• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.85-94
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• 2007

To determine the influence of food waste compost (FWC) application on paddy soil, FWC was applied to the paddy soil and then compared with farmer's practice as to the effects on rice and soil environment. Initially, pig manure compost (PMC) had high content of phosphorus ($15g\;kg^{-1}$) and potassium ($23g\;kg^{-1}$), while FWC had high content of total nitrogen ($13g\;kg^{-1}$) and salinity ($18.5g\;kg^{-1}$). Comparison was also made between chemical fertilizer and FWC use as a trial in the paddy field under the clay loam and sandy loam soil. In the panicle formation stage, chemical fertilizer application was proper in clay loam while PMC application was proper in sandy loam. However, chemical fertilizer produced higher yield compared to compost treatment, both on clay loam and sandy loam with 20~25% and 17~19%, respectively. The lower yield in sandy loam maybe due to slow mineralization of compost such that the crop did not effectively use it. Organic matter content in paddy soil after experiment was higher in FWC and PMC plots compared to that in chemical fertilizer plots. But the other soil properties were comparable. Therefore, the FWC compost had little effect on soil when it use as a trial in paddy field. Likewise, after the application of FWC as a trial, analysis of nitrate nitrogen and ammonium nitrogen in the surface water and 60 cm depth of paddy soil water nine days after planting was done. Results revealed that concentration of ammonium nitrogen was similar to irrigation water while nitrate nitrogen concentration was not detected, and hence did not contribute to water pollution. It is concluded that the application of FWC in the paddy field had not affected on environmental pollution in the paddy field. But its use as compost during rice culture reduced yield quantity. Such study should include selection of compost material, amount and method of compost application.