C-offset and crop energy efficiency increase due industrial poultry waste use in long-term no-till soil minimizing environmental pollution

Abstract

Brazil is one of the major global poultry producers, and the organic waste generated by the chicken slaughterhouses can potentially be used as a biofertilizer in agriculture. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that continuous use of biofertilizer to the crops, substituting the use of mineral fertilizer promote C-offset for the soil and generate crop energy efficiency for the production system. Thus, the objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of biofertilizer use alone or in combination with mineral fertilizer on soil organic carbon (SOC) stock, carbon dioxide (CO₂) mitigation, C-offset, crop energy efficiency and productivity, and alleviation of environmental pollution. The experiment was established in southern Brazil on a soil under 15 years of continuous no-till (NT). Experimental treatments were as follows: i) Control with no fertilizer application, ii) 100% use of industrial mineral fertilizer (Min-F); iii) 100% use of organic waste originated from poultry slaughterhouses and hereinafter designated biofertilizer (Bio-F), and iv) Mixed fertilizer equivalent to the use of 50% mineral fertilizer + 50% of biofertilizer (Mix-F). Effects of experimental treatments were assessed for the crop sequence based on bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), soybean (Glycine max) and corn (Zea mays) in the summer and wheat (Triticum aestivum) and black oat (Avena strigosaSchreb) in the winter composing two crops per year, as follow: bean/wheat-soybean/black oat-corn/wheat-soybean/black oat-corn/wheat-bean. The continuous use of Bio-F treatment significantly increased the index of crop energy efficiency. It was higher than that of control, and increased it by 25.4 Mg CO₂eq ha^-1 over that of Min-F treatment because of higher inputs of crop biomass-C into the system. Further, continuous use of Bio-F resulted in a significantly higher CO₂eq stock and offset than those for Min-F treatment. A positive relationship between the C-offset and the crop energy efficiency (R² = 0.71, p < 0.001) indicated that the increase of C-offset was associated with the increase of energy balance and the amount of SOC sequestered. The higher energy efficiency and C-offset by application of Bio-F indicated that the practice of crop bio fertilization with poultry slaughterhouse waste is a viable alternative for recycling and minimizing the environmental impacts.

Keywords: Biofertilizer; Crop productivity; Ecosystem services; Soil organic carbon stock.