# Comprehensive treatment and analysis of Fishpond sediments as a source of organic fertilizers

**Authors:** Olufunke Oyebamiji, Peter Balogun, Emmanuel Stephen, Najeem Oladosu, Abiodun Adeoso  
**arXiv:** [2304.07630](https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.07630)  
**Date:** 2023-04-15  
**Summary page:** https://www.summarizepaper.com/en/paper/2304.07630v1/

## Key points

- Agricultural fertilizers are important for growth and crop yield.
- Chemical fertilizers have risks to ecosystems, soil quality, plants, and human/animal health.
- Biofertilizers containing living microorganisms or natural compounds are gaining interest.
- The study explored the use of natural coagulants from Moringa oleifera seeds in fishpond sediment.
- The dried sediment was used as an organic fertilizer in greenhouse experiments with maize seeds.
- Maize plants fertilized with the organic fertilizer showed significant improvements in growth parameters.
- Fertilized maize had increased plant height, leaf length, root length, and plant weight compared to non-fertilized maize.
- The organic fertilizer derived from fishpond sediment had favorable nutrient content including nitrate, total nitrogen, phosphate, and total phosphorus levels.
- Maize plants primed with the organic fertilizer showed a higher growth rate and achieved a 100% yield compared to the control group without fertilization.

## Summary

Agricultural fertilizers play a crucial role in promoting proper growth and increasing crop yield. However, the use of chemical fertilizers poses significant risks to ecosystems, soil quality, plants, and even human and animal health. As a result, there has been growing interest in biofertilizers which are products containing living microorganisms or natural compounds derived from organisms like bacteria, fungi, and algae. These biofertilizers have the potential to improve soil chemical and biological properties, stimulate plant growth, and restore soil fertility. In this study titled "Comprehensive treatment and analysis of Fishpond sediments as a source of organic fertilizers," researchers aimed to explore the use of natural coagulants in managing fishpond sediment for the recovery of nutrients that can be utilized as organic fertilizers in crop production. The researchers collected fishpond wastewater and sediment treated them with a natural powdered coagulant derived from Moringa oleifera seeds then dried them. To evaluate the effectiveness of the dried sediment as an organic fertilizer greenhouse experiments were conducted using maize seeds planted in soil primed with the sediment. Various growth parameters such as plant height leaf length root length plant weight and percentage yield were measured. Additionally the nitrate content as well as total nitrogen phosphate and total phosphorus levels in the organic fertilizer were determined. The results showed significant improvements in maize growth when fertilized with the organic fertilizer derived from fishpond sediment treated with Moringa oleifera seed coagulant. Fertilized maize exhibited a 35.8-44.4% increase in plant height compared to non-fertilized maize Similarly there was a 20.3-39.3% increase in leaf length and a 38.8-66% increase in root length for fertilized maize plants Moreover fertilized maize showed a 23.9-36.5% increase in plant weight The organic fertilizer derived from the fishpond sediment also exhibited favorable nutrient content with values of 59 80 mg/Kg 655 56 mg/Kg 103 87 mg/Kg and 426 60 mg/Kg for nitrate total nitrogen phosphate and total phosphorus respectively Furthermore during a period of active growth lasting 21 days maize plants primed with the organic fertilizer showed a growth rate of 0 93 cm/day and achieved a total yield of 100% In contrast the control group without fertilization had a growth rate of only 0 68 cm/day and a total yield of 50%.