Abstract
Brazil is one of the main producers of pork meat in the world. It is well-known that the agricultural sector is a key component of the economic development of this country, where super-intensive fields are only competitive in the globalized market. For the farmers, the application of swine manure to fertilize the soil can increase the yearly income, but it also may cause serious environmental problems related to soil health and soil quality. In this research, we assessed the effects of applying liquid swine manure in a tropical soybean (Glycine max) plantation to better understand when this technique stops being effective and starts causing a threat to soil health and quality. Therefore, we compared values of several soil properties and the soybean yield on treated fields at 10 random points belonging to 7 different plots that were treated with the liquid swine manure over a period ranging from 0 to 15 years. The results showed a positive linear trend in soybean production from 2.45 to 3.08 Mg ha−1 yr−1. This positive trend was also recorded for some key soil parameters such as porosity and exchangeable cations content (Ca, Mg, K, and Al). Additionally, positive effects were also found for organic matter content after 10 years of application. Our findings suggest that the use of liquid swine manure has a positive effect on soybean yield and improves soil quality, particularly on mixed farms where pigs are intensively raised nearby cultivated fields.
Highlights
Humanity will reach around 9 billion people by 2050 [1]
Brazil has to face a double challenge in the few decades: (a) increasing its meat production aimed at feeding local people and maintaining exports, and (b) managing farm manure properly in order to reduce their negative impacts
The survival of many farmers of the central region of the Paraná State (Southern Brazil) depends on finding strategies that allow for optimizing the economic performance of the land since the traditional faxinal system is vanishing due to its lack of profitability [40]
Summary
Humanity will reach around 9 billion people by 2050 [1]. This fact will cause a significant increase in food demand for future human consumption [2]. In 2016, Brazil produced 3.73 million tons of pork, mostly in landless farms, which ranks them in fourth place in the world top statistics after China, the European Union, and the United States [9]. This means a large production of (solid and liquid) manure and other wastes that can be found on an intensive farm [10]. Brazil has to face a double challenge in the few decades: (a) increasing its meat production aimed at feeding local people and maintaining exports, and (b) managing farm manure properly in order to reduce their negative impacts (e.g., water pollution)
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