Digestate application with regard to greenhouse gases and physical soil properties
¹Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Machinery Utilization, Kamýcká 129, CZ165 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic
²Crop Research Institute, Division of Crop Protection and Plant Health, Drnovská 507/73, CZ161 06 Prague, Czech Republic
*Correspondence: korba@tf.czu.cz
Abstract:
The article deals with the method of application of digestate with regard to the environment, soil properties and utilization of nutrients by plants. The aim is to monitor the dependence of the emission gas leakage and the dose of applied fertilizer. With the current expansion of biogas plants, a large amount of waste product, especially digestate, is being generated. This product is most often used as a liquid organic fertilizer because it contains substances important for plant growth. The disadvantage of this fertilizer is the release of greenhouse gases into the air. The digestate contains mainly ammonia, nitrogen in the residual organic matter and is a fertilizer with rapidly releasing nitrogen. The ammonium nitrogen contained in the digestate is easily subject to air losses. Therefore, a method of application for a certain crop is sought, where the smallest leaks of gases into the air occur. Different amounts of doses for the same route of administration are compared. To measure the amount of emission gases, a wind tunnel was placed on each variant of the application, taking air above the soil surface, which is discharged to the gas analyser. The monitored greenhouse gases are CH4, NH3 and CO2. Furthermore, physical properties of soil were monitored in order to verify the conditions of the experiment. One of the parameters measured was the soil bulk density of the soil by taking intact soil samples. The penetration resistance of the soil was also determined, which indicates the degree of compaction. The use of nutrients was assessed through the condition of the stand on each variant by monitoring vegetation indices using remote sensing of the earth.
Key words:
ammonia, digestate, greenhouse gases, physical soil properties, Remote sensing