Organic Amendments for Soil Reclamation: A Review

Abstract

The principle that presents human activities and forms the basis of sustainable soil management must not negatively impact future generations. The soil can be degraded by human activity, natural events like erosion and other factors. Degraded or disturbed soil sometimes lacks organic matter when compared with neighbouring undisturbed areas. Organic amendments that are produced in huge quantity worldwide and have the potential to be widely used for soil reclamation include animal manure, biosolids, waste from fruit pulp, kitchen trash, paper mills, wood scraps, crop residues, etc. This review article explores the mechanisms through which organic addition alters physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil and defines significance of organic amendments in the soil reclamation, with a focus on amendment types and application rates for soil amelioration and biomass production. A large-scale use of organic amendments can speed up the initial reclamation process and produce self-sustaining net production. Though easily decomposable organic additions may have immediate but transient impacts, stable and less decomposable molecules may cause effects that last longer. Organic additions consisting of waste products from the forestry, urban and agricultural sectors are used to achieve land reclamation to attain mutual benefits.