Effect of Application of Spentwash on Fertility Status of Soil

The waste management in the distilleries has always been a complex problem due to large volume of waste. This waste water produced by distilleries is generally discharged on land or running water. Distillery effluent contains high amount of organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, very high in biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) values. In addition to these nutrients, the effluent often contains substantial amounts of different organic, inorganic materials, growth parameters as well as toxic trace elements. Therefore, the effluent if utilized for crop production can prove to be a very good source of nutrients and reduce investment on fertilizer. Since the effluent contains fairly high salt load and toxic trace metals, along with high BOD and COD, the environmental implications due to its continuous use cannot be ruled out. An attempt has been made for one time controlled land application of treated bio-methanated spentwash as liquid manure for the crops based on their recommended dose of nitrogen.