Integral approach for the evaluation of poultry manure, compost, and digestate: Amendment characterization, mineralization, and effects on soil and intensive crops

The egg industry has increased its production worldwide during the last decades. Several waste management strategies have been proposed to treat large volumes of poultry manure. Composting and anaerobic digestion are the main stabilization processes used. However, there are disagreements on the criteria for applying raw and treated poultry manure to the soil. We studied the relationship between physicochemical, toxicological, microbiological, parasitological, and metabarcoding parameters of raw and treated poultry manure (compost and digestate). Subsequently, we evaluated the mineralization of C, N and P, and the effects of amended soil on horticultural and ornamental crops. Compost and digestate presented better general conditions than poultry manure for use as organic soil amendments. The highest pathogenic microorganism content (total and fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella spp.) was recorded for poultry manure. Multivariate analyses allowed associating a lower phytotoxicity with compost and a higher microbial diversity with digestate. Therefore, only compost presented stability and maturity conditions. We found high released CO2-C, N loss, and P accumulation in soil amended with a high dose of poultry manure during mineralization. However, high doses of poultry manure and digestate increased the biomass production in the valorization assay. We recommend the soil application of stabilized and mature poultry manure-derived amendments, which reduce the negative impacts on the environment and promote more sustainable practices in agricultural systems.

Instituto de Microbiología y Zoología Agrícola (IMYZA)

Fil: Rizzo, Pedro Federico. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Investigación Microbiología y Zoología Agrícola; Argentina

Fil: Young, Brian Jonathan. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Investigación Microbiología y Zoología Agrícola; Argentina

Fil: Pin Viso, Natalia Daniela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular; Argentina

Fil: Carbajal, Jazmín. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Investigación Microbiología y Zoología Agrícola; Argentina

Fil: Martínez, Laura Elizabeth. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Mendoza; Argentina

Fil: Riera, Nicolas Iván. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Investigación Microbiología y Zoología Agrícola; Argentina

Fil: Bres, Patricia Alina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Investigación Microbiología y Zoología Agrícola; Argentina

Fil: Beily, María Eugenia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Investigación Microbiología y Zoología Agrícola; Argentina

Fil: Barbaro, Lorena Alejandra. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Floricultura; Argentina

Fil: Farber, Marisa Diana. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Agrobiotecnologia y Biologia Molecular; Argentina

Fil: Farber, Marisa Diana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina

Fil: Zubillaga, Marta Susana. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Cátedra de Fertilidad y Fertilizantes; Argentina

Fil: Crespo, Diana Elvira. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Investigación Microbiología y Zoología Agrícola; Argentina