沙漠研究 19-1, 273- 276 (2009 )Journal of Arid Land Studies“Desert Technology IX ”
Refereed Paper

Effects of Shearing Force in Surface Runoff on Nutrient Losses
from Chemical and Organic Fertilizers
Lalita SIRIWATTANANON1, Machito MIHARA2, Takahiko NAKAMURA2, Fumio WATANABE2,Satoru TAKAHASHI2, Masaharu KOMAMURA2
Abstract: Organic fertilizer, especially compost, is apt to be focused as it contributes to reduce
the expense of chemical fertilizer and may harmonize with natural environment. So, thisstudy dealt with the nutrient losses from chemical and organic fertilizers under various
simulated shearing forces from 0 to 0.25 dPa and the difference in plant growth amongchemical fertilizer, conventional compost and granular compost applications.
For
demonstrating shearing forces caused by surface runoff, water resistance experiment wasconducted employing a rotating machine. The experimental results showed the losses of total
nitrogen, total phosphorus and suspended solids from granular compost of 2.5, 5, 10 and 15 mm
in diameter were significantly lower than that from chemical fertilizer or conventional compost
at 95% confidence interval. Furthermore, plant length and live weight of Komatsuna from thepots applied granular compost of 5, 10 and 15 mm in diameter showed no significant difference
from the pots applied chemical fertilizer or conventional compost.
Keywords: Fertilizers, Granular compost, Nutrient loss, Shearing force, Surface runoff

1. Introduction
Increasing amounts of agricultural chemicals applied in agricultural land cause the severe
environmental problems, such as eutrophication in water systems or land degradation (Carpenter et al.,1998). Recently, organic fertilizer, especially compost, is apt to be focused as it contributes to reduce theexpense of chemical fertilizer and may harmonize with natural environment. However, nutrient
components from compost happen to be washed off by rainfall or irrigated water (Gaudreau et al., 2002).
Accordingly, attention has been paid to granular compost as an alternative organic fertilizer for decreasing
nutrient losses (Siriwattananon and Mihara, 2008).
Hara (2001) reported the benefits of forming cattle manure into granular form from viewpoints of soil
chemical properties and plant growth. Additionally, George et al. (1964) reported that the physicalproperties of fertilizer have been recognized to be particle size, shape and density. Allaire et al. (2004)
suggested that granular size distribution is one of the most important physical properties, which controls
segregation during storage, blending and spreading. Furthermore, the particle strength is important inrelation to quality requirements that fertilizers have to meet (Hofstee and Huisman, 1990).
Recently, little work has been done in order to evaluate the effects of granular compost on reducing
nutrient losses comparing with that of chemical fertilizer or conventional compost. So, the objectives ofthis study are to observe nutrient losses from chemical and organic fertilizers under various shearing forces
and to discuss the difference in plant growth among chemical fertilizer, conventional compost and granular
compost applications.
2. Materials and Methods
Mincing machine of the extrude type (Figure 1) was employed for making granular compost. It
contains fermented plant residues, clayey soil and molasses at the ratio of 10:1:0.01. The mixing ratio
was referred to the former study of Mihara et al. (2005). The length and diameter of granular compost
can be changed up to strainer size in plate of mincing machine.
Based on the former study (Mihara et al., 2005) concerning suitable percentage of molasses added(0.1%), 4 sizes of granular compost were produced as 2.5, 5, 10 and 15 mm in diameter. These various
sizes of granular compost were compared with chemical fertilizer shaped granularly or conventional
1

Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, 1-1-1 Sakuragaoka, Setagaya-ku 156-8502
Tokyo, Japan, E-mail: L_siriwattananon@yahoo.com, Fax: 03-5477-2620
2Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, 1-1-1 Sakuragaoka, Setagaya-ku
156-8502 Tokyo, Japan274

compost of less than 2 mm in diameter without any clod in water resistance experiment and plant growthexperiment.
For demonstrating shearing forces caused by surface runoff, water resistance experiment was conductedemploying a rotating machine (Figure 2). The rotating speed was set up from 0 to 600 rpm, those wereequivalent to 0 to 0.25 dPa in shearing force, and the experiment at each speed was run for 2 hrs.
Also, Komatsuna (Brassica rapa var. perviridis) was cultivated (Figure 3) for evaluating thedifference in plant growth among chemical fertilizer, conventional compost and granular compostapplications. All types of fertilizers were spread uniformly on soil surface in every pot at the same rate of
10.0 gN/m2. The plant growth experiment was repeated 3 times in the glass house kept constanttemperature at 25 ± 1 degree Celsius. During the cultivation, same amount of irrigation water in the range
from 1.0 mm/day to 7.0 mm/day was supplied to each pot. After 1.5 months growing, the length and live
weight of all plants in each pot were observed.

Fig. 1. Mincing machine with 4 sizes of plate.

(CN)
Not addingfertilizer(CF)
Chemicalfertilizer∅ 2.5 mm
(CM)
(GC 2.5 mm)Conventional Granular
compostcompostFig. 2. Water resistance experimentwith rotating machine.

∅ 10 mm∅ 5 mm(GC 5 mm) (GC 10 mm)
GranularGranularcompostcompost∅ 15 mm(GC 15 mm)
GranularcompostFig. 3. Plant growth experiment under various fertilizers.

3. Results and Discussion
The results of total nitrogen, total phosphorus and suspended solid losses under shearing forces at 0,0.06, 0.12 and 0.24 dPa were shown in Figure 4. The experimental results showed the losses of total
nitrogen, total phosphorus and suspended solids from granular compost of 2.5, 5, 10 and 15 mm indiameter were significantly lower than that from chemical fertilizer and conventional compost at 95%
confidence interval. Among various sizes of granular compost, although there was no significant
difference in total nitrogen and suspended solid losses, total phosphorus loss from granular compost of 2.5

275

Total phosphorus loss (Pmg/Pg)

Total nitrogen loss (Nmg/Ng)

1000
800
600
400
200000.05

0.10.150.2600
500
400
300
200
100000.25

0.050.10.150.20.25

Shearing force (dPa)Shearing force (dPa)
1816CFSS (mg/g)

1412CM

10GC 2.5 mm

8GC 5 mm

6GC 10 mm

4GC 15 mm

2000.05

0.1

0.15

0.20.25

Shearing force (dPa)

Fig. 4. Changes in total nitrogen, total phosphorus and suspended solid losses with shearing forces.
AAB

AAA

B

159Live weight (g)Plant length (cm)2010506aaaaabb30CN

CFCMGC 2.5mm

GC 5mm

GC 10mm

GC 15mm

Pots
Plots*The data followed by different letters differs significantly

CNCFCM

GC 2.5mm

GC 5mm

GC 10mm

GC 15mm

Plots
Pots*The data followed by different letters differs significantly

at 95% confidence interval based on ONE-WAY ANOVA.

at 95% confidence interval based on ONE-WAY ANOVA.

Fig. 5. Plant length in plant growth experiment.

Fig. 6. Live weight in plant growth experiment.

mm was significantly higher than other sizes of granular compost at 95% confidence interval.
Furthermore, Komatsuna was cultivated for evaluating plant growth in the pots applied granular
compost of different 4 sizes, chemical fertilizer and conventional compost in plant growth experiment.
After 1.5 months growing, the length and live weight of all plants in each pot were observed. As shownin Figures 5 and 6, plant length and live weight from pots applied granular compost of 5, 10 and 15 mm indiameter had no significant difference with that from pots applied chemical fertilizer or conventional
compost at 95% confidence interval based on one-way ANOVA analysis. Additionally, the results ofplant growth experiment showed that plant growth of pot applied 2.5 mm granular compost was lower than276

that applied bigger sizes. Granular compost of 2.5 mm tended to be dried easier compared with othergranular compost of bigger sizes as the surface area of 2.5 mm granular compost was remarkably larger
than that of bigger sizes. So, it was considered that microorganism activity for decomposing granular
compost of 2.5 mm was restrained.
4. Conclusions
The study dealt with the effects of shearing force on nutrient losses from chemical fertilizer,
conventional compost and granular compost. For demonstrating shearing forces caused by surface runoff,water resistance experiment was conducted employing a rotating machine. Also, plant growth wasevaluated under various fertilizations.
The results showed the losses of total nitrogen, total phosphorus and suspended solids from granular
compost of 2.5, 5, 10 and 15 mm in diameter were significantly lower than that from chemical fertilizer
and conventional compost at 95% confidence interval. However in granular compost, total phosphorus
loss from granular compost of 2.5 mm was significantly higher than that from other sizes of granularcompost. Furthermore, plant length and live weight of Komatsuna from pots applied granular compost of5, 10 and 15 mm in diameter had no significant difference from pots applied chemical fertilizer orconventional compost.
So, it was concluded that granular compost, which diameter is bigger than 5 mm, worked better for
reducing surplus losses with shearing forces and for making plants grow effectively as well as chemicalfertilizer or conventional compost.
References
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