The usability of digestate in organic farming
Clements, L.J., Salter, A.M., Banks, C.J. and Poppy, G.M. (2012) The usability of digestate in organic farming. Water Science & Technology, 66, (9), 1864-1870. (doi:10.2166/wst.2012.389). (PMID:22925857).
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Description/Abstract
As organic farming prohibits the use of synthetic fertilisers, animal slurries and manures must be used. Digestate offers an alternative to these and this study reports on three experiments conducted to determine its usability in terms of: (1) the effect on earthworm populations, (2) its fertilising effects on Italian Ryegrass and wild Creeping Thistle, and (3) the suppression effects digestate has on weed emergence. The results for digestate application to field plots were intermediate between slurry and no treatment for earthworm attraction and wild thistle suppression. In glasshouse trials it led to increased ryegrass growth compared with undigested slurry. Analysis showed that the digestate had improved nitrogen availability, leading to increased plant growth, but a reduced organic matter content compared with the slurry, leading to a positive though less beneficial impact on the earthworms. Digestate therefore provides a suitable fertiliser for organic farming. This suitability could be improved by drying or separation to increase the OM content making its properties closer to those of slurry whilst still retaining the higher content of plant available nitrogen.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| ISSNs: | 0273-1223 (print) |
| Keywords: | digestate, earthworm, organic farming, slurry |
| Subjects: | Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General) T Technology > TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Engineering and the Environment > Civil, Maritime and Environmental Engineering and Science > Environment Research Group |
| Item ID: | 344820 |
| Date Deposited: | 05 Nov 2012 12:01 |
| Last Modified: | 26 Apr 2013 07:25 |
| Contributors: | Clements, L.J. (Author) Salter, A.M. (Author) Banks, C.J. (Author) Poppy, G.M. (Author) |
| Date: | 2012 |
| Status: | Published |
| URI: | http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/344820 |
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