Application of Individual Digestate Forms for the Improvement of Hemp Production

Jiří Velechovský, Matěj Malík, Lukáš Kaplan and Pavel Tlustoš
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Jiří Velechovský: Department of Agroenvironmental Chemistry and Plant Nutrition, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Matěj Malík: Department of Agroenvironmental Chemistry and Plant Nutrition, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Lukáš Kaplan: Department of Agroenvironmental Chemistry and Plant Nutrition, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Pavel Tlustoš: Department of Agroenvironmental Chemistry and Plant Nutrition, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Prague, Czech Republic

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 11, 1-16

Abstract: In a two-year vegetation field experiment, the fertilizing effects of by-products from the agricultural biogas plant—a solid phase of digestate (SPD) and a liquid phase of digestate (LPD)—were studied and compared with mineral fertilization (NPK) on the biomass yield, content and nutrient uptake by Cannabis sativa L. plants. Furthermore, the agrochemical properties of the soil were evaluated at the end of the experiment. In all variants of the experiment, a uniform nitrogen dose of 150 kg/ha was applied. The dose of other nutrients corresponded to the fertilizer used. The biggest fertilizing effect, and therefore the greatest hemp biomass yield and nutrient uptake, was demonstrated when combining SPD and LPD fertilization in one treatment. However, the differences were statically insignificant ( p ≤ 0.05). The applied amount appeared to be sufficient for the nutrition of hemp plants and was comparable to mineral fertilization. The distribution of nutrients between leaves and stems varied depending on the nutrient monitored. Analyses after the end of the experiment did not show different contents of accessible nutrients in the soil on the studied variants. The content of accessible risk elements in the soil was not affected by the application of the SPD and the LPD. The experiment showed that cannabis plants are able to achieve equivalent biomass yields (8.68 t/ha) using the combination of LPD and SPD by-products from a biogas plan compared to commercial mineral fertilizer (7.43 t/ha). Therefore, we can recommend a split application of LPD and SPD as a suitable alternative to mineral fertilization. Due to prolonged nutrient release from SPD, we can expect a smaller negative environmental impact than current fertilization practices.

Keywords: Cannabis sativa L.; fertilization; biogas plants; solid phase of digestate; liquid phase of digestate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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