THE IMPACT OF BRICK KILN OPERATION TO THE DEGRADATION OF TOPSOIL QUALITY OF AGRICULTURAL LAND

Md. Sirajul Islam (Department of Environmental Science and Resource Management, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Tangail-1902, Bangladesh)
Shamim Al Mamun (Department of Soil and Physical Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, P.O. Box 7647, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand)
Muliadi Muliadi (Department of Chemistry, University of Khairun, Ternate, 97728, North Maluku, Indonesia)
Sohel Rana (Department of Environmental Science and Resource Management, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Tangail-1902, Bangladesh)
Tanmoy Roy Tusher (Department of Environmental Science and Resource Management, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Tangail-1902, Bangladesh)
Shimul Roy (Department of Environmental Science and Resource Management, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Tangail-1902, Bangladesh)

AGRIVITA, Journal of Agricultural Science
Vol 37, No 3 (2015): OCTOBER

Brick kiln is a big environmental issue for the agriculture of Bangladesh as it was observed that the agricultural production in the soil close to the brick kiln was lesser than the same soil far from brick kiln. The study was conducted to assess the impact of brick kiln operation to the degradation of topsoil quality at Singair of Kalihati upazila in Tangail, Bangladesh, during the period of July to December 2013. The Soil was collected from areas close to the brick fields and far from the brick fields at a depth of 0-15 cm. The Electrical Conductance (EC) was found almost double in the soil samples close to the brick field than the soil samples far from brick field. The organic mattter content in the soil sample close to the brickfield was significantly lower than that of the far soil sample. The mean values of total N, available P and S were also significantly lower in the soil samples close to the brick kiln, 0.05%, 12.4, and 8.36 ppm respectively in the close soils, while 0.06%, 24.6, and 11.7 ppm respectively in the far soil. There were no significant changes observed in the other elements.