t ha

-1

-1

10 t ha

-1

20 t ha

Types of manure

Aerobic condition

Cowdung
Cowdung slurry
Poultry manure
Poultry manure slurry
Cowdung
Cowdung slurry
Poultry manure
Poultry manure slurry
Cowdung
Cowdung slurry
Poultry manure
Poultry manure slurry
Cowdung
Cowdung slurry
Poultry manure
Poultry manure slurry

P0
2.749
2.439
3.949
6.995
4.482
4.748
4.059
9.274
8.774
10.71
8.749
18.79
16.08
22.54
25.48
32.43

k
0.1350
0.1281
0.1173
0.0991
0.2027
0.1401
0.1777
0.1097
0.2135
0.1504
0.1925
0.2047
0.1782
0.1753
0.1303
0.1350

Anaerobic condition
r adj*
0.7001
0.7015
0.7647
0.8117
0.7690
0.7675
0.7672
0.7370
0.7624
0.7293
0.7581
0.7671
0.7379
0.7632
0.7972
0.7516

F
10.6(P<0.0098)
4.73(P<0.0577)
8.20(P<0.0187)
20.3(P<0.0015)
10.1(P<0.0113)
9.40(P<0.0134)
9.26(P<0.0139)
12.9(P<0.0058)
7.40(P<0.0236)
7.56(P<0.0225)
6.11(P<0.0355)
4.35(P<0.0667)
3.61(P<0.090)
7.66(P<0.0218)
18.4(P<0.0020)
15.7(P<0.0033)

P0
4.768
5.724
7.363
10.65
5.843
10.19
8.126
12.93
8.765
10.29
14.13
20.92
17.41
18.66
22.59
39.23

k
0.2058
0.1497
0.1201
0.1174
0.2877
0.1468
0.1879
0.1124
0.3642
0.1446
0.1816
0.1035
0.2374
0.1443
0.1232
0.1056

r adj*
0.7628
0.7673
0.7687
0.7982
0.7686
0.7684
0.7423
0.7692
0.7649
0.7520
0.7930
0.7583
0.7475
0.7631
0.7721
0.7292

F
7.51(P<0.0228)
4.40(P<0.0653)
9.98(P<0.0116)
18.6(P<0.002)
3.06(P<0.1143)
10.0(P<0.0115)
13.3(P<0.0054)
4.88(P<0.0544)
3.85(P<0.0814)
14.0(P<0.0046)
17.9(P<0.0022)
6.08(P<0.0358)
2.35(P<0.1593)
7.64(P<0.0220)
15.8(P<0.0033)
12.4(P<0.0066)

Here, P0 - potentially mineralizable pool of P, k -mineralization constant rate, r-correlation coefficient F- F value of ANOVA table, P-probability level
*r value: 0.0 to 0.2- very weakly fit, 0.2 to 0.4- weakly fit, 0.4 to 0.7 -moderately fit, 0.7 to 0.9 - strongly fit, 0.9 to 1.0 - very strongly fit

CONCLUSION
Poultry manure source was found as a better source of P
for plant in soil. Both poultry manure slurry and cowdung
slurry have ability to supply P steadily, thus plant may
uptake it for long time compared to their original state
(poultry manure and cowdung).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work was supported by the World Bank funded
Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project
(HEQEP). The first author specially acknowledges the
World Bank funded HEQEP for giving PhD fellowship.

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Accepted 24 July, 2015.
Citation: Haque MA, Jahiruddin M, Rahman MM,
Saleque MA (2015). Phosphorus mineralization of
bioslurry and other manures in soil. Journal of
Environment and Waste Management 2(2): 079-083.

Copyright: 2015 Haque et al. This is an open-access

article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original author and source are cited.

Phosphorus mineralization of bioslurry and other manures in soil