An evaluation of farmyard slurry enriched with either poultry manure or inorganic N-P-K as fertilizer for perennial ryegrass

Abstract

The cost of slurry disposal on the farm by spraying over grass is unlikely to be recovered by the resulting improvements in grass yield. By enriching slurry with another fertilizer, for example poultry manure or inorganic N-P-K, slurry disposal and fertilizer application could be performed in one operation. Experiments were carried out to evaluate poultry manure and inorganic N-P-K as possible fertilizers which could be applied to grass together with slurry. In terms of dry matter yield and the levels of P, K, Na, and Mg in Lolium perenne (S.23), the best overall advantage under low temperature conditions was gained by the use of inorganic N-P-K alone; a mixture of poultry manure and slurry did however result in a greater dry matter production than was found when poultry manure alone was used. Under high temperature conditions, the use of poultry manure and slurry gave better results when they were applied alone rather than together, but a mixture of slurry and inorganic N-P-K produced an overall advantage over inorganic N-P-K alone. re]19750523