Bamboo Plantations for Phytoremediation of Pig Slurry: Plant Response and Nutrient Uptake.

Julien Piouceau,Grégory Bois,Matthieu Anastase,Véronique Arfi,Julien Morel,Frédéric Panfili,Laurent Dufossé,Frédéric Feder

doi:10.3390/plants9040522

Abstract

On Réunion Island, a French overseas territory located in the western Indian Ocean, increasing pig livestock farming is generating large quantities of slurry. Most of it is spread on a little agricultural land due to the insular context. Considering the limitation of the quantities that can be spread on agricultural areas (European “Nitrate Directive” 91/676/EEC), the use of wastewater treatment systems using phytoremediation principles is an attractive option for the pig slurry treatment. A wastewater treatment system using bamboo groves was assessed for the pig slurry treatment. Three field plots were designed on an agricultural area and planted with 40 bamboo clumps on each plot. A total of 67 m3 of pig slurry was spread on two plots in two forms: raw slurry and centrifuged slurry. The latter plot was watered with tap water. The total amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium was 5.3, 1.4 and 5.5 t·ha−1, respectively, for the raw slurry treatment and 4.2, 0.4 and 5.1 t·ha−1, respectively, for the centrifuged slurry treatment. The response of bamboo species to pig slurry application was determined using morphologic parameters, Chlorophyll a fluorescence measurements and biomass yield. Compared to the control, the biomass increased by 1.8 to 6 times, depending on the species and the form of slurry. Depending on the species, the average biomass ranged from 52 to 135 t.DM.ha−1 in two years of experiment.

Highlights

With the increase of intensive agriculture and livestock farming, large quantities of manure are generated [1]
The Fv/Fm ratios were significantly higher for the bamboo species irrigated with pig slurry than those with tap water in the control plot (p < 0.001)
Pig slurry supply on bamboo plantation increased the photosynthetic rate of bamboo, their specific leaf area, the number and the diameter of shoots produced

Summary

Introduction

With the increase of intensive agriculture and livestock farming, large quantities of manure are generated [1]. Most of this manure is spread on agricultural land as a source of nutrient for crops [2]. Such practice causes environmental problems due the over-application of animal manure to soil [3]. This over-application generates nitrate and phosphorus leaching [4] into groundwater that causes eutrophication, algae proliferation and acidification [5,6,7].

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Conclusion