Effects of Organic Material Application on the Growth and Yield of Crops in Korea

우리나라에서의 유기물(有機物) 시용효과(施用效果)

The soil organic matter contents in arable land are generally low in Korea. Thus it is generally agreed that the application of organic materials to soils would be much beneficial. Present paper is a review on the effectiveness of organic mat ter application in uplands and lowlands. 1. The effect of organic matter application in uplands are of more clear and simple to explain as compared to that in lowlands. In uplands, appropriate application of organic matters such as compost and various crops residues improves the physical properties of soils leasing to increased water holding capacity, better aeration, and decrease in soil erosion. 2. In lowland, rice soils under water logged conditions the effect of organic matter application on rice yield is not straight borward and demands more refined knowledges for the interpretation of it. 3. It is found that the application of compost in rice soils is more effective when nitrogen fertilizer application is limited it dicating that nitrogen contained in the organic maerials can become available to rice plant and plays an important role for increased yield of rice under the condition where nitrogen fertilizer supply is limited. 4. Application of organic matter does not always bring about the desirable effects. Very often the organic matter application results in more intensive soil reduction leading to the accumulation of harmful substances which would can cancel out the positive effects of organic matter. This is partiunlarly true in poorly drained soils. 5. Rice straw or compost, when applied rice soils, supply sizeable amounts of available silicate to rice plant resulting in yield increase. 6. Although the effectiveness of organic matter application on rice yield in short term experiments is not consistent due to many reasons, the long term effect of organic matter is significant. 7. The term of the $O.M/SiO_2$ ratio in rice soils can serve as a criterion for the judgement of whether organic matter or silicate fertilizer is needed to be applied in a certain soil.