Use of compost from a compost barn installation as organic fertilizer
¹Federal University of Lavras, Agricultural Engineering Department, Campus Universitário, PO Box 3037 Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil
²Federal University of Lavras, Agriculture Department, Campus Universitário,
PO Box 3037 Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil
³University of Florence, Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI), Via San Bonaventura, 13, Firenze, Italy
*Correspondence: gabriel.ferraz@ufla.br
Abstract:
Organic fertilization is a profitable option and an environmentally correct alternative. The compost barn confinement system generates an organic material that can be applied to fertilize crops used to produce food for dairy cattle. This work objective is to evaluate the use of this material as an organic fertilizer. For the tests, sunflowers were planted in 15 L pots made up of ¾ soil and ¼ sand, kept in a greenhouse and four doses of fertilizer were tested (0, 5, 25 and 125 g/pot), using organic compost generated by a compost barn with Holstein dairy cows. The tests showed positive results for plant growth and development and for grain production for all doses, with a significant difference only for the 125 g dose, which presented an average number of leaves of 15.96, stem diameter of 12.5 mm and thousand seed weight of 28.63 g. It was found that there was greater plant growth and greater grain filling with an increase in the fertilizer dose, proving the positive effects on the plant of using organic compost from a compost barn.
Key words:
composting, dairy herd, fertilizer dosage, grain, sunflower oil