A New Method to Recycle Dairy Waste for the Nutrition of Wheat Plants

Abstract

Dairy products are vital components of human food, however, they are rapidly spoiled due to their high content of organic matter which encourages the growth of decomposing microbes. The recycling of dairy wastes is an ideal solution to preserve the environment, as it is in line with the principles of sustainable agriculture. In this experiment, an organic fertilizer was extracted from dairy wastes and was used for the nutrition of wheat grown on sandy soils under two-year field studies. The application rate of the extracted organic fertilizer was 8 ton ha−1. Moreover, the same rates of N, P, and K were added from inorganic fertilizers. The extracted organic fertilizer significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced the wheat growth and increased chlorophyll by 11% and 16% in the first and second season, respectively, in comparison to the inorganic fertilization. The extracted organic fertilizer significantly minimized the soil pH from an initial value of 8.00 to 7.05. The tested organic fertilizer increased the uptake of N, P, and K by 55%, 49%, and 51% above the inorganic nutrition, respectively. The wheat straw and grain yield increased by 16% and 29% as a result of the addition of the organic fertilizer extracted from dairy wastes. The dairy wastes organic fertilizer caused a notable improvement in the soil quality. The extracted organic fertilizer was able to supply wheat with its nutrient requirements as it showed a remarkable superiority over the mineral fertilization. The disposal of expired dairy waste can be managed in a way that preserves the environment by converting it to organic fertilizers. Laboratory and field experiments have proven the efficiency of the extracted organic fertilizer in nutrition of wheat plants in sandy soils with low fertility.

Organic Amendment and Mulching Enhanced the Growth and Fruit Quality of Squash Plants (Cucurbita pepo L.) Grown on Silty Loam Soils

“…Agricultural waste has increased dramatically in recent years due to the increase in agricultural production and thus the burden has increased on environmental scientists to devise innovative methods to recycle the agricultural waste [1,2]. Converting the agricultural waste into organic fertilizers is an ideal solution to reduce environmental problems and at the same time increase the soil fertility [3,4]. In the current study, wheat straw was used to cover the soil to increase the productivity of squash with the use of organic fertilizers instead of the chemical ones.…”

“…Organic waste has been increased in recent years due to the increase in agricultural production and thus the environmental concerns have increased [1,2]. Recycling and converting of organic waste to organic fertilizers is an ideal solution to reduce environmental problems and increase soil fertility [3,4]. Furthermore, the use of organic amendments increases the soil quality and leads to enhancement of plant productivity [5,6].…”

“…Squash plants are widely cultivated in all soils [34], and can be planted in many temperature conditions (e.g., Mediterranean, tropical, and sub-tropical regions) [35]. Squash production in low fertility soils depends mainly on increasing the soil organic matter, which controls the soil physicochemical properties and nutrient availability [4]. Increasing the soil content of organic matter will lead to obtaining a safe product and savings in the consumption of mineral fertilizers in line with the principles of sustainable development [25].…”

Corn Cob-Derived Biochar Improves the Growth of Saline-Irrigated Quinoa in Different Orders of Egyptian Soils

“…Some inorganic forms of N can be adsorbed to BC and minimize the emission of ammonia and nitrate leaching from soil [23]. The addition of BC can potentially allow the slow release of nutrients to the plant roots and increase the nutrient use efficiency [23,34,51,52,69]. Owing to the internal reactive surface area of the soil-biochar matrix, the decrease in nutrient leaching is related to increased nutrient use efficiency via an increase in water-soluble nutrients and their retention and, consequently, their availability [23,52,57,70].…”

Patterns of Nutrient Dynamics within and below the Rootzone of Collard Greens Grown under Different Organic Amendment Types and Rates

“…Further to it, they stated that K availability from animal manure is nearly 100%; therefore, animal manure can be used similar to K fertilizer. Leytem et al [53] evaluated the cycling of P and N through cropping systems in an intensive dairy production region of Magic Valley located in the southcentral Idaho (USA) and concluded that there are benefits to applying livestock manures as they can provide large amounts of N and P as well as a variety of additional macro-and micronutrients [54] to growing crops probably because the animal manures are rich in nutrients than other organic manures [55]. The movement of nutrients is also related to soil physicochemical properties that are impacted by manure types.…”