Recycled biowaste improved soil physical properties of alkaline soil and wheat performance

A huge amount of biowaste is being produced daily in big cities, food industries, and livestock farms. Recycling this waste is beneficial not only for the environment but also for producing bio-energy and organic fertilizer. Two independent experiments were conducted to study the beneficial impacts of biowastes (bagasse ash and anaerobic digestate) on soil health and wheat productivity. Ten treatments (control, 100% NPK, 75% NPK, 50% NPK, bagasse ash, digestate, bagasse ash + digestate, 100% NPK + bagasse ash + digestate, 75% NPK + bagasse ash + digestate, and 50% NPK + bagasse ash + digestate) were evaluated. The 100% NPK treatments represent N, P, and K rates of 120, 90, and 60 kg ha−1, respectively and the bagasse ash and digestate were applied at 20 Mg ha−1. The outcome depicted that around 40% and 31% higher grain yield was obtained with the combined use of biowastes and chemical fertilizers compared with the sole use of digestate and bagasse ash, respectively. Likewise, 36.3% and 34.5% higher straw yield were observed in treatments receiving integration of biowastes and chemical fertilizer contrasted with the individual use of digestate and bagasse ash, respectively. Moreover, the integrated use of biowastes and chemical fertilizers also upgraded soil’s physical and chemical properties. Therefore, recycling these biowastes as fertilizer is appropriate for circular economy and agricultural sustainability.