Dietary effects on the composition of pig slurry and on the plant utilization of pig slurry nitrogen

2003 ◽  
Vol 140 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. SØRENSEN ◽  
J. A. FERNÁNDEZ

The composition of animal manure is influenced by the diet fed. Efforts are made to decrease nitrogen emission from pig production by optimizing diet composition. This normally results in a lower proportion of N excreted in urine relative to faeces, and may also influence the turnover and utilization of manure N after field application. The effects of pig feed composition on the excretion of urinary and faecal N, on the dynamics of manure N in soil and on the potential utilization of manure N in the field was studied. Growing pigs and sows were fed 12 different diets with variable contents of fibre and protein (with or without synthetic amino acids). Slurries consisting of a mixture of faeces and urine were stored according to common agricultural practice in Northern Europe. The plant availability of N in the resultant slurries originating from animals fed known diets was tested in small field plots with barley, under conditions with minimal N losses. Separate plots were fertilized with increasing amounts of mineral N. Nitrogen uptake in barley was determined and the utilization of slurry N was compared with that of mineral fertilizer N. The net release of mineral N and C from the slurries in soil was also measured in a parallel incubation study.The mineral fertilizer equivalent of pig slurry N was 72–100% and significantly influenced by feed fibre composition, but not significantly influenced by the protein content. There was a significant positive correlation between enzyme-digestible organic matter in the pig diet (measurement used for feed evaluation) and the plant availability of pig slurry N (R2=0·90). The ammonium content of stored pig slurry could not be used for prediction of the N availability since the net mineralization of pig slurry N was variable, but there was a significant negative correlation between the pig slurry C/N ratio and the plant availability of slurry N (R2=0·86).Increased dietary concentration of fermentable structural carbohydrates (e.g. by including sugar beet pulp in the diet) reduces the excretion of N in urine without affecting the availability of slurry total N, whereas an increased concentration of dietary fibre with a low fermentability (straw) results in less urinary N, but also a lower plant availability of slurry N.

Author(s):  
Betina Nørgaard Pedersen ◽  
Bent T. Christensen ◽  
Luca Bechini ◽  
Daniele Cavalli ◽  
Jørgen Eriksen ◽  
...  

Abstract The plant availability of manure nitrogen (N) is influenced by manure composition in the year of application whereas some studies indicate that the legacy effect in following years is independent of the composition. The plant availability of N in pig and cattle slurries with variable contents of particulate matter was determined in a 3-year field study. We separated cattle and a pig slurry into liquid and solid fractions by centrifugation. Slurry mixtures with varying proportions of solid and liquid fraction were applied to a loamy sand soil at similar NH4+-N rates in the first year. Yields and N offtake of spring barley and undersown perennial ryegrass were compared to plots receiving mineral N fertilizer. The first year N fertilizer replacement value (NFRV) of total N in slurry mixtures decreased with increasing proportion of solid fraction. The second and third season NFRV averaged 6.5% and 3.8% of total N, respectively, for cattle slurries, and 18% and 7.5% for pig slurries and was not related to the proportion of solid fraction. The estimated net N mineralization of residual organic N increased nearly linearly with growing degree days (GDD) with a rate of 0.0058%/GDD for cattle and 0.0116%/GDD for pig slurries at 2000–5000 GDD after application. In conclusion NFRV of slurry decreased with increasing proportion of solid fraction in the first year. In the second year, NFRV of pig slurry N was significantly higher than that of cattle slurry N and unaffected by proportion between solid and liquid fraction.


Soil Research ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 42 (7) ◽  
pp. 719 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. T. Moroni ◽  
P. J. Smethurst ◽  
G. K. Holz

Several soil analyses were used to estimate available N in surface soils (0–10 cm) over a 2-year period at 5 sites that supported 1- to 4-year-old Eucalyptus nitens plantations, and once in subsoils (10–120 cm) at 3 of these sites. Soils were derived from basalt (1 site previously pasture, 1 Pinus radiate, and 2 native forest) or siltstone (previously native forest). Soil analyses examined were total N, total P, total C, anaerobically mineralisable N (AMN), hot KCl-extractable N (hot KCl-N), and NH4+ and NO3– in soil solution and KCl extracts. AMN, KCl-extractable NH4+ and NO3–, and soil solution NH4+ and NO3– varied considerably with time, whereas hot KCl-N, total N, total P, and total C were temporally stable except for a gradual decline in total C with time at one site. Only total P was correlated with net N mineralisation (NNM) across all sites (r2 = 0.91, P < 0.05, n = 5). At 2–3 years after planting, soil solution and KCl-extractable NO3– dropped below 0.1 mm N and 1 μg N/g soil, respectively, at sites with NNM ≤24 kg N/ha.year (n = 3). Sites with NNM ≤24 kg N/ha.year also had ≤0.8 Mg P/ha. Although concentrations of indices of soil N availability decreased with depth, the contribution of subsoil (10–120 cm depth) to total profile N availability was estimated to be at least twice that of the top 10 cm. At an ex-pasture site, high concentrations of mineral N were found at 75–105 cm depths (KCl-extractable N, 289.3 μg N/g soil; 2.8 mm mineral N in soil solution), which may have become available to plantations as their root systems developed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Milka N. Kiboi ◽  
Felix K. Ngetich ◽  
Anne Muriuki ◽  
Noah Adamtey ◽  
Daniel Mugendi

To attain agricultural sustainability, use of soil resources and tillage requires equal consideration for chemical and physical components of soil fertility. We assessed responses of selected soil physical and chemical properties to tillage and soil fertility amending resources. The study was carried out in Meru South and Kandara sub-counties located in the Central Highlands of Kenya for four cropping seasons. The experimental design was split-plot with tillage as the main factor - conventional (D15) - and minimum (D0) tillage and soil fertility resources (SFR) as sub-factors - mineral fertilizer (F), crop residues + fertilizer (RF), residues + fertilizer + animal manure (RFM), residues + Tithonia diversifolia + manure (RTiM), residues + Tithonia diversifolia + phosphate rock (Minjingu) (RTiP), residues + manure + legume intercrop (RML) and control (no input). Compared with control, aggregate stability was significantly higher on average under SFRs with sole organics by 19% in Meru South. Total N and available P were higher under integration of fertilizer and organics in both sites. Calcium increased under sole organic or integration with fertilizer in Meru South and under sole organics in Kandara. Magnesium significantly increased under all SFRs compared with control in Kandara. Soil organic carbon significantly (P=0.02) increased under D0 by 6% compared to D15 in 0-5 cm depth in Kandara. Application of RTiM had the highest SOC in all depths’ at Meru South. SOC significantly increased under RTiP and RML by 11% in 0-5 cm depth and under RML by 13% in 5-10 cm depth at Kandara. Mineral-N (NO3–-N and NH4+-N) was higher under D0 at planting compared with D15 in Meru South. In Kandara, NO3–-N and NH4+-N were significantly higher by 17% and 30%, respectively under D0 compared with D15 at planting during SR16 season. Higher mineral N was recorded under F application on the 30th and 45th days in both sites. The highest mineral-N content was on the 45th day after planting during SR16 season and on the 30th day during LR17 season at Meru South. In Kandara, NO3–-N and NH4+-N were highest on the 45th day and 30th day, respectively, during SR16 season. During LR17 season, mineral-N was highest on the 30th day in Kandara. The study highlights that minimal soil disturbance and organic inputs use or integration with fertilizers are feasible alternatives for improving soil fertility in the Nitisols of Central Highlands of Kenya.


2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (03) ◽  
pp. 250-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek H. Lynch ◽  
Zhiming Zheng ◽  
Bernie J. Zebarth ◽  
Ralph C. Martin

AbstractThe market for certified organic potatoes in Canada is growing rapidly, but the productivity and dynamics of soil N under commercial organic potato systems remain largely unknown. This study examined, at two sites in Atlantic Canada (Winslow, PEI, and Brookside, NS), the impacts of organic amendments on Shepody potato yield, quality and soil mineral nitrogen dynamics under organic management. Treatments included a commercial hog manure–sawdust compost (CP) and pelletized poultry manure (NW) applied at 300 and 600 kg total N ha−1, plus an un-amended control (CT). Wireworm damage reduced plant stands at Brookside in 2003 and those results are not presented. Relatively high tuber yields (~30 Mg ha−1) and crop N uptake (112 kg N ha−1) were achieved for un-amended soil in those site-years (Winslow 2003 and 2004) when soil moisture was non-limiting. Compost resulted in higher total yields than CT in one of three site-years. Apparent recovery of N from CP was negligible; therefore CP yield benefits were attributed to factors other than N availability. At Winslow, NW300, but not NW600, significantly increased total and marketable yields by an average of 5.8 and 7.0 Mg ha−1. Plant available N averaged 39 and 33% for NW300 and NW600, respectively. Soil (0–30 cm) NO3−-N at harvest was low (&lt;25 kg N ha−1) for CT and CP, but increased substantially both in season and at harvest (61–141 kg N ha−1) when NW was applied. Most leaching losses of NO3−-N occur between seasons and excessive levels of residual soil NO3-N at harvest, as obtained for NW600, must be avoided. Given current premiums for certified organic potatoes, improving yields through application of amendments supplying moderate rates of N or organic matter appears warranted.


Author(s):  
Luanna Corrêa Monteiro ◽  
Celso Aita ◽  
Janquieli Schirmann ◽  
Stefen Barbosa Pujo ◽  
Diego Antônio Giacomini ◽  
...  

Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate carbon and nitrogen mineralization in the soil after the application of composts produced in an automated composting plant, using pig slurry (PS) with and without the addition of retorted oil shale (ROS) and dicyandiamide (DCD) during composting. Laboratory studies were carried out for 180 days on two soils with contrasting characteristics: sandy-loam Typic Paludalf and clay Rhodic Hapludox, which were managed for more than 10 years under a no-tillage system. The composts were thoroughly mixed with the soils. The mineralization of the C and N from the compost was evaluated by measuring continuously CO2 emissions and periodically mineral N (NH4+ + NO3-) content in the soils, respectively. The mineralization of the C from the compost without ROS and DCD was higher in the sandy-loam soil (20.5%) than in the clay soil (13.9%). Similarly, 19.4% of the total N from the compost was mineralized in the sandy-loam soil and 10.9% in the clay soil. The presence of ROS in the compost reduced C mineralization by 54%, compared with the treatment without additives, in the sandy-loam soil and caused net N immobilization in both soils during incubation. The addition of DCD during PS composting did not affect the mineralization of the C and N from the compost in both soils. The addition of ROS during the composting of PS favors the retention of the C from the compost in the soil, especially in the sandy-loam one, but results in a net N immobilization.


Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 493
Author(s):  
Beatriz Moreno-García ◽  
Mónica Guillén ◽  
Dolores Quílez

The great increase in livestock production in some European areas makes it necessary to recycle organic slurries and manures and to integrate them in crop production. In Northeast Spain, the application of pig slurry (PS) is being extended to alternative crops such as rice due to the great increase in pig production. However, there is a lack of information of the effect of substitution of synthetic fertilizers with pig slurry on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in rice crop, and this information is key for the sustainability of these agricultural systems. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the substitution of mineral fertilizers by PS on GHG emissions in Mediterranean flooded rice cultivation conditions under optimal nitrogen (N) fertilization. Two field experiments were carried out in two different (contrasting) soil types with different land management. Site 1 had been cultivated for rice in the previous three years with no puddling practices. Site 2 had been cultivated for rice for more than 15 years with puddling tillage practices and had higher organic matter content than site 1. The cumulative nitrous oxide emissions during the crop season were negative at both sites, corroborating that under flooded conditions, methane is the main contributor to global warming potential rather than nitrous oxide. The substitution of mineral fertilizer with PS before seeding at the same N rate did not increase emissions in both sites. However, at site 1 (soil with lower organic matter content), the higher PS rate applied before seeding (170 kg N ha−1) increased methane emissions compared to the treatments with lower PS rate and mineral fertilizer before seeding (120 kg N ha−1) and complemented with topdressing mineral N. Thus, a sustainable strategy for inclusion of PS in rice fertilization is the application of moderate PS rates before seeding (≈120 kg N ha−1) complemented with mineral N topdressing.


2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco André Grohskopf ◽  
Paulo Cezar Cassol ◽  
Juliano Corulli Correa ◽  
Maria Sueli Heberle Mafra ◽  
Jonas Panisson

The application of pig slurry may have a different effect on nitrogen dynamics in soil compared to mineral fertilization. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the different forms of organic N in a Latossolo Vermelho distroférrico (Typic Hapludox) and their relationship to N uptake by crops in response to 10 years of annual application of pig slurry and mineral fertilizer. The treatments were application rates of 0, 25, 50, 100, and 200 m3 ha-1 of pig slurry, in addition to mineral fertilizer, organized in a randomized block design with four replications. The N contents were determined in the plant tissue and in the forms of total N and acid hydrolyzed fractions: ammonium-N, hexosamine-N, α-amino-N, amide-N, and unidentified-N. Annual application of pig slurry or mineral fertilizer increased the total-N content in the 0-10 cm depth layer. The main fractions of organic N in the soil were α-amino-N when pig slurry was applied and unidentified-N in the case of mineral fertilizers. Pig slurry increased the N fractions considered as labile: α-amino-N, ammonium-N, and amide-N. The increase in these labile organic N fractions in the soil through pig slurry application allows greater N uptake by the maize and oat crops in a no-tillage system.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 248
Author(s):  
Carmo Horta ◽  
João Paulo Carneiro

Anaerobic digestion is a valuable process to use livestock effluents to produce green energy and a by-product called digestate with fertilising value. This work aimed at evaluating the fertilising value of the solid fraction (SF) of a digestate as an organic amendment and as a source of nitrogen to crops replacing mineral N. A field experiment was done with two consecutive vegetable crops. The treatments were: a control without fertilisation; Ni85 mineral fertilisation with 85 kg ha−1 of mineral N; fertiliser with digestate at an increasing nitrogen application rate (kg N ha−1): DG-N85 DG-N170, DG-N170+85, DG-N170+170; fertilisation with digestate together with Ni: DG-N85+Ni60, DG-N170+Ni60, DG-N170+Ni25. The results showed a soil organic amendment effect of the SF with a beneficial effect on SOM, soil pH and exchangeable bases. The SF was able to replace part of the mineral N fertilisation. The low mineralisation of the stable organic matter together with some immobilisation of mineral N from SF caused low N availability. The fertilisation planning should consider the SF ratio between the organic N (NO) and total N (TKN). Low NO:TKN ratios (≈0.65) needed lower Ni addition to maintaining the biomass production similar to the mineral fertilisation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. e0806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramón Isla ◽  
Mónica Guillén ◽  
Montserrat Salmerón

There are limited studies about the effect of nitrogen (N) deficiency on leaf growth, N status, and photosynthetic capacity of maize grown under field conditions in a Mediterranean climate. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of different levels of mineral N availability on leaf gas exchange parameters of sprinkler irrigated maize. The experiment was conducted in a conventional maize field located in the central part of the Ebro valley (Spain) during two seasons. Using a portable LICOR-6400 equipment, instantaneous measurements and light response curves to gas exchange were conducted in plots with different levels of N supply ranging from deficient (no fertilized) to over-fertilized (300 kg N/ha). In addition to gas exchange measurements, mineral soil N content, chlorophyll meter readings (CMR), leaf N content, and grain yield were measured in the different plots. Results showed that grain yield reached a plateau (14.5 Mg/ha) when the mineral N available was about 179 kg/ha. CMR were linearly and highly related to total N in ear leaves. The relationship between light-saturated leaf photosynthesis measurements and CMR was significant but very weak (R2=0.13) at V8 and V14 stages but increased later in the growing season (R2=0.52). Plants with intermediate levels of N supply (48<CMR<54) tended to have slightly higher assimilation rates than plants with higher CMR readings. As the available N increased, the saturation point, the light compensation point and significant increases of dark respiration rate were observed. Under the conditions of the study, leaf N contents of 1.9% in the ear leaf were enough to maximize leaf assimilation rates with no need to over-fertilize the maize crop.


Author(s):  
Željko S. Dželetović ◽  
Nevena Lj. Mihailović

Based on a greenhouse experiment, we evaluated nitrogen availability in the surface mineral layer of soil under various natural meadow stands by analyzing the following soil characteristics: total organic C, total N, initial content of easily available N inorganic forms, mineralized N content obtained by aerobic and anaerobic incubations and A-value. The experiment was performed on a test plant and through the application of urea enriched with 5.4 % 15N. The investigated soils under natural meadows are characterized with comparatively high mineralization intensity and high N availability indices. Contents of mineral N produced by aerobic incubation and the intensity of the mineralization correlate with the total organic C in the soil and the total N in the soil. Correlation of the availability index of the soil N produced by aerobic incubation with the total organic C and the total N in the soil under natural meadows is almost linear (r = 0.9981 and r = 0.9997, respectively). Contents of mineral N produced by anaerobic incubation, as well as the corresponding N availability and mineralization intensity indices correlate poorly with the mentioned parameters. Efficiency of nitrogen utilization from the applied N-fertilizer by the test crop varies within a wide range of values and correlates with the biomass yields of the test crop.


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