The Economic and Bioenergy Efficiency of Use of the Biogas Plant Digestate in the Cultivation of Agricultural and Vegetable Crops in the Context of European Integration of Ukraine

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to determine the economic and bioenergy efficiency of bioorganic fertilizer based on digestate, taking into account the cost of basic nutrient elements. The article presents calculations of economic indicators of the examined elements of the technology of growing corn for grain and vegetable crops in Ukraine, which indicate that the cultivation of these crops is economically beneficial in all versions. The study found that increasing the economic efficiency of corn production for grain and vegetable crops when applying different norms of fertilizer application is achieved due to the more significant positive impact of yield growth compared to additional costs associated with the use of these agritechnical means, while additional costs caused by the use of fertilizers pay off many times. It is proved that the use of mineral fertilizers and their combination with high norms of bioorganic fertilizer (digestate) for corn and vegetable crops contributes to an increase in yield, and the energy efficiency of this fertilizer is quite high, which indicates the energy saving concerning the studied technology of growing crops. It is advisable to apply such fertilizer norms at which it is possible to obtain the greatest energy output at optimal costs, ensuring compliance with the priority policy of energy saving in agricultural production. The theoretical and practical provisions on the ecological problem (utilization of livestock waste, in particular in the case of pig farms), the energy problem (biogas production in a biogas plant) and the agronomic problem (obtaining organic fertilizer) have been further developed, which ensures an increase in yield and improvement of the quality of agricultural and vegetable crops, that is, makes it possible to obtain high-quality crop and vegetable products during utilization of livestock waste. The proposed approach to the economic assessment of technologies for growing corn for grain and table root crops, depending on the fertilizer application system, makes it conceivable to increase the level of productivity of agricultural and vegetable crops, provided that bioorganic fertilizers are effectively used in modern conditions of a sharp increase in the cost of mineral fertilizers. At the same time, the energy efficiency of growing corn for grain and table root crops depending on the fertilizer system has been determined, which will increase crop yields in the absence of an increase in fertilizer costs.

Keywords

• digestate
• «efluent»
• energy security
• energy efficiency