The influence of biochar and different fertilizer treatments on the yield of Swiss chard in a vertical farming system
Quang, Ha (2020)
2020
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2020112424150
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2020112424150
Tiivistelmä
In the last decades, the dependence that the agriculture industry has on water and mineral fertilizers (N, P, and K) has been considered a very serious problem to human food security and climate change. For that reason, urine fertilizer was recently introduced as a combination of an old method of recycling nutrients and new advanced technology. By taking full advantage of human urine as fertilizer we can cope with many agricultural problems related to water sanitation, energy deficiency, and especially nutrient recycling.
This thesis was carried out for a project called BioRaki and the main aim was to cultivate Swiss chard (Beta Vulgaris) inside the Grow360 vertical farming system by utilizing mineral fertilizer and human urine fertilizer in different concentrations and in different types of growing substrates (peat and biochar). This thesis was the second part of the project where all the fresh and dried yield mass were measured, calculated, and analyzed to conclude the effect of different fertilizers and the impact of substrates on the total yield of Swiss chard.
The yield by mass of Swiss chard in mineral fertilizer was higher than that when using human urine fertilizer. However, the difference was still compatible when it comes to the total mass of stem and leaf which were the vital parts of Swiss chard to be harvested and consumed. Besides, Swiss chard gives better results towards the 100 mg/L of fertilizer concentration, and it can accumulate higher nutrient demand as well as higher productivity. Furthermore, the total yield mass of peat and biochar mixture was higher than the total yield mass of peat only. Therefore, in this case, it is noticeable that peat is not a good growing medium to use as a stand-alone substrate, and it is often recommended to be mixed with other ingredients like biochar in order to achieve better moisture holding, water distribution, and plant establishment.
In conclusion, the Swiss chard can obtain the highest yield for further production plan of Evergreen Farming Oy with Grow360 system and recommend human urine as a promising method to provide enough nitrogen for plants and a sustainable way to close the loop of nutrient recovery.
This thesis was carried out for a project called BioRaki and the main aim was to cultivate Swiss chard (Beta Vulgaris) inside the Grow360 vertical farming system by utilizing mineral fertilizer and human urine fertilizer in different concentrations and in different types of growing substrates (peat and biochar). This thesis was the second part of the project where all the fresh and dried yield mass were measured, calculated, and analyzed to conclude the effect of different fertilizers and the impact of substrates on the total yield of Swiss chard.
The yield by mass of Swiss chard in mineral fertilizer was higher than that when using human urine fertilizer. However, the difference was still compatible when it comes to the total mass of stem and leaf which were the vital parts of Swiss chard to be harvested and consumed. Besides, Swiss chard gives better results towards the 100 mg/L of fertilizer concentration, and it can accumulate higher nutrient demand as well as higher productivity. Furthermore, the total yield mass of peat and biochar mixture was higher than the total yield mass of peat only. Therefore, in this case, it is noticeable that peat is not a good growing medium to use as a stand-alone substrate, and it is often recommended to be mixed with other ingredients like biochar in order to achieve better moisture holding, water distribution, and plant establishment.
In conclusion, the Swiss chard can obtain the highest yield for further production plan of Evergreen Farming Oy with Grow360 system and recommend human urine as a promising method to provide enough nitrogen for plants and a sustainable way to close the loop of nutrient recovery.