Elena-Gioseffi
| Project |
Optimising nitrogen inputs towards sustainability: an evaluation of the potential for use of organic liquid manures for intensive vegetable production |
| Supervisors |
Associate professor Andreas de Neergaard, KU/LIFE |
| University |
Copenhagen University, Faculty of Life Sciences |
| Work place |
Copenhagen University, Faculty of Life Sciences,
Department of Agriculture and Ecology,
Thorvaldsensvej 40, 3rd floor, 1871 Frederiksberg C |
| E-mail / phone |
/ (+45) 3533 2291 |
| Aim |
The overall objective of the PhD is to study the application of organic liquid manures for organic vegetable production. The study contains fundamental aspects as root and foliar uptake of organic and organically derived nitrogen sources, and the effect of Papain on nitrogen mineralisation, as well as applied experiments evaluating the use of liquid manures under field conditions.
The research will have the following specific objectives:
- Characterisation of a variety of liquid manures from both fermented and fresh plant extracts, with and without addition of Papain
- Evaluation of the root and leaf uptake of various liquid manures under sterile conditions
- Field trials comparing nitrogen recovery and yield from a variety of vegetables that are fertigated with a variety of liquid organic manures
- Study possible non-nutritional effects of liquid organic manures (pest control and hormonal influence of the plants)
|
| Background |
The production of organic vegetables all over the world is increasing, and there is a need to develop economical and environmentally sustainable production systems. As many of these systems are dependent on irrigation, the use of liquid manures offers a unique opportunity to provide the plants with nutrients continuously during the growth cycle, and even adjusting inputs according to the immediate need. Traditional farming systems in many countries partially utilise liquid manures, and some include a protein-degrading enzyme from Papaya fruits (Papain) to accelerate mineralisation of nitrogen in the liquid manures |
| Time table |
Start: 01.11.2008
End: 31.10.2011 |
Sofie Kobayashi, - last update:9 January 2009