Seven years of pig slurry fertilization: impacts on soil chemical properties and the element content of winter barley plants

Abstract

Intensive pig farming produces large amounts of slurry, which is applied to agricultural soils as fertilizer. A 7-year field study was performed to check the effect of pig slurry on soil properties and on the accumulation of some essential nutrients and heavy metals in a calcareous silty-loam soil (0–0.3 m) and in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) plants in two cropping seasons with contrasting amounts of rainfall. Five fertilization treatments, control (no N applied), mineral fertilizer (90 kg N ha−1), and different N doses of pig slurry (146, 281, 534 kg N ha−1), were applied at sowing of a barley crop. Organic carbon, available P and K, and total P in soil increased with slurry dose. No differences were found in Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Pb soil concentrations. Slurries increased Cu, Mn, and Zn extractions and plant concentrations of P in straw and Zn in grain. However, the lowest slurry rate was able to maintain the highest grain yields while improving fertility. The results of this research study support the sustainability of pig slurry fertilization at appropriate rates in relation to soil chemical quality.

Progress on the Use of Hydroponics to Remediate Hog Farm Wastewater after Vermifiltration Treatment

“…The ideal destination would be their introduction into the pig diet, but food safety (e.g., toxicity in Caco-2 cell lines, microbiological and metal content) must be assessed. Nevertheless, as pig slurry is a simpler matrix than, for example, urban wastewater, and it is traditionally used in soil for agricultural fertilization, proving to be sustainable at appropriate application rates (e.g., [76]), it can be speculated that the lettuce produced by this treatment has good prospects for use in animal feed (a disinfection stage before hydroponics would contribute positively). Another feasible destination for the plants is composting or vermicomposting to produce organic compost for agriculture.…”

Effects of fertilizer application strategies on soil organic carbon and total nitrogen storage under different agronomic practices: A meta‐analysis

“…The impact of Mn on soil organic carbon stability depends on Mn characteristics and soil management, which will determine the carbon decomposition rate (Palm et al, 2001; Shakoor et al, 2022). Gross and Glaser (2021) found that Mn increases SOC according to the type of Mn.…”