• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.397-405
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• 2022

Castor oil cake is widely used as a raw material for organic fertilizers (OF) in Korea. Compared to other fertilizer raw materials, it is highly dependent on imports. In terms of replacing raw materials, dehydrated food waste powder (FDP) and castor oil cake have similar nutritional content, and if 30% is replaced, about 20% of the raw material cost can be saved. However, few studies on the effects on crop growth and soil properties when organic fertilizer and dry food waste powder are mixed and applied to the soil have been reported. The effects of an organic fertilizer made by mixing the commercial available organic fertilizer with dehydrated food waste (OF + FDP) on soil properties and the growth of two types of leafy vegetables (lettuce and young radish) were evaluated and compared with the performance of OF. The fresh weights of lettuce and young radish were the highest with OF amendment and stood at 114.3 and 119.0 g·plant^-1, respectively. These were followed by OF + FDP amendment, which produced 103.1 and 109.6 g·plant^-1, respectively. Compared to the control, OF and OF + FDP increased the lettuce fresh weights by about 69% and 52%, respectively, while the fresh weights of the radish were increased by about 223% and 207%, respectively. The soil pH, EC, total carbon content, and organic matter content in OF and OF + FDP increased. The mixture of dehydrated food waste powder and organic fertilizers is expected to improve soil quality and facilitate stable production of crops and contribute to the substitution of imported organic fertilizer raw materials.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.967-976
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• 2023

Biochar is emerging as a promising substance for achieving carbon neutrality and climate change mitigation. It can absorb several nutrients via ion bonding on its surface functional groups, resulting in slow dissociation of the bonds. Biochar, like organic fertilizers, contributes to sustainable nutrient management. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of nutrient-coated biochar amendments on leafy vegetables production and soil fertility. The nutrient-coated biochar was produced by soaking rice husk biochar in a nutrient solution containing nitrogen (N), phosphorus, and potassium for 24 hours. Nutrient-coated biochar and organic fertilizers were applied to soil at a rate of 120 kg·N·ha^-1. The growth components of the leafy vegetables showed that nutrient-coated biochar led to the highest fresh weight (FW) of both lettuce and kale (i.e., 146.67 and 93.54 g·plant^-1 FW, respectively). As a result, nutrient-coated biochar amendments led to superior yield compared to the control treatment and organic fertilization. The elemental composition of leafy vegetables revealed that soil amended with nutrient-coated biochar resulted in higher nutrient contents, which was attributed to the high nutrient contents supplied by the rice husk biochar. Soil amendment with nutrient-coated biochar positively enhanced the soil fertility compared to amendment with organic fertilizer. Therefore, nutrient-coated biochar is a promising substance for enhancing agronomic performance of leafy vegetables and improving soil fertility.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.596-606
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• 2021

Soil-borne diseases are the major problems in mono cropping. A mixture (designated LTM-m) composed of agricultural wastes and a beneficial microorganism Streptomyces saraceticus SS31 was used as soil amendments to evaluate its efficacy for managing Rhizoctonia solani and root knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita). In vitro antagonistic assays revealed that SS31 spore suspensions and culture broths effectively suppressed the growth of R. solani, reduced nematode egg hatching, and increased juvenile mortality. Assays using two Petri dishes revealed that LTM-m produced volatile compounds to inhibit the growth of R. solani and cause mortality to the root knot nematode eggs and juveniles. Pot and greenhouse tests showed that application of 0.08% LTM-m could achieve a great reduction of both diseases and significantly increase plant fresh weight. Greenhouse trials revealed that application of LTM-m could change soil properties, including soil pH value, electric conductivity, and soil organic matter. Our results indicate that application of LTM-m bio-organic amendments could effectively manage soil-borne pathogens.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 1996.06c
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• pp.701-710
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• 1996

Composting has gained rapid acceptance as a method of recyling relatively dry organic materials such as leaves and brush and , when alternative disposal costs are high, even moist materials such as grass clippings and dewatered sewage sludges. However, as moisture contents rise above 60% , the need for a dry bulking amendment increase the costs of composting , both by direct purchases of amendment and though increased reactor capacity and materials handling requirements. High moisture materials also present increased risks of anaerobic odor formation through reduced oxygen transport (Miller , 1991) . These costs and operational challengers often constrain the opportunities to compost high moisture materials such as agricultural manures. During the last several decades economies of scale in livestock production have been increasing livestock densities and creating manure management challenges throughout the world. This issue is particularly pressing in Korea, where livestock arms typically manage little or no cropland, and the nutrients and boichemical oxygen demand in manure pose a serious threat to water quality. Composting has recently become popular as a means of recycling manure into products for sale off the farm, but bulking amendments (usually sawdust) are expensive designed to minimize bulking agent requirements by using the energy liberated by decompostion. In this context the composting reactor is used as a biological dryer, allowing the repeated use of bulking amendment with several batches of manure.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.197-203
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• 2018

Biochar is the carbon solid produced through the pyrolysis of a biomass from organic sources such as agricultural waste, animal manure, and sludge under limited or anaerobic conditions. Biochar has the effect of reducing greenhouse gases through the carbon sequestration method; additionally, biochar is known to function as a soil amendment. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the application of biochar on the growth characteristics of Chinese cabbage at Chungnam National University in Daejeon, Korea. The Chinese cabbage was grown for 50 days in a glasshouse in pots. A pruning branch was used to produce the bead and pellet forms of biochar through pyrolysis. The biochar was added to the soil at 0, 2, and 5% by weight. The Chinese cabbage with the 2% treatment of the bead form of biochar had the highest fresh weight ($149.43{\pm}15.92g\;plant^{-1}$) which was increased by 10% compared to the control ($136.91{\pm}31.46g\;plant^{-1}$). Moreover, for the 5% treatment of the bead form of biochar ($60.91{\pm}9.82g\;plant^{-1}$), the growth decreased by 57% compared to the control. As the content of the bead form of biochar increased, the shoot dry weight, leaf number, leaf length and lead width that appeared decreased. An increase in the total organic matter, Avail. $P_2O_5$, Ex. cation and EC was observed when the biochar content was increased. Our results support the application of 2% biochar in the bead form for increased growth of Chinese cabbage.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.354-361
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• 2010

Soil physico-chemical properties and microbial densities are affected by organic sources and soil amendment applied to improve soil environments or quality. Generally organic fertilizer effects on forage crops yield and soil properties are partly due to changes of soil composition. We investigated the effects of swine slurry (SS), swine slurry composting-biofilteration(SCB) and chemical fertilizer(F) with gypsum(G) combinations on soil physico-chemical properties and yields of summer forage crop in the Sukmoon reclaimed tidal land in Korea. The forage crops used in this experiment were corn and sorghum$\times$sudangrass hybrid(hereafter sorghum). Our results showed that the soil physico-chemical properties in the combined (F+G, SS+G, SCB+G) treatments increased contents of organic matter and exchangeable $Ca^{2+}$, but exchangeable $Na^+$, $K^+$ and $Mg^{2+}$ reduced to 1-10% for two forage crops, compared to non-combined (F, SS, SCB) treatment. The density of soil microorganism such as bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi, increased significantly by SS+G and SCB+G treatments. This means that treatment of combined organic fertilizer with G lowered salinity levels and improved with microbial growth. The combined treatments also increased the total yields 2.3-6.2% for corn and 2.0-8.7% for sorghum, compared with non-combined treatment. This experiment suggests the combined treatments could increase the total yields of summer forage crops and change of soil physico-chemical properties in the Sukmoon reclaimed tidal land in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.340-344
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• 2014

Compost and gypsum can be used to ameliorate soil physicochemical properties in reclaimed tidal lands as an organic and inorganic amendment, respectively. To evaluate effects of compost and gypsum on soil water movement and retention as a soil physical property, we measured the soil's saturated hydraulic conductivity and field capacity after treating the soil collected in a reclaimed tidal land with compost and gypsum. Saturated hydraulic conductivity of soil increased when compost was applied at the conventional application rate of $30Mg\;ha^{-1}$. However, the further application of compost insignificantly (P > 0.05) increased saturated hydraulic conductivity. On the other hand, additional gypsum application significantly increased soil saturated hydraulic conductivity while it decreased soil field capacity, implying the possible effect of gypsum on flocculating soil colloidal particles. The results in this study suggested that compost and gypsum can be used to improve hydrological properties of reclaimed tidal lands through increasing soil water retention and movement, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.648-657
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• 2015

Soil organic matter (SOM) plays an important role in the continuous production and environmental conservation in arable soils. In particular, the decomposition of organic matter in soil might promote soil organic matter and fertility due to the mineralization of N. In this study, to evaluate the effect of organic matter amendment on the C mineralization and N dynamic, $CO_2-C$ flux, extractable N and $N_2O$ emission were determined using closed chamber for 4 weeks at 10, 15, $20^{\circ}C$ of incubation temperature after the mixture of $2Mgha^{-1}$ rice straw compost and rye in sandy loam and clay loam. Regardless of soil texture, decomposition rates of rice straw compost and rye at $10{\sim}20^{\circ}C$ of incubation temperature ranged from 0.9 to 3.8% and 8.8 to 20.3%, respectively. Rye application in soil increased $NH_4-N$ and $NO_3-N$ content as well as the $N_2O$ emission compared to the rice straw compost. After incubation for 4 weeks, total C content in two soils was higher in rice straw compost than in rye application. In conclusion, application of rice straw compost and rye to soil was able to improve the soil organic matter and fertility. However, organic matter including the recalcitrant compounds like rice straw compost would be effective on the management of soil organic matter and the reduction of greenhouse gases in soil.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.75-86
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• 2017

IPCC Guidelines have been updated after the first official announcement to get more precise estimation of GHG emissions. The goal of this study is to evaluate the implications of the IPCC Guidelines improvements including equations of country-specific parameter values for estimating GHG emissions for rice cultivation on the agricultural sector. In addition, we analyze the effects of emission factors associated with organic amendment applications. The results of this study are as follows; (1) the total GHG emissions of rice cultivation based on 1996 IPCC GL are 28% lower than those estimated by 2006 IPCC GL with the same year data; (2) GHGs can be reduced up to 60% through the assumption of organic fertilizer applications; (3) Jeonnam and Chungnam are the worst regions for GHG emissions on rice cultivation and Chungbuk shows the highest reduction rate of GHG emissions, about 40%.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.177-181
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• 2015

Food waste has been widely considered as a recycling resource to be applied to agricultural lands due to the effects of organic matter and nutrient for plant productivity. but the maturity and salt concentration in the compost produced from food waste processing facilities should be considered firstly, which was little information on compost quality produced from food waste treatment facility. In this study, we examined actual situation of food waste processing facility on the composting of food waste and evaluated the characteristics of composts produced from food waste processing facilities. The quality of composts was analyzed on the basis of the criteria of fertilizer processing manual. The 46% of food waste treatment facility registered composting produced actually the compost mixed with food waste or animal waste. The compost maturity and salt concentration as indicators of the quality of compost were not met 46.8% of composts collected from food waste processing facilities to the criteria of fertilizer processing manual. Also, 15.6%(moisture) were not satisfied with the criteria. In conclusion, the compost produced from food waste processing facilities is firstly required with better compost maturity and reduced salt concentration in order to use to agricultural lands as an amendment.