Phosphorus Diffusion and Agronomic Efficiency of Chicken Litter Organomineral Fertilizers Improved with Binder Materials

Abstract

The use of chicken litter (CL) as a source of nutrients for agriculture is a sustainable alternative to disposal the organic waste generated in poultry production and some granulated organomineral fertilizers (OMFs) have been produced for this purpose. However, the low resistance to breakage of granules of such fertilizers is still limiting large-scale use and storage. Previous work has demonstrated that the use of binder materials is able to provide an increase in resistance to the breaking of granules of OMFs, however, their influence on the dynamics of nutrient release in the soil and agronomic efficiency have not yet been evaluated. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the use of additive materials on the release of nutrients into the soil and the agronomic efficiency of organomineral fertilizers. In order to do this, OMFs produced with 3% of different bentonites, kaolinite and magnesium oxide were used. Experiments of phosphorus diffusion in the soil and evaluation of agronomic efficiency in pots demonstrate that the addition of these materials to FOMs does not influence the dynamics of P release and agronomic efficiency, when compared to the control without additives. OMFs containing additive materials to improve their mechanical strength without loss of nutrient release and agronomic efficiency are the main result of this work.