Raw materials for Agricus compost Ralph Noble, East Malling Research, UK
RAW MATERIALS FOR AGARICUS COMPOST • Straw types and analysis • Alternative carbon sources • Poultry manure and other nitrogen sources • Recycled water • Gypsum • Organic mushroom compost • Effects on mushroom quality and moulds
STRAW PROBLEMS • Cost – alternative uses, e.g. energy, feed • Availability – local and every year? • High moisture content • Variability in composting and cropping • Change in properties during storage
Wheat Rye Linseed Barley
Rape straw
Cotton straw
Rice straw
Wheat straw stem
Wheat straw Barley straw
Wheat straw
Barley straw
WHEAT STRAW VARIABLES • Cultivar, spring or winter wheat • Growing site, soil, climate • Fertiliser (Nitrogen) applications • Fungicides and plant growth regulators • Harvesting method and conditions • Storage duration and conditions
STRAW ANALYSIS METHODS Information about organic polymers (lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose) • Vis-near infrared spectroscopy (Vis-NIR) • Derivative Thermogravimetry (DTG)
Transformed vis-NIR spectra of straw showing variability in composition Moisture peaks Oil 2072 Cellulose Aromatics 2266 Nitrogen Nitrogen 1514
Overlay of DTG curves of straw samples mg mgmin^-1 mg min^-2 Hemicellulose (structural) -0.0 3. 0 Hemicellulose amorphous 2. 5 2 \M Gst -2- 1 MG st- 2-1 , 3 .08 50 mg -0.2 Lignin fraction 2. 0 \M Gst -3- 2 MG st- 3-2 , 3 . 09 80 mg 0 \S ola n w hea t s t raw-3 -0.4 1. 5 So lan wh eat st r aw-3, 3 .02 50 mg 1. 0 Cellulose -0.6 -2 0. 5 50 100 15 0 2 00 250 30 0 35 0 40 0 45 0 50 0 550 °C -0.8 0. 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 4 4 4 6 6 6 8 8 8 10 10 10 12 12 12 14 14 14 16 16 16 18 18 18 2 0 2 0 2 0 22 22 22 24 24 24 26 26 26 mi n mi n mi n
STRAW ANALYSIS METHODS Chemical constituents and residues • Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) • Mineral analysis (N, P, K etc) • Soluble carbohydrates and polyphenols • Proteins, lipids • pH and electrical conductivity
Fungicide residues on wheat straw Cultivar Site Fenpropimorph Tebuconazole mg/kg Claire Cross 0.09 0.09 Claire DownP 0.01 0.08 Claire Lim 0.12 0.11 Malacca Cross 0.09 0.09 Malacca DownP 0.01 0.08 Malacca Lim 0.12 0.03 Richmond Cross 0.11 0.22 Richmond DownP 0.01 0.09 Richmond Lim 0.09 0.13 Tanker Cross 0 0.08 Tanker DownP 0 0.06 Tanker Lim 0.04 0.04
Chlormequat residues on wheat straw Cultivar Chlormequat, mg/kg Site Kirton Welles Cross DownP Lim Axona 1.3 Hereward 7.8 Tanker 1.7 1.3 0.7 1.0 Richmond 4.8 2.2 0.6 0.5 Claire 1.3 0.5 1.2 Malacca 1.5 0.4 1.2
DIGESTABILITY Digestability • Enzyme digestibility (Pepsin, Pentopan, Cellulase) (dry matter digestability and hemicellulose digestability) • Neutral detergent fibre (cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin etc)
• Water retention properties (moisture content and retention) • Mechanical properties (Tensile strength, stiffness, dynamic modulus)
Mechanical Tests on Straw Instron tensile tests - stress, strain and elastic modulus
Straw composting experiments
Strawy Degraded
Effect of wheat cultivar on mushroom yield from windrow composts yield, kg/ tonne compost winter spring 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Hereward Tanker Richmond Malacca Axona cultivar
Straw of different types - New and old
Effects of wheat cultivar and growing site Fig. 8 Effect of wheat cultivar and site on mushroom yield in flask experiment composts Yield, g/kg compost dry weight on mushroom yield 1000 Limnavady Crossnacreevy Downpatrick Warwick HRI 800 600 400 200 0 d a r e n e c r o k c i a a m n l a l C a h T M c i R wheat cultivar
Figure 4 Effect of wheat cultivar and site on % dry matter and dry matter digestibility 96 94 92 % Dry Matter 90 88 86 84 82 80 78 Malacca Richmond Tanker Limavady Crossnacreevy Downpatrick Warwick HRI 32 % Dry Matter Digestibility 30 28 26 24 22 20 18 Malacca Richmond Tanker Wheat cultivar
WHEAT STRAW ANALYSIS AND MUSHROOM CROPPING • 20% mushroom yield difference between ‘ best ’ and ‘ worst ’ straw batches • Growing site, N fertiliser and storage influenced wheat straw properties and mushroom cropping • Barley, rape and rye straw can all be used (at least 25%)
WHEAT STRAW ANALYSIS AND MUSHROOM CROPPING • Wheat straw cultivar only had a small influence on straw properties and mushroom cropping • No effects of fungicide (tebuconazle) or plant growth regulator residues on spawn-run or yield • No relationship between mechanical properties and mushroom yield
WHEAT STRAW ANALYSIS AND MUSHROOM CROPPING • Straw with a high * dry matter * dry matter digestability (pepsin and cellulase) * ratio of cellulose and hemi-cellulose to lignin (DTG) produced a higher mushroom yield than straw with low values
STRAW QUESTIONS AND FUTURE • Is wheat straw best or should other straw types or blends be used? • Is horse manure better than only straw? • What are the key properties of straw? • How can we adapt the composting process according to straw analysis?
ALTERNATIVE MATERIALS PROBLEMS • Cost – alternative uses, e.g. energy, feed • Local availability year round • High water content, low available C or N • Variability in composting and cropping • Change in properties during storage • EU waste legislation
Tomato, pepper and cucumber haulms
Vegetable wastes
Separated spent mushroom compost
Separated spent mushroom compost
Broiler poultry manure
Recycled ‘ goody ’ water
Fig. 37 Relationship between electrical conductivity and dry matter content of goody water samples 35 dry matter, % 30 y = 1.0849x + 0.2368 R 2 = 0.928 25 20 15 10 5 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 EC ms/cm
Cattle slurry Pig manure and slurry Fish by-products Shellfish wastes Wool waste
Cocoa meal
Anaerobic digestion
PAS 110:2010 Speci fi cation for whole digestate, separated liquor and separated fi bre derived from the anaerobic digestion of source-segregated biodegradable materials
Ammonium sulphate
Yield, g/kg compost fresh wt. 300 Bench LSD ( P = 0.05) Large 250 200 150 100 50 0 wheat barley rye +carpet +SMC + veg inorgan. +wool 100% Straw/poultry manure 75% Straw/poultry manure
Effects of compost ingredients on mushroom quality • Shelf life • Dry matter content • Firmness/ Density • Whiteness/ Bruisability • Flavour
Trichoderma aggressivum 23443B
Second flush
Effect of moulds on mushroom yield in different composts 600 Control 500 Penicillium Yield, g/kg Trichoderma 400 300 200 100 0 Normal Dry Wet Mature Strawy
Agricultural gypsum No gypsum citric acid by-product gypsum
PAS 109: 2013 Specification for the production of reprocessed gypsum from waste plasterboard
ALTERNATIVE CARBON, NITROGEN AND GYPSUM SOURCES • Glasshouse and vegetable wastes, separated SMC and animal manures/ by-products usable • Digestates are a possible ingredient • Plasterboard and citric acid gypsum, ammonium sulphate + chalk can be used • EU legislation interferes with some materials • Effects of raw materials on yield, quality and compost moulds need to be considered
ALTERNATIVE MATERIALS – QUESTIONS AND FUTURE • Do we need alternatives to straw, horse manure and poultry manure? • What are the implications for organic compost? • EU waste legislation – collaboration? • Is further research needed?
Raw materials for Agricus compost Ralph Noble, East Malling Research, UK
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