Electro-Hydraulic Effect as a Factor of Increasing the Efficiency of Organic Fertilizers in Agro-Industrial Production

Abstract

Background. The development of the agro-industrial complex, the intensification of crop production cause soil pollution with the remains of fertilizers and herbicides. Therefore, reducing the amount of mineral fertilizers used, application of modern ecologically safe agricultural technologies is an urgent task. Among promising methods of obtaining organic fertilizers and soil treatment, the method of electrohydraulic effect (EHE) is especially noteworthy. This approach contributes to enriching soils with nitrogen and phosphorus, improving their structure and fertility.
 Objective. The aim of the work is evaluation of the effect of EHE on the qualitative and quantitative composition of organic extracts (cattle manure, earthworm coprolites, chicken droppings) and the effect of the obtained fertilizers on the morphometric indicators of corn seedlings and the content of photosynthetic pigments.
 Methods. The processing of organic substrates by EHE was carried out on a pulse generator with a power of 5 kW. Ammonia content in fertilizers was determined with the Nesler reagent, phosphates – with the Lowry–Lopez method, nitrates – with the Griess reagent, humic acids – with UV/Vis spectroscopy. Morphometric indicators, the content of photosynthetic pigments of corn seedlings were determined on the 7th day.
 Results. EHE treatment contributed to an increase in the content of phosphates, nitrates (by 15–60%), ammonium (8–14%) and humic acids (50–58%) in fertilizers. As a result, the morphometric indicators of seedlings increased compared to variants without EHE treatment (root mass – by 160–200%) under the action of processed fertilizers from chicken droppings and coprolites. Under the influence of all organic fertilizers, the content of photosynthesis pigments in plants also increased after the action of EHE: the content of carotenoids increased by 8.7% when using chicken manure and by 10% for coprolites.
 Conclusions. The treatment of organic waste from cattle manure, earthworm coprolites and chicken droppings by the EHE method is an effective approach to obtaining environmentally safe fertilizers characterized by a high content of phosphates, nitrates and ammonium, which is a favorable factor in growing plants, in particular in the early stages. Under the action of organic fertilizers from extracts of chicken droppings and coprolites, the morphometric indicators of corn seedlings significantly increased compared to the control. Our results show promising research on the effectiveness of the EHE method in various fields, in particular for cleaning and enriching soils, decontamination of industrial wastes, etc.