The agricultural value of whole biomethanation digestate and its various fractions: potential use in fertilization and recycled bedding

Description

The project comprises two components:

1. The assessment in field trials of the efficiency of nitrogen fertilizers derived from the whole digestate of anaerobic digestion and from nitrogen-concentrated filtrate. If the digestate and filtrate meet the standards of the Guide to the Recycling of Fertilizing Residual Materials, trials will be set up at the IRDA experimental farm in Deschambault during the 2021 and 2022 growing seasons. To determine the nitrogen efficiency coefficients, four protocols will be followed annually for two crops (grain corn and oats) in light and heavy soils.
2. The microbiological characterization of the digestate solid fraction for use as bedding in dairy production.

Objective(s)

• Determine the potential agricultural value of digestate and its various fractions as a fertilizer (for the digestate and liquid fractions) or as recycled bedding (for the solid fraction).
• Provide a description of the fertilization characteristics of these products and validate their safety.
• Determine, in situ, the fertilizing efficiency of digestate and concentrated filtrate.
• Determine the quality of the recycled bedding created from the solid fraction.