Horticulture and Orchards as New Markets for Manure Valorisation with Less Environmental Impacts

Abstract

Animal manure management is a real challenge to minimize environmental impacts and ensure that this valuable material is efficiently used in a circular economy context. One of the main limitations for larger use of animal manure as fertilizer is the availability of land to receive it in an area close to the farm. Indeed, animal manure is traditionally used for cereals and animal feed growth, but the soil area occupied with these crops might not be enough to receive all the manure produced and/or part of this soil might have nutrient contents, namely phosphorous, that do not permit further application of manure. Hence, extra land used for other agricultural activities might be an option. The main objective of the present review was to analyse the constraints and solutions to increase the use of manure in horticulture and orchards. Emphasis was given to the legal framework for manure utilization in the EU that might stimulate or restrain such a solution. The main characteristics of manure that might limit or stimulate manure reuse were also described, and the potential of some treatments to valorise manure was analysed. Several examples of alternative uses of manure in horticulture and orchards were examined, and the society and farmers’ acceptance of the proposed solution was addressed.

Slurry Acidification as a Solution to Minimize Ammonia Emissions from the Combined Application of Animal Manure and Synthetic Fertilizer in No-Tillage

“…On the other side, the use of manure as fertilizer contributes to the increase in soil organic matter and adds beneficial microbes, besides also delivering N and other elements to plants [4]. Nevertheless, the transport costs within and between farmlands and greater application rates required in relation to synthetic fertilizers (SF) are some of the limitations related, particularly with slurry fertilization [5].…”

A South African Perspective on the Microbiological and Chemical Quality of Meat: Plausible Public Health Implications

“…Moreover, owing to the poor sanitation conditions reported in most low-and middleincome countries, waste management on some farms is deteriorating or substandard and animal manure is managed by dumping/piling in heaps in the open or applied as a biofertiliser to improve the growth conditions of crops [238]. Deliberate or unplanned release of manure into the environment via hydrologic processes (storms, heavy rainfall, leaching etc.)…”

Insights into Circular Horticulture: Knowledge Diffusion, Resource Circulation, One Health Approach, and Greenhouse Technologies

“…Challenges have been raised in frequently addressed issues, such as the standardization of processes for the proper conditioning, use, and mixing of biowaste [57]. Nonetheless, some aspects that require research are collecting, transporting, and storing biowaste [65].…”