The assessment of nutrients content of manure in Russian part of Baltic region

Аннотация

Рассмотрен вопрос содержания питательных веществ (азота и фосфора) в отходах животноводства хозяйств российской части Балтийского региона: актуальность соответствующих справочных документов, сравнение справочных и экспериментальных данных, совершенствование справочных документов.

Ключевые слова: навоз, помёт, питательные вещества, азот, фосфор.

Briukhanov A.Yu.¹, Minin V.B.², Subbotin I.A.³

¹ ORCID: 0000-0003-4963-3821, PhD in Engineering, ² ORCID:0000-0002-5207-8921, PhD in Agriculture, ³ ORCID: 0000-0002-6189-9385, Institute for Engineering and Environmental Problems in Agricultural Production (IEEP, Russia)

THE ASSESSMENT OF NUTRIENTS CONTENT OF MANURE IN RUSSIAN PART OF BALTIC REGION

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of nutrient content of manure in Russian part of Baltic region: the relevance of reference documents, a comparison of the reference and experimental data, the improvement of reference documents.

Keywords: manure, litter, nutrient content, nitrogen, phosphorus, assessment.

Introduction

nutrient animal waste

Animal wastes, included: manure of cattle, swine and poultry, are important and sometimes the sole source of nutrients for soil and they provide a mineral nutrition of crops. At the same time, manure can create a risk of pollution natural ecosystems and water sources by Nitrogen and Phosphorus compounds [1].

Information about the nutrients exact content in manure needed for calculation of the objective nutrients balance of the farm as well as for preparation of composting scheme and the subsequent calculation of organic fertilizer doses for field crops. Under ideal conditions, it is considered that for ended the growth and healthy organism the amount of Nitrogen input with feed and output with urine and faeces are equal, and it was called the Nitrogen equilibrium (Nitrogenous equilibrium). However, in real terms, the ratio of the amounts of Nitrogen and Phosphorus entered the animal body and left it is usually compiled in more complex way. Therefore, the determination of these elements content in livestock waste is an important prerequisite for proper nutrient flow management on a farm [2].

Hereby, reference data is needed for right design the process and the objects for manure handling. For this purpose the official regulatory document RD-APC 1.10.15.02-08 «Guidelines for the technological design of removal systems and preparation for the use of manure and litter» is used in Russian Federation. The document was prepared by a group of Russian leading agricultural research institutions and was approved by the Ministry of Agriculture of Russian Federation in 2008. The previous version had been approved in 1999.

Usually, farmers use reference information presented by the document. Chemical methods for analyzing nutrients content in manure are complicated and required specialized laboratory conditions.

The chemical analytical laboratory of the Federal State Budget Scientific Institution «Institute for Engineering and Environmental Problems in Agricultural Production» (IEEP) has analyzed a large number of manure samples in the framework of different agri-environmental research in recent years. The laboratory results of Nitrogen and Phosphorus determination in the manure showed significant difference with reference data in number cases. The goal of the study - to obtain objective data of Nitrogen and Phosphorus content in cattle, swine and poultry manure on the farms of the Russian part of the Baltic region.

Materials and methods

For data analysis, we used the analytical results of manure samples collected at the farms of the Russian part of the Baltic region in 2013-2015.

Sampling was carried out according to State Standard GOST 26712-85.

Determination of moisture in fresh manure was performed according the State Standard GOST 26713-85 and the method of sample drying at 105є C.

Determination of total nitrogen and phosphorus performed after the mineralization of the organic substance in concentrated sulfuric acid with hydrogen peroxide according to State Standard GOST 26715-85.

Results and discussion

The table 1 presents comparison between the content of nutrients in fresh manure accordance the RD-APC 1.10.15.02-08 and the average values obtained by the Laboratory IEEP.

Table 1 - comparative evaluation of manure nutrient content

The biggest difference between the reference data and the experimental data - 30.5 % and 60.3 % was observed for total Phosphorus and Nitrogen in the dry matter of poultry manure.

Statistical characteristics of the dataset, based on the results of analyzes carried out in nitrogen and phosphorus in the manure of cattle presented in the table 2.

Table 2 - statistical characteristic of data on the nutrient content of cattle manure, % of dry matter

The reason of such large fluctuations in manure nutrient content is explained by the fact that in recent years, there are significant differences in technologies of housing and feeding at the Russian farms. Also, it is considerable variability in the productivity of animals (especially for cows). All these, obviously, is reflected in the variability of nutrient content in manure.

Based on the results, we can conclude that, for the improvement of the Russian system of evaluation of the nutrient content of manure it is necessary to split a general document into several separate documents for different geographical areas with similar soil and climatic conditions. Also, need more frequent updating of reference data. Also, it is advisable to introduce additional columns to account for additional conditions related to feeding, housing and genetic features of animals and other conditions, this change would identify patterns associated with these factors. For regular collecting all this information, it is advisable to arrange an electronic database.

The authors propose to create a unified database of the nutrient content of manure for the Baltic region, providing the possibility of accumulation of data for analysis and detection depending between properties of manure and various factors (housing, feeding, genetic characteristics of animals, etc.).