What can we do with the bovine manure generated in agroecosystems?
(Edited)
In the last decade, faced with the visible and various negative factors presented by the conventional agricultural model, agriculture based on ecological and sustainable alternatives has emerged with the use of endogenous resources that can be used rationally, in order to improve the yields and productivity of agricultural systems while preserving the functional biodiversity of agroecosystems.
We all know that in livestocks production units there is a waste in large quantities that is bovine manure, previously nothing was said about this element in the university educational programs of the agricultural area, an endogenous resource that can return enough organic matter to the soil and nutrients necessary for plant growth was ignored. It is obvious that we have an organic resource on livestock farms that is produced in large quantities, regarding Urbano (2008), he mentioned that the production of manure per animal unit (U.A) per year is approximately twenty (20) times its live weight.
As mentioned above, this resource contains high contents of residual organic matter, which makes it a potential raw material for the production of organic fertilizers, one should only look for the most economical and practical ways to apply it on cultivated surfaces. One of the most widely used methods in different latitudes is the elaboration of organic fertilizers implemented in different ways with a simple, low-cost technology available to producers in the area and its application could improve the productive characteristics of grasslands. Until now it is known that there are different methods to obtain liquid organic fertilizers with the use of bovine manure, certainly a liquid fertilizer is easy and quick to apply, which facilitates the fertilization work by the producer.
Among the mentioned liquid fertilizers that can be made with bovine manure is manure tea and biol are the simplest to make and those that we have tested in agrotechnics to apply it to pastures. According to Mosquera (2010), these liquid fertilizers are a simple alternative of organic fertilization, where solid manure is converted into a liquid fertilizer, through an aerobic or anaerobic fermentation process and that can provide macro elements such as Nitrogen, Phosphorus and potassium, their nutritional percentages will depend on the quality of the food that the animals consume. These fertilizers also contribute and activate the mycobiota of the soil.
In this same vein, the CIARA Foundation (n.d.), explains that the organic waste that can be used for the production of fertilizers are of vegetable and animal origin, although in most cases both are mixed, some production units tend to incorporate these residues directly into the soil without any previous process, in this case the producer must take into account some factors so that there is a transformation or decomposition of organic matter such as the aforementioned techniques or in case of making solid fertilizers it can be compost and bocashi.
There are many antecedents that have been generated in recent years with the use of biols or dung tea for fertilization, for sample Crespo, Arteaga, Valdez and Vera (2006), applied dung tea to Bermuda cross grass, obtaining favorable results when the yield of the grass was considerably increased, achieving increases similar to those achieved with synthetic fertilizers, results that are significant since, there are periods where forage productivity progressively decreases due to nutrient imbalances.
Final considerations
Dear readers, for everything described so far, the potential of manure as organic matter that can be used to make fertilizers in agroecosystems is justified, always taking into account that it must go through a series of processes for its use, it is from there that the concern of making products based on organic waste is generated, since, they must go through a previous process of mineralization before being integrated into the soil, with this it is possible to ensure the availability of an adequate part of macro and micro nutrients in the assimilable forms for crops.
Without a doubt, reliable and sustainable fertilization programs can be implemented with products made from available local resources such as bovine excreta that can provide a recycling of nutrients to agroecosystems.
Thanks for reading our post, until a next installment
Bibliographic references
Urbano, P. (2008). Phytotechnics Plant production engineering. Madrid: Mundi-prensa.
Mosquera, B. (2010).Manual for developing and applying organic fertilizers and pesticides. Recovered, from http://www.fonag.org.ec/doc_pdf/abonos_organicos.pdf
The CIARA Foundation. (n.f.). Agroecological practices. Caracas: CIARA.
Crespo, G.; Arteaga, O.; Valdez, G. y Vera, J. (2006). Obtaining organic fertilizer and biogas from the waste of livestock facilities. Institute of Animal Science (comp.). Physiology, biomass production and silvopastoral systems in tropical pastures. Organic fertilizer and biogas (pp. 329-361). Havana: Institute of Animal Science.
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It's great to learn that there are other ways those bovine manures can be organically processed and used and they won't just go to waste. Thanks for sharing this.
Hi @ifarmgirl, it's good to know that the content is useful, there are certainly a great diversity of local resources that can be of great help for agricultural production and in our orchards at home.
See you later, have a great week.
I believe so, we have a wealth of things around us that can be useful if we make the time to investigate and/or experiment on them.
Thank you and see you around :)
Thanks to you for your nice visit and your contributions, we will surely keep reading.
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@amestyj Thank you for your post. This is something I will look into because I believe in organic farming.
Hi @diziette, organic farming is the essence of being in harmony with nature when you are a farmer, I am glad that it is part of the people that we think we can produce respecting natural processes.
See you later, have a great week.
A great week to you too