Abstract
After the infection of foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks in Miyazaki, Japan, in 2010, cattle and swine were slaughtered and buried in a site of 100 ha, where weed control is difficult and costly since lands are unlevelled and prohibited to be plowed for 3 years. To consider the adaptability of napiergrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.) to the animal burial site for weed control, two napiergrass varieties, normal Wruk wona (WK) and dwarf late-heading variety (DL), were transplanted, compared with sowing of maize (MZ) and sorghum (SR) in both burial (BU) and neighboring bordered area (BO) in mid-June 2011. Even though several weed control methods were subjected to lands, MZ and SR failed to be established stably at only 1/3–1/2 due to the suppression of growth by indigenous weeds, while WK and DL successfully established as high as 82–91% and 73–85%, respectively, in 2011. The poor establishment of MZ and SR after sowing tended to be increased with the year from establishment. Plant dry matter yield and cellulose concentration were the highest in WK in 2011, while overwintering ability was constantly higher in DL in the 3 years. It is necessary to consider the utilization of forage plants on the animal burial site.
Highlights
After the infection of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks in Miyazaki Prefecture in 2010, around 68 thousand head of cattle and 220 thousand swine were slaughtered and buried in 252 sites, reaching up to 100 ha [1]
The experiment was conducted in the animal burial (BU) site sized at 9-10 m width × 63-64 m length, where 32 dairy cows, 22 beef cows, and 281 swine were buried after slaughtering, and the neighboring border (BO) area, which was managed together with bordered area (BO) site before the FMD outbreaks, is located in Maizuru Ranch, Takanabe Agricultural High School (31.5∘N, 131.5∘E, 71 m a.s.l.)
The pH and electric conductivity (EC) in the top soil are shown in Figures 1(a) and 1(b), respectively, for both BU and BO areas
Summary
After the infection of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks in Miyazaki Prefecture in 2010, around 68 thousand head of cattle and 220 thousand swine were slaughtered and buried in 252 sites, reaching up to 100 ha (around 97.5 ha) [1]. Since the FMD is a highly contagious disease among bovine diseases [2], the Japanese national law ordered to slaughter and bury cattle and swine in the infectious regions and prohibited plowing the sites where slaughtered animals were buried for 3 years [3]. 32 dairy cows, 22 beef cows, and 281 swine were buried after slaughtering, and weed control on the burial sites was difficult to be conducted. Another concern is the soil pollution caused by the large amount of minerals being effluent from the decomposition of buried animals by soil microorganisms [3]
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