Soil P fractionation was used to examine changes in soil inorganic and organic P under grazed irrigated pasture in a long-term field trial at Winchmore in Mid-Canterbury. The soil P fractionation scheme used involved sequential extractions of soil with O.5M NaHCO₃ @ pH 8.5 (NaHCO₃ P), 0.1M NaOH (NaOH I P), 1M HCl (HCl P) and 0.1M NaOH (NaOH II P). The Winchmore trial comprised 5 treatments: control (no P since 1952), 376R (376 kg superphosphate ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ 1952-1957, none since), 564R (564 kg superphosphate ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ 1952-1957, none since) 188PA (188 kg superphosphate ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ since 1952) and 376PA (376 kg superphosphate ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ since 1952: Topsoil (0-7.5cm) samples taken from the different treatments in 1958, 1961, 1965, 1968, 1971, 1974 and 1977 were used in this study. Changes in soil P with time showed that significant increases in soil inorganic P occurred in the annually fertilised treatments (l88PA, 376PA). As expected, the overall increase in total soil inorganic P between 1958 and 1977 was greater in the 376PA treatment (159 µg P g⁻¹) than that in the 188PA treatment (37 µg P g⁻¹). However, the chemical forms of inorganic P which accumulated in the annually fertilised treatments changed with time. Between 1958 and 1971 most of the increases in soil inorganic P in these treatments occurred in the NaHCO₃ and NaOH I P fractions. On the other hand, increases in soil inorganic P in the annually fertilised treatments between 1971 and 1977 were found mainly in the HCl and NaOH II P fractions. These changes in soil P forms were attributed to the combined effects of lime addition in 1972 and increased amounts of sparingly soluble apatite P and iron-aluminium P in the single superphosphate applied during the 1970's. In the residual fertiliser treatments (376R, 564R) significant decreases in all of the soil inorganic P fractions (i.e. NaHCO₃ P, NaOH I P, HCl P, NaOH II p) occurred between 1958 and 1977 following the cessation of P fertiliser inputs in 1957. This was attributed to continued plant uptake of P accumulated in the soil from earlier P fertiliser additions. However, levels of inorganic P in the different soil P fractions in the residual fertiliser treatments did not decline to those in the control which indicated that some of the inorganic P accumulated in the soil from P fertiliser applied between 1952 and 1957 was present in very stable forms. In all treatments, significant increases in soil organic P occurred between 1958 and 1971. The overall increases in total soil organic P were greater in the annually fertilised treatments (70-86 µg P g⁻¹) than those in the residual fertiliser (55-64 µg P g⁻¹) and control (34 µg P g⁻¹) treatments which reflected the respective levels of pasture production in the different treatments. These increases in soil organic P were attributed to the biological conversion of native and fertiliser inorganic P to organic P in the soil via plant, animal and microbial residues. The results also showed that annual rates of soil organic P accumulation between 1958 and 1971 decreased with time which indicated that steady-state conditions with regard to net 'organic P accumulation were being reached. In the residual fertiliser treatments, soil organic P continued to increase between 1958 and 1971 while levels of soil inorganic P and pasture production declined. This indicated that organic P which accumulated in soil from P fertiliser additions was more stable and less available to plants than inorganic forms of soil P. Between 1971 and 1974 small (10-38 µg P g⁻¹) but significant decreases in total soil organic P occurred in all treatments. This was attributed to increased mineralisation of soil organic P as a result of lime (4 t ha⁻¹) applied to the trial in 1972 and also to the observed cessation of further net soil organic P accumulation after 1971. Liming also appeared to affect the chemical nature of soil organic P as shown by the large decreases in NaOH I organic P(78-88 µg P g⁻¹) and concomitant smaller increases in NaOH II organic P (53-65 µg P g⁻¹) which occurred in all treatments between 1971 and 1974. The chemical nature of soil organic P in the Winchmore long-term trial was also investigated using 31p nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and gel filtration chromatography. This involved quantitative extraction of organic P from the soil by sequential extraction with 0.1M NaOH, 0.2M aqueous acetylacetone (pH 8.3) and 0.5M NaOH following which the extracts were concentrated by ultrafiltration. Soils (0-7.5cm) taken from the control and 376PA annually fertilised treatments in 1958, 1971 and 1983 were used in this study. 31p NMR analysis showed that most (88-94%) of the organic P in the Winchmore soils was present as orthophosphate monoester P while the remainder was found as orthophosphate diester and pyrophosphate P. Orthophosphate monoester P also made up almost all of the soil organic P which accumulated in the 376PA treatment between 1958 and 1971. This indicated that soil organic P in the 376PA and control treatments was very stable. The gel filtration studies using Sephadex G-100 showed that most (61-83%) of the soil organic P in the control and 376PA treatments was present in the low molecular weight forms (<100,000 MW), although the proportion of soil organic P in high molecular weight forms (>100,000 MW) increased from 17-19% in 1958 to 38-39% in 1983. The latter was attributed to the microbial humification of organic P and indicated a shift toward more complex and possibly more stable forms of organic P in the soil with time. Assuming that the difference in soil organic P between the control and 376PA soils sampled in 1971 and 1983 represented the organic P derived from P fertiliser additions, results showed that this soil organic P was evenly distributed between the high and low molecular weight fractions. An exhaustive pot trial was used to examine the relative availability to plants of different forms of soil inorganic and organic P in long-term fertilised pasture soils. This involved growing 3 successive crops of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) in 3 Lismore silt loam (Udic Ustochrept) soils which had received different amounts of P fertiliser for many years. Two of the soils were taken from the annually fertilised treatments in the Winchmore long term trial (188PA, 376PA) and the third (Fairton) was taken from a pasture which had been irrigated with meatworks effluent for over 80 years (65 kg P ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹). Each soil was subjected to 3 treatments, namely control (no nutrients added), N100 and N200. The latter treatments involved adding complete nutrient solutions with different quantities of N at rates of 100kg N ha⁻¹ (N100) and 200kg N ha⁻¹ (N200) on an area basis. The soil P fractionation scheme used was the same as that used in the Winchmore long-term trial study (i.e. NaHCO₃ P, NaOH I P, HCl P, NaOH II p). Results obtained showed that the availability to plants of different extracted inorganic P fractions, as measured by decreases in P fractions before and after 3 successive crops, followed the order: NaHCO₃ P > NaOH I P > HCl P = NaOH II P. Overall decreases in the NaHCO₃ and NaOH I inorganic P fractions were 34% and 16% respectively, while corresponding decreases in the HCl and NaOH II inorganic P fractions were small «10%) and not significant. However, a significant decrease in HCl P (16%) was observed in one soil (Fairton-N200 treatment) which was attributed to the significant decrease in soil pH (from 6.2 to 5.1) which occurred after successive cropping. Successive cropping had little or no effect on the levels of P in the different soil organic P fractions. This indicated that net soil organic P mineralisation did not contribute significantly to plant P uptake over the short-term. A short-term field experiment was also conducted to examine the effects of different soil management practices on the availability of different forms of P to plants in the long-term fertilised pasture soils. The trial was sited on selected plots of the existing annually fertilised treatments in the Winchmore long-term trial (188PA, 376PA) and comprised 5 treatments: control, 2 rates of lime (2 and 4 t ha⁻¹ ) , urea fertiliser (400kg N ha⁻¹ ) and mechanical cultivation. The above ground herbage in the uncultivated treatments was harvested on 11 occasions over a 2 year period and at each harvest topsoil (0-7.5 cm) samples were taken from all of the treatments for P analysis. The soil P fractionation scheme used in this particular trial involved sequential extractions with 0.5M NaHCO₃ @ pH 8.5 (NaHCO₃ P), 0.1M NaOH (NaOH P), ultrasonification with 0.1M NaOH (sonicate-NaOH p) and 1M HCl (HCl P). In addition, amounts of microbial P in the soils were determined. The results showed that liming resulted in small (10-21 µg P g⁻¹) though significant decreases in the NaOH soil organic P fraction in the 188PA and 376PA plots. Levels of soil microbial P were also found to be greater in the limed treatments compared with those in the controls. These results indicated that liming increased the microbial mineralisation of soil organic P in the Winchmore soils. However, pasture dry matter yields and P uptake were not significantly affected. Although urea significantly increased dry matter yields and P uptake, it did not appear to significantly affect amounts of P in the different soil P fractions. Mechanical cultivation and the subsequent fallow period (18 months) resulted in significant increases in amounts of P in the NaHCO₃ and NaOH inorganic P fractions. This was attributed to P released from the microbial decomposition of plant residues, although the absence of plants significantly reduced levels of microbial P in the cultivated soils. Practical implications of the results obtained in the present study were presented and discussed.

No description available.

In dieser Arbeit wurde „Die Bedeutung der ‚Datschenwirtschaft’ für die Ernährungs-, Gesundheits- und soziokulturelle Situation der Großstadt-Bevölkerung in der Republik Belarus“ untersucht. Die Quellenlage ist dürftig, weil die Datschen einerseits Ergebnis der sozialistischen Mangelwirtschaft sind, aber andererseits kein Interesse an deren Untersuchung bestand. Aufgrund des aktuell geringen Kenntniszustandes hat diese Arbeit einen stärker explorativen und empirisch-deskriptiven Charakter. Es wurden 10 Wirkungsvermutungen entwickelt und im Hinblick auf ihre Plausibilität überprüft. Die Datschen leisten einen unverzichtbaren Beitrag zur Verbesserung der Ernährungssituation der Datschenfamilien und ihres Umfeldes. Ohne die Datschenernten kann die Ernährung der belarussischen Bevölkerung nicht gewährleistet werden. Die Datschen verbessern die Einkommenssituation, sie tragen durch verminderten Einkauf bzw. durch Verkauf von Datschenprodukten zum Einkommen der Familien bei. Die Datschen verbessern die Gesundheitssituation, können aber je nach Einzelsituation gleichzeitig gesundheitliche Gefährdungen bewirken. Die Datschen binden Zeit und Arbeitskraft der Bevölkerung und tragen damit zur politischen Systemstabilisierung bei. Sie gewähren nur einen begrenzten Freiraum gegenüber der Politik. Vor dem Zusammenbruch der SU leisteten die Datschen einen indirekten Beitrag zur Erhaltung der Religion, indem auf den Datschen diese mit einem geringeren Gefährdungspotential praktiziert werden konnte. Die Datschen leisten einen Beitrag zur Erhaltung von Volkskunst und Brauchtum, indem diese zwischen mehreren Generationen übertragen werden. Die Datschen begünstigen zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen durch relativ homogene Interessen und Erweiterung der Begegnungsmöglichkeiten. Sie ermöglichen Selbstverwirklichung und bewirken soziale Anerkennung. Auf den Datschen sind vielerlei Kultur- sowie Baumaßnahmen und damit das Realisieren vieler Fantasien möglich. Die Entwicklung der Datschenwirtschaft ist untrennbar mit der politischen und wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung verbunden. Im Falle weiterer Restriktionen wird sich die Datschenwirtschaft als zwingende Notwendigkeit erweisen. Im Falle von Demokratisierung und wirtschaftlicher Entwicklung wird ihre Bedeutung für die Nahrungsmittelproduktion sinken. / In this investigation "the significance of the ''dacha economy'' for the diet, health and socio-cultural situation of the city population in the Republic of Belarus" was examined. The existing literature about this topic is quite miserable because the meaning of dacha economy results from the socialist economy of scarcity and in so far there was no official interest in that type of examination. Due to the currently low knowledge about the topic this investigation has a more strongly explorative and descriptive character. In a theoretical framework assumptions about the role and importance of dacha were developed and empirically checked with regard to their plausibility. The dacha economy makes an essential contribution to the improvement for diet situation of the families and their neighbourhood. Without the dacha production the diet of the Byelorussian population cannot be ensured. The dachas improve the income situation; they contribute to the income of the families by reduced purchase or by sale of products. The dachas improve the health situation; however, at the same time they can also endanger human health depending on individual situation. The dachas are occupying time and labour of the population and contribute with that to the stabilization of the political system. They offer a limited freedom against the political system. Before the collapse of the Soviet regime the dachas made an indirect contribution to the preservation of the religion because of being able to be practiced on the dacha with a lower threat. The dachas contribute to the preservation of folk art and customs by being able to be transferred between several generations. The dacha favour human relations by relatively homogeneous interests and expansion of the meeting points. It approves self-realisation and causes social recognition. By practising cultural habits as well as constructing buildings are opens chances to realize many imaginations on the dachas. The development of the dacha economy is inseparably connected to the political and economic development of the country. In the case of further restrictions the dacha economy will prove to be a mandatory necessity. In the case of democratisation and economic development it will likely lose its meaning for the food production

This thesis assessed the technical and economic premises for installing systems that process manure in order to recover nutrients and inherent energy. The main purpose of recovering nutrients was to extract phosphorus from the manure, so as to be able to distribute more of the manure on the farm without exceeding the phosphorus regulation. Three other scenarios were included as reference; conventional manure handling, solid-liquid separation only and solid-liquid separation including energy recovery. Since most important parameters for modeling scenarios in agriculture are site-specific (e.g. soil type, crop rotation and manure composition), the thesis results were based on a case farm. The case farm is a 675 ha dairy farm with approx. 1400 milking cows, located in Östergötland, Sweden. As for the results, it was first concluded that the central characteristics of manure were the content of dry matter (DM), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). The higher the DM content, the more fuel for energy recovery, and the higher the N:P-ratio, the more on-farm N can be utilized before having to consider the P regulation. The technical premises for farm-scale nutrient recovery were limited to commercial techniques from companies operating in Sweden, and included various possible processing methods, such as; pH modification, anaerobic digestion, coagulation-flocculation, precipitation, filtration and reverse osmosis. However, most methods were either too costly or simply not realistic to install on stand-alone farms, resulting in only two feasible options; struvite precipitation and secondary solid-liquid separation with a decanter centrifuge. The comparison in economic performance for all scenarios resulted as follows: nutrient recovery by struvite precipitation was the most profitable scenario of all, if struvite was allowed to replace mineral P fertilizer (i.e. end-product on-farm utilization). If not, it was more profitable to invest in only energy recovery, as nutrient recovery by secondary solid-liquid separation or struvite precipitation with end-product sales were not as profitable. However, the absolutely largest increase in profitability lies within investing in a primary solid-liquid separation. As for the case farm, this investment reduced costs by more than 2 MSEK, while any of the latter scenarios reduce costs by 0,1-0,2 MSEK. Furthermore, the possible utilization of the waste heat from energy recovery increased profitability by a factor of ten.

The number of biogas plants in Germany is increasing from 3,711 in 2007 to 8,075 in 2016. In these biogas plants, it occurred more than 50 Mt digestate. Therefore, several investigations are started to use digestate as organic fertiliser mostly for field crop cultivation. Experiment with tomatoes was carried out were digestate was used as a supplement to the growing media in an amount of 5%, 15%, and 25%, compared with a treatment of mineral fertiliser and lupine wholemeal. The tomato yield was highest in the treatment with mineral fertilisation, the yield with 25% digestate was only a little lower. More experiments are necessary for particular regarding the amount and frequency of fertilization with digestate from biogas plants. In Germany and in Vietnam the number of sheep flocks is increasing, high amounts of uncleaned sheep wool are available. Because of the high amount of nutrients - especially nitrogen -, sheep wool pellets could be used as multi-functional fertiliser in vegetable cultivations. Four types of sheep wool pellets have been tested in protected cultivation. Tomatoes were cultivated in a greenhouse using substrate culture with perlite, bark compost, sheep wool slabs, respectively, and sheep wool pellets as fertiliser. Best growth and highest yield for tomatoes were obtained using pine bark and perlite as a substrate, both fertilised with sheep wool pellets. Based on the results of the yield and the analyses of the nutrient content in plants it seems that sheep wool pellets can be used, for the cultivation of vegetables in greenhouses. / Số lượng các nhà máy biogas tại CHLB Đức tăng từ 3.711 năm 2017 lên 8.075 năm 2016. Các nhà máy biogas sản sinh ra hơn 50 triệu tấn chất thải. Vì vậy đã có nhiều nghiên cứu liên quan đến sử dụng nguồn chất thải này làm phân bón hữu cơ cho canh tác nông nghiệp. Thí nghiệm với cà chua sử dụng chất thải biogas làm chất bổ sung dinh dưỡng cho giá thể trồng cây theo các tỷ lệ 5%, 15% và 25% đối chứng với công thức sử dụng phân hóa học và bột nguyên vỏ họ đậu. Năng suất cà chua thu được từ các công thức bổ sung chất thải biogas đều cao hơn đối chứng, chỉ có công thức bổ sung 25% có năng suất thấp hơn. Tuy nhiên vẫn cần có những nghiên cứu tiêp theo về lượng và tần xuất sử dụng bón phân với chất thải từ nhà máy biogas. Ở Đức và ở Việt Nam số lượng đàn cừu đang tăng lên, một lượng lớn lông cừu phế phẩm phát sinh. Với hàm lượng dinh dưỡng cao, đặc biệt là nitơ, viên nén từ lông cừu phế phẩm có thể sử dụng làm phân bón đa chức năng cho trồng trọt. Nghiên cứu đã sử dụng 4 loại viên nén lông cừu làm phân bón trong điều kiện trồng có kiểm soát. Cà chua được trồng trong nhà kính với 3 loại giá thể là perlite, vỏ cây thông đã ủ hoai, thảm lông cừu với phân bón là viên nén từ lông cừu phế phẩm. Năng suất cao nhất và đem lại sinh trưởng tốt nhất cho cây cà chua là công thức sử dụng vỏ cây thông và perlite. Dựa trên kết quả về năng suất và phân tích dinh dưỡng trong cây và sản phẩm, nghiên cứu cho thấy sự phù hợp của viên nén từ lông cừu phế phẩm làm phân bón cho canh tác rau trong nhà kính.

The continuity of the menace of mercury (Hg) is due to the continuous production and use of Hg and Hg containing products. Toxicity is just an outfall of use and exposure. Anthropogenic activities such as coal combustion and artisanal and small-scale gold mining have led to increasing Hg contamination and is the major source of Hg pollution into the environment that needs to be remediated. This study aimed to assess the phytoextraction capability of sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) under different fertiliser treatments in Hg-contaminated soil. The potted experiment in a controlled environment included control S. bicolor and three phytoremediation treatments, i.e., Hg only; the addition of 4:1 green compost and; the addition of 0.2% NPK fertiliser. There were conspicuous signs of Hg phytotoxicity in plants with Hg only, namely wilting, senescent, inhibition of growth, and photosynthesis. There was stunted growth, but healthy plants observed in the treatment with the addition of green compost towards the end (day 60) of exposure. However, S. bicolor grew well until the last day of exposure in the treatment with the addition of 0.2% NPK fertiliser. Thus, this treatment showed the most effective phytoextraction potential of S. bicolor in Hg-contaminated soil. The effectiveness of S. bicolor in reducing the level of mercury was best assessed in the Hg bioavailable concentration in the spiked soil in which the Hg + NPK treatment has the lowest (0.77 mg kg−1). That resulted in the highest uptake (84.31%) percentage of Hg concentration recorded in the treatment with the addition of 0.2% NPK fertiliser compared to the other two treatments. The results suggest that the proportion of phosphate in the NPK fertiliser used, plays a huge role in the phytoextraction of Hg in the contaminated soil by S. bicolor. The Translocation Factor (TF) and Bioconcentration Factor (BCF), although higher within Days 20 and 40, was greater than 1 at the end of the exposure period suggesting a high probability that Hg was significantly transferred to the aerial parts of the plants. This is regarded as typical hyperaccumulator plant species. While S. bicolor was able to reduce the level of Hg in all three treatments, Hg + NPK treatment gave overall best results in physiological growth, the uptake, and reducing the level of Hg bioavailable in the spiked soil in terms of the effectiveness of phytoremediation method. / Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Science)

This study assesses the contribution of agricultural non-point source pollution, to poor water quality of the Vaal River within the Grootdraai dam catchment area. The study evaluates agricultural pollutants affecting the quality of water within the study area. The impact of agricultural non-point source pollution on the water quality of the Vaal River was evaluated by establishing a correlation between the quantity of polluted runoff reaching the River and the quantity of measured nitrates and phosphates in its waters. A questionnaire using random sampling was used to capture data from 15 commercial farmers 35 local residents and the Department of Water Affairs management. The results of the study show that agricultural nutrients are heavily impacting and compromising the water quality of the Grootdraai Dam. The mean concentrations of Nitrogen and Phosphorus were found to be well above the water quality guidelines there by promoting eutrophication. / Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Management)

This study assesses the contribution of agricultural non-point source pollution, to poor water quality of the Vaal River within the Grootdraai dam catchment area. The study evaluates agricultural pollutants affecting the quality of water within the study area. The impact of agricultural non-point source pollution on the water quality of the Vaal River was evaluated by establishing a correlation between the quantity of polluted runoff reaching the River and the quantity of measured nitrates and phosphates in its waters. A questionnaire using random sampling was used to capture data from 15 commercial farmers 35 local residents and the Department of Water Affairs management. The results of the study show that agricultural nutrients are heavily impacting and compromising the water quality of the Grootdraai Dam. The mean concentrations of Nitrogen and Phosphorus were found to be well above the water quality guidelines there by promoting eutrophication. / Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Management)