Collembola Inoculation in Soil Incorporated Mango Leaf Litter Enhances Decomposition for Organic Matter Building and Nutrient Banking

Leaf litter accumulation in the understory of a mango orchard is a potential source of soil nutrients and organic matter, but farmers recognize it as waste material that needs to be discarded from the system. Most of the common management practices in dealing with such problem will be burning. This farmers practice will not only cause environmental problems but also degrade the fertility condition of the soil. The purpose of this study is to provide an alternative agricultural practice in improving soil health condition that is both economical and sustainable. This can be done by enhancing the decomposition of mango leaf litter through soil micro-arthropod Collembola inoculation and incorporation of the leaf litter in the soil. It promotes physical decomposition of the leaf litter, further increasing the accumulation of soil organic particulate matter and promoting nutrient banking. In this study, mass loss of the decomposing mango leaf litter, soil organic matter addition, and N, P, K soil nutrient banking were determined through litterbag experiment in the microcosm environment. Treatments include non-inoculated and non-incorporated leaf litter (T1), non-inoculated but incorporated leaf litter (T2), inoculated but non-incorporated leaf litter (T3) and inoculated and incorporated leaf litter (T4). The results reveal that inoculation of Collembola enhances the decomposition of mango leaf litter by 56 % to 70 % (mass reduction) which promotes the soil organic matter accumulation. Soil nutrient banking is also promoted by increasing the nutrient accumulation by 29 % higher for nitrogen and four times higher for potassium. Soil phosphorus, regardless of soil treatment facilitates nutrient banking by the nutrient releases of decomposing mango leaf litter. The study concludes that soil inoculation of Collembola enhances the decomposition of soil incorporated mango leaf litter by 40 %.