Summary

With the goal of protecting the groundwater of Miyako island, the aim of this study is to investigate and develop an organic fertilizer which is both environmentally friendly and has the ability to recycle the high density of non-soluble phosphorus accumulated in the soil by utilizing a biomass resource (Bagasse: sugarcane squeezed residue). The method utilized was the selection and isolation of a microorganism that we found to have the ability of organic acid production from the soil consisting of weathered Ryukyu Limestone as a phosphorus dissolving bacterium. Taking its phosphorus dissolving ability as an index and using the bagasse effectively, which is a good organic resource, it was possible to reproduce and recycle accumulated phosphorus in the soil.
These experimental results indicated that there is a way to improve the rate of use of accumulated phosphorus by applying the organic fertilizer that we have studied and developed. It is, therefore, possible that we can establish Low Input Sustainable Agriculture (LISA) and thereby the decrease nitrate contamination in the aquifer caused by chemical fertilizers by applying the organic fertilizer to the agricultural soil of Miyako island in Japan.

Source: Okinawa Prefectural Miyako Agriculture and Forestry High School, “For Protecting the Life Sustaining Groundwater of Miyako Island” —For the Entry to the Stockholm Junior Water Prize (2004)

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