title: Agricultural reuse of the digestate from low-cost tubular digesters in rural Andean communities.
abstract: This research aimed at assessing the properties of guinea pig manure digestate from low-cost tubular digesters for crops fertilization in rural Andean communities. To this end, field trials were carried out to evaluate the effect of the digestate on two common Andean crops: potato (Solanum tuberosum) and forage (Lolium multiflorum and Trifolium pratense L.). The potato yield (20-25 tha(-1)) increased by 27.5% with digestate, by 15.1% with pre-compost and by 10.3% with the mixture, compared to the control. The forage yield (20-21 tha(-1)) increased by 1.4% with digestate - 50% dose, and by 8.8% with digestate - 100% dose and digestate - 150% dose, compared to the control. The results suggest that the digestate is an appropriate substitute of manure pre-compost for potato fertilization. The results with forage indicate that it can be applied in a range of doses, according to the amount produced by the digester. Currently, manure is either used for cooking or as fertilizer. With low-cost tubular digesters implementation, it could be used to feed the digester, using the digestate for crops fertilization and biogas for cooking; improving household living conditions and protecting the environment. Since soil properties in rural Andean communities differ from experimental layouts, the effect of fertilizers should be re-evaluated in-situ in future research studies.
authors: Environmental Engineering Division, Department of Hydraulic, Maritime and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, c/ Jordi Girona 1-3, Building D1, E-08034 Barcelona, Spain. marianna.garfi@gmail.com
authors: Marianna
authors: M
authors: Garfí
authors: Pau
authors: P
authors: Gelman
authors: Jordi
authors: J
authors: Comas
authors: William
authors: W
authors: Carrasco
authors: Ivet
authors: I
authors: Ferrer
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000254:growth & development*; D005308:Fertilizers / Q000032:analysis*; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D008129:Lolium / Q000254:growth & development; D008372:Manure / Q000032:analysis*; D010568:Peru; D011198:Solanum tuberosum / Q000254:growth & development; D029921:Trifolium / Q000254:growth & development; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D005308:Fertilizers; D008372:Manure