RL2: Innovative soil, fertilisation & crop management systems & practices for enhanced N, P efficiency and increased soil OC content
Responsible partner: Teagasc
Country: Dublin, IRELAND
This demo is considered to be at TRL 6 and has been set up at field plots at farmland and mimicking farmers’ practice of crop production (e.g. silage production, rotational crops). The field trials are performed in two land management systems – 1) grassland and 2) arable farmland using – i) dairy food processing sludge from dairy industry, ii) struvite (phosphate mineral) from sewage and potato wastewater processing, iii) P rich ash from sewage sludge, iv) poultry/broiler manure, v) cattle slurry (commonly used organic fertiliser), and vi) commercial chemical fertilisers.
This demo solution is linked to Nutri2Cycle research line 2 (RL-2: Innovative soil, fertilisation & crop management systems & practices for enhanced N, P efficiency and increased soil OC content) and is one of the shortlist priority solutions i.e. sub-research line 1 (Practices for increasing soil organic matter content).
The purpose of this demo trial is to assess agronomic benefits (build soil C, N, P fertility) of different bio-based recycling derived fertilisers at field-scale trial for increasing nutrient recovery and recycling from different agri-food processing waste resources and thus facilitating farmers’ understanding to use these options and to replace chemical. In particular, recycled derived P fertilizers has the potential to replace mineral P fertilizers in an effort to increase the sustainability of farm systems, close off P loops and reduce the amount of farm income spent on fertilizer. For the grassland trial seven bio-based products – 2 products from the dairy food processing industry based wastewater treated by-products – bio-chemically treated activated sludge and lime treated dissolved air floatation based sludge, 2 types of struvite (recovered phosphate mineral) – processed from sewage and potato wastewater effluent, 2 types of P rich ash – processed from sewage sludge and poultry litter, and cattle slurry is included for the P-FRV and balanced fertiliser efficiency assessment. For the arable land trial, five bio-based products – 2 dairy food processing industry based wastewater treated by-products, chicken litters (poultry and broiler manure) and cattle slurry is included in the balanced fertiliser efficiency assessment by engaging a crop farmer to use these materials and to research and demonstrate the opportunities for CNP loop closure into an arable crop rotation. The arable farm grows crops including maize, wheat, and oilseed rape.
This demo solution is a field-scale agronomic trial and is designed to assess the P fertiliser value and crop yield performance of a number of recycling-derived fertiliser (RDF) candidates under two experimental set up – (i) P Mineral Fertilizer Equivalent (P MFE) plots and (ii) balanced fertilizer application plots. The footprint of this study is used to monitor longer-term effects of manure and/or bio-based product incorporation into the cropping system on CNP cycling. As a lighthouse demo, this case involves a farmer, his advisor, and the research element. To address the Nutri2Cycle goal, the agronomic performance, practicality, economics and soil health effects of using organic and nutrients recaptured via processing are evaluated and demonstrated to farmers during the course of the Nutri2Cycle project.
RL2: Innovative soil, fertilisation & crop management systems & practices for enhanced N, P efficiency and increased soil OC content
Responsible partner: University of Milan
Country: Milan, ITALY
This demo is operating at a full-scale anaerobic digestion (AD) facility (TRL 9) in Northern Italy. This innovation-solution is a compound interaction of technologies to process wastewaters and agro/food industrial waste. It includes anaerobic digestion, ammonia stripping system, bio-fertilizer and soils enhancers production, nutrients recycling, precision farming and minimum tillage tools applied effectively in rice crop.
This demo solution is linked to Nutri2Cycle research line 2 (RL-2: Innovative soil, fertilisation & crop management systems & practices for enhanced N, P efficiency and increased soil OC content) and is one of the shortlist priority solutions i.e. sub-research line 1 (Practices for increasing soil organic matter content).
This demonstration case is based on full-scale anaerobic digestion (AD) plant located in Lombardy (Northern Italy), which integrates a stripping system effectively, with precision agriculture and no-tillage practices. The plant treats about ~70,000 t year-1 of wastes (mainly sewage sludge of urban wastewater), producing digestate and ammonium sulphate exploited as amendment and fertilizer in field, respectively. Biogas production is transformed into a combined heat power (CHP) unit for producing heat and electric energy that is largely used for the operational needs of the facility. By recovering nutrients from organic waste, this study presents a solution for closing CNP loops not only at nutrient level but also by using internally the co-products (i.e. heat and electricity) generated representing savings in energy consumption, linked directly with a lower environmental impact due to less reliance in traditional (fossil) energy sources. This system decreases the Total Ammonia Nitrogen (TAN) level in the reactor, avoiding or reducing ammonia inhibition during the AD, while at the same time produce ammonium sulphate (NH4)2SO4, which is mainly exploited as a valuable fertilizer in the field. Experimental rice and wheat fields are placed close to the anaerobic digestion plant, covering an overall area of 2 ha; they are divided into nine parcels of around 600 m2, where three treatments (digestate fertilization, mineral fertilization and a non-fertilized control) are tested in triplicate. In order to minimize the impact on the environment, field management and agricultural operations are performed following the principles of minimum tillage and precision agriculture.
As full-scale anaerobic digestion (AD) facility coupled with a stripping system and CHP unit, it addresses to close the C-N-P loops by recovering nutrients from different sources of organic wastes and utilizing co-products like digestate and ammonium sulphate as a bio-fertilizer, while the main product biogas is converted in electricity and heat to be reused in the system. Minimum tillage and precision farming techniques are as well integrated to improve health condition in the soil, particularly organic matter.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement nº 101135708. The dissemination of results herein reflects only the author’s view, and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
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