Effect of phosphogypsum amendment on soil physico-chemical properties, microbial load and enzyme activities

Phosphogypsum (PG) is produced as a solid waste from phosphatic fertilizer plants. The waste slurry is disposed off in settling ponds or in heaps. This solid waste is now increasingly being used as a calcium supplement in agriculture. This study reports the effectof PG amendmenton soil physico chemical properties, bacterial and fungal count and activities of soil enzymes such as invertase, cellulase and amylase over an incubation period of 28 days. The highest mean percent carbon loss (55.98%) was recorded in 15% PG amended soil followed by (55.28%) in 10% PG amended soil and the minimum (1.68%) in control soil. The highest number of bacterial colonies (47.4 CFU g(-1) soil), fungal count (17.8 CFU g(-1) soil), highest amylase activity (38.4 microg g(-1) soil hr(-1)) and cellulase activity (38.37 microg g(-1) soil hr(-1)) were recorded in 10% amended soil. Statistically significant difference (p