EVALUATION OF GREEN TUFF APPLICATION ON YIELD, SOIL CHEMICAL PARAMETERS, AND SOIL MICROORGANISMS IN CHERRY TOMATO (SOLANUM LYCOPERSICUM VAR. CERASIFORME) AND CARROT (DAUCUS CAROTA SUBSP. SATIVUS) CULTIVATION FIELDS.

Abstract

 In Japan, green tuff is often used for construction materials, and large amount of wasted green tuff is produced during processing. Besides, green tuff has several positive characteristics for plant cultivation such as porous structures and containing several minerals. Therefore, to effectively utilize the green tuff, we performed cultivation test of Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme (cherry tomato) and Daucus carota subsp. sativus (carrot) supplemented with green tuff into cultivation soil, and evaluated the effects of yields, soil chemical parameters, and soil microorganisms. As a result of cultivation tests, significant increase of yield of cherry tomato and length of carrot root in green tuff supplemented areas (p<0.05). In the result of soil chemical analysis, significant increase of NO₃^-–N and Ca²⁺ concentration was caused in green tuff supplemented cherry tomato cultivation field (p<0.05). Microbial community analysis indicated that minor microbial populations (< 0.11% abundance rate) were different between green tuff supplemented areas and no supplemented area at cherry tomato and carrot cultivation tests. Besides, significant increase of family Koribacteraceae was observed in carrot cultivation field without green tuff (p<0.05), which is known as indicator of soil deterioration.