Abstract
Manure management is the main strategy for mitigating gas emissions from livestock farming. In this study, a laboratory-scale experiment was set up to identify suitable conditions to be applied in a farm-scale experiment. The liquid fraction (LF) of slurry was aerobically treated and greenhouse gas emissions from soil were evaluated. Furthermore, the value of treated LF as a fertilizer on spinach plants was also tested. The aeration of LF determined an increase in mean alkalinity due to ammonia loss. The mass fraction of heavy metals also decreased, likely due to the reduction in solubility. After being applied on soil, aerated LF determined lower CO2 and N2O emissions compared to untreated LF due to a reduced nitrogen load. Spinach plants fertilized with treated LF showed a lush growth and exhibited a lower heavy metal mass fraction as well as a higher content of antioxidants compared to plants fertilized with untreated slurry. Our results show that aeration might be an effective alternative for slurry management as it is able to produce an eco-friendly final product with a high fertilizing value.
Highlights
Livestock farming produces large volumes of manure consisting of a mixture of animal feces, urine, bedding materials, and other materials associated with animal waste production
Manure storage in tanks and slurry spreading in the field involve the production and the emission into the atmosphere of ammonia (NH3 ) and greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide (CO2 ), nitrous oxide (N2 O), and methane (CH4 ), which have a negative impact on the climate and environment
This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the aerobic treatment of buffalo slurry in reducing soil CO2 and N2 O
Summary
Livestock farming produces large volumes of manure consisting of a mixture of animal feces, urine, bedding materials, and other materials associated with animal waste production. Many studies have been carried out in order to find innovative solutions able to mitigate the impact of livestock farming on GHG emissions, including covering slurry tanks, manure composting, acidification, anaerobic digestion, solid–liquid separation, dilution, and slurry aeration [1,2]. Aeration is an alternative practice to treat slurry. It consists of the biological oxidation of degradable organic matter in which the continuous supply of oxygen by aerobic bacteria results in the production of CO2 and water as by-products. If the aeration process is properly controlled, the supply of oxygen can represent an alternative economic method compared to other more expensive ones, such as anaerobic digestion, in mitigating GHG emissions during manure storage and after its disposal on the field
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