Instant Insights: Organic soil amendments

Description

This book features four peer-reviewed reviews on organic soil amendments.

The first chapter examines the role of biofertilisers and consortia of microorganisms in improving the effectiveness of organic fertilisation, before moving on to consider the use of animal excrement, including manures, slurry and guano. The chapter also considers the use of products or by-products of both animal and plant origin as fertilisers.

The second chapter provides a critical evaluation of the potential of compost to improve soil health, as well as the sources of variability and potential risks of compost for environmental quality. Two case studies evaluate the trade-offs between benefit and risks in the use of compost in perennial and annual crops.

The third chapter discusses optimising slurry management in agricultural practices and highlights current decision tools for optimising manure management. It also reviews modifying animal slurry pH to enhance its value as a biobased fertiliser through methods such as bio acidification and alkalinisation.

The final chapter provides an overview of the main technologies for manure valorisation into bioenergy and biofertiliser products. It discusses developments in more established technologies such as solid-liquid (S/L) separation, anaerobic digestion and composting, as well as more innovative techniques, including struvite precipitation.

Table of contents

• Chapter 1 - Organic fertilizers and biofertilizers: Lidia Sas Paszt and Slawomir Gluszek, Research Institute of Horticulture, Poland;
  • 1 Introduction
  • 2 Biofertilizers
  • 3 Consortia of microorganisms to improve the effectiveness of organic fertilization
  • 4 Animal excrement: manures, slurry and guano
  • 5 Products and by-products of animal origin
  • 6 Products and by-products of plant origin for fertilizers
  • 7 Composts
  • 8 Untreated minerals and by-products of selected industrial processes
  • 9 Biochar
  • 10 Conclusion
  • 11 Where to look for further information
  • 12 References

Chapter taken from: Kӧpke, U. (ed.), Improving organic crop cultivation, Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2019, (ISBN: 978 1 78676 184 2)

• Chapter 2 - Assessing the effects of compost on soil health: Cristina Lazcano, University of California-Davis, USA; Charlotte Decock, California Polytechnic State University, USA; Connie T. F. Wong, University of California-Davis, USA; and Kamille Garcia-Brucher, California Polytechnic State University, USA;
  • 1 Introduction
  • 2 Why compost?
  • 3 Effects of compost on soil nutrient cycling
  • 4 Effects of compost on soil hydraulic properties
  • 5 Effect of compost on crop productivity
  • 6 Effects of compost on soil biodiversity
  • 7 Effects of compost on environmental quality
  • 8 The use of compost to improve soil health in annual crops: a case study with strawberries
  • 9 The use of compost to improve soil health, sequester carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in perennial crops: a case study
  • 10 Conclusion
  • 11 Where to look for further information
  • 12 References

Chapter taken from: Horwath, W. R. (ed.), Improving soil health, Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2023, (ISBN: 978 1 78676 670 0)

• Chapter 3 - Optimizing slurry management: David Fangueiro, LEAF-Instituto Superior de Agronomia-ULisboa, Portugal; Jihane Elmahdi*, Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands; Jared Nyang'au, Aarhus University, Denmark; Stamatis Chrysanthopoulos, LEAF-Instituto Superior de Agronomia-ULisboa, Portugal; Jerke De Vries, Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands; and Peter Sørensen, Aarhus University, Denmark;
  • 1 Introduction
  • 2 Current decision tools for optimizing manure management
  • 3 Modifying animal slurry pH to enhance its value as a biobased fertilizer: (bio)-acidification and alkalinization
  • 4 Improving manure management systems to minimize trade-offs
  • 5 Combining manure management with anaerobic digestion
  • 6 Preand post-treatment of biomass for anaerobic digestion
  • 7 Optimization of anaerobic digestion operations to optimize digestate quality
  • 8 References

Chapter taken from: Chapter taken from: Amon, B. (ed.), Developing circular agricultural production systems, Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2024, (ISBN: 978 1 80146 256 3)

• Chapter 4 - Optimizing livestock manure as a biofertilizer and bioenergy source: V. Riau, L. Morey, R. Cáceres, M. Cerrillo, and A. Bonmatí, Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA), Spain; and A. Robles, BETA Tech Center (UVIC-UCC), Spain;
  • 1 Introduction
  • 2 Anaerobic digestion
  • 3 Mechanical separation
  • 4 Composting
  • 5 Struvite precipitation
  • 6 Stripping/scrubbing
  • 7 Membrane filtration
  • 8 Bioelectrochemical systems
  • 9 Case study: farm for the future
  • 10 Conclusion and future trends
  • 11 Where to look for further information
  • 12 References

Chapter taken from: Chapter taken from: Amon, B. (ed.), Developing circular agricultural production systems, Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2024, (ISBN: 978 1 80146 256 3)