154-11 Liquid Fertilizer Effects of Four Different Anaerobic Digestion Effluents On Japanese Mustard Spinach (Brassica rapa).



Poster Number 2132

Monday, October 22, 2012
Duke Energy Convention Center, Exhibit Hall AB, Level 1, 1

Shuhei Morita and Shinjiro Sato, Department of Environmental Engineering for Symbiosis, Soka University, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo, Japan
Anaerobic digestion effluent (ADE) is a by-product remained after fermentation processes of organic materials for methane production. The utilization of ADE for agronomic benefits has recently been recognized as a means of reducing volume of organic wastes. Since ADE contains significant amounts of NH4-N, it can serve as a quick-releasing liquid fertilizer. However, different feedstocks yield ADE of different chemical properties, therefore it is difficult to standardize ADE as reliable and stable fertilizers.In this study, a 2-year bioassay experiment was performed to evaluate effects of different ADE derived from 4 different organic materials, namely a mixture of cow manure and food waste (CF), Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis; MM), Sennin algae (Potamogeton maackianus; SA) and western waterweed (Elodea nuttallii; WW) as liquid fertilizer on Japanese mustard spinach (Brassica rapa) grown on one type of soil in the first year and 3 different types of soil in the second year. The experimental treatments were no fertilizer applied (control), chemical fertilizer applied (140-120-120 N-P2O5-K2O kg ha-1), and all 4 ADEs for the first year, and CF and SA for the second year, both applied at a rate of 14 g N m-2 in 1 L pot for two months. In addition for the second year, a treatment to mix pruned branches with ADE was added. After the harvest, pH, EC, TC, TN, NH4-N, NO3-N, TP of the soil, and dry weight (DW), TC, TN of the spinach were analyzed. From the first year results, pH, NH4-N, NO3-N and DW of all ADE-applied treatments were significantly greater than those of control. The CF-applied pot yielded the lowest DW among all treatments, and SA-applied pot the highest DW likely because SA contained the greatest amount of NH4-N. ADE with higher content of NH4-N has more potential to be used as valuable liquid fertilizer.
See more from this Division: S08 Nutrient Management & Soil & Plant Analysis
See more from this Session: Managing Nutrients in Organic Materials and by-Products: I

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