Aerated Buffalo Slurry Improves Spinach Plant Growth and Mitigates CO<sub>2</sub> and N<sub>2</sub>O Emissions from Soil
Giuseppe Maglione,
Gaetano De Tommaso,
Mauro Iuliano,
Giulia Costanzo,
Ermenegilda Vitale,
Carmen Arena,
Luca Vitale
Affiliations
Giuseppe Maglione
National Research Council (CNR), Department of Biology, Agriculture and Food Sciences (DiSBA), Institute for the Animal Production System in the Mediterranean Environment (ISPAAM), P.le E. Fermi 1, Loc. Granatello, 80055 Portici, Italy
Gaetano De Tommaso
Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia 26, 80126 Naples, Italy
Mauro Iuliano
Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia 26, 80126 Naples, Italy
Giulia Costanzo
Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia 21, 80126 Naples, Italy
Ermenegilda Vitale
Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia 21, 80126 Naples, Italy
Carmen Arena
Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia 21, 80126 Naples, Italy
Luca Vitale
National Research Council (CNR), Department of Biology, Agriculture and Food Sciences (DiSBA), Institute for Agricultural and Forestry Systems in the Mediterranean (ISAFoM), P.le E. Fermi 1, Loc. Granatello, 80055 Portici, Italy
Manure management is the main strategy for mitigating gas emissions from livestock farming. In this study, a laboratory-scale experiment was set up to identify suitable conditions to be applied in a farm-scale experiment. The liquid fraction (LF) of slurry was aerobically treated and greenhouse gas emissions from soil were evaluated. Furthermore, the value of treated LF as a fertilizer on spinach plants was also tested. The aeration of LF determined an increase in mean alkalinity due to ammonia loss. The mass fraction of heavy metals also decreased, likely due to the reduction in solubility. After being applied on soil, aerated LF determined lower CO2 and N2O emissions compared to untreated LF due to a reduced nitrogen load. Spinach plants fertilized with treated LF showed a lush growth and exhibited a lower heavy metal mass fraction as well as a higher content of antioxidants compared to plants fertilized with untreated slurry. Our results show that aeration might be an effective alternative for slurry management as it is able to produce an eco-friendly final product with a high fertilizing value.
