Field application of hyacinth (Eichharnia crassipes

The effect of different application doses of hyacinth on the dynamic of soil available NPK, wheat seedling emergence rate, yield and its components were studied. The results show no obvious effect of hyacinth on wheat seedling emergence rate when applied at less than 8.1 kg·m^-2. However, when it is applied at higher than 8.1 kg·m^-2, wheat seedling emergence rate significantly decreases. Due to high tiller number and grain number per spike, treatment at 13.5 kg·hm^-2 has no significant difference in grain yield from that of normal chemical fertilization treatment. There is also no significant difference in soil available N among the treatments during the entire growth period, except for the seedling stage. Soil available P and K increase with increasing dose of hyacinth. The findings suggest that hyacinth promotes both NPK absorption in stem and protein content in grain of wheat. Hence hyacinth is a potential high quality organic fertilizer. Its use increases soil NPK and organic matter content, while reducing the application of N by 141.75 kg·hm^-2, P by 36~45 kg·hm^-2, and K by 100%. Its optimum application dose is therefore in the range of 10.8~13.5 kg·hm^-2.