Catarina Esteves, David Fangueiro, Miguel Martins, Henrique Ribeiro
{"title":"Phosphorus-Based Variable-Rate Pig Slurry Application Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Improves Phosphorus Plant Availability","authors":"Catarina Esteves, David Fangueiro, Miguel Martins, Henrique Ribeiro","doi":"10.1002/sae2.70037","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Excessive or insufficient application of phosphorus (P) fertilisers can lead to soil P build-up or reduced crop productivity, respectively. Variable-rate P fertilisation offers a sustainable solution to this challenge. This study compared the efficiency of pig slurry (PgS) as a P fertiliser to a mineral P fertiliser (superphosphate, SPP) by evaluating their impacts on soil P availability, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and nutrient leaching in different laboratory experiments. PgS was applied at three increasing rates (R1, R2 and R3) to soils with varying P levels: very low (VL), low (L) or medium (M). A control (CTRL) without P application was included. Results showed PgS was as efficient as, or superior to, SPP in increasing soil extractable P content (1%–104%). Excessive PgS application indicated to soil P build-up. CO<sub>2</sub> emissions were highest with PgS (204.85 mg C kg<sup>−1</sup> soil) compared with SPP (171.26 mg C kg<sup>−1</sup> soil), though no significant differences in N<sub>2</sub>O and CH<sub>4</sub> emissions were observed. GHG emissions were influenced by original soil P values, with the highest emissions in VL soil (1.36 g CO<sub>2-eq</sub> kg<sup>−1</sup> soil). Optimal fertilisation (R2 for L soils) minimised emissions (647.56 mg CO<sub>2-eq</sub> kg<sup>−1</sup> soil). Total P (TP) leaching was exacerbated in our selected sandy soils and increased with higher PgS application (11.95 mg TP kg<sup>−1</sup> soil in R3) and higher soil P levels (8.18 mg TP kg<sup>−1</sup> soil in soil M). Similar trends were observed for N leaching. This study highlighted PgS as a vial alternative to mineral P fertilisers and underscored the importance of site-specific variable-rate P application, to optimise fertiliser efficiency while minimising environmental impacts.</p>","PeriodicalId":100834,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/sae2.70037","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/sae2.70037","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Excessive or insufficient application of phosphorus (P) fertilisers can lead to soil P build-up or reduced crop productivity, respectively. Variable-rate P fertilisation offers a sustainable solution to this challenge. This study compared the efficiency of pig slurry (PgS) as a P fertiliser to a mineral P fertiliser (superphosphate, SPP) by evaluating their impacts on soil P availability, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and nutrient leaching in different laboratory experiments. PgS was applied at three increasing rates (R1, R2 and R3) to soils with varying P levels: very low (VL), low (L) or medium (M). A control (CTRL) without P application was included. Results showed PgS was as efficient as, or superior to, SPP in increasing soil extractable P content (1%–104%). Excessive PgS application indicated to soil P build-up. CO2 emissions were highest with PgS (204.85 mg C kg−1 soil) compared with SPP (171.26 mg C kg−1 soil), though no significant differences in N2O and CH4 emissions were observed. GHG emissions were influenced by original soil P values, with the highest emissions in VL soil (1.36 g CO2-eq kg−1 soil). Optimal fertilisation (R2 for L soils) minimised emissions (647.56 mg CO2-eq kg−1 soil). Total P (TP) leaching was exacerbated in our selected sandy soils and increased with higher PgS application (11.95 mg TP kg−1 soil in R3) and higher soil P levels (8.18 mg TP kg−1 soil in soil M). Similar trends were observed for N leaching. This study highlighted PgS as a vial alternative to mineral P fertilisers and underscored the importance of site-specific variable-rate P application, to optimise fertiliser efficiency while minimising environmental impacts.