Back Q. Zhao
Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, Peoples Republic of China
Full Paper (PDF File: 100KB)
Abstract
Peanut is one of the most important oil crops in the Red Soil Region of China. However, yields are relatively low, averaging only about 1500 kg/ha. A three-year study was conducted to evaluate the effect of EM, a microbial inoculant obtained from Japan, on soil nutrient transformations, changes in the types and numbers of soil microorganisms, germination percentage, and yield of peanut. Two treatments were applied: a) organic manure (OM) and b) organic manure and EM (OM+EM). Application of EM significantly increased the soil content of available nutrients, organic matter, and total N; and lowered the C:N ratio. Soil microbial populations were 1.5 times higher in the OM+EM treatment than for OM alone. The numbers of bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes and N-fixing microorganisms were higher for the OM+EM treatment compared with OM alone.
The application of EM increased peanut germination by 2 to 3 percent and peanut yield by 6.6 to 10.1 percent over the control treatment (OM). EM also significantly increased the total biomass yield and the 100-grain peanut test weight over the control. EM appeared to enhance the resistance of peanut plants to various environmental stresses that commonly occur in the Red Soil Region of China.