Development of compost tea production method Compost Council of Canada, Niagara Falls, Ontario Yves Bernard, eng., project manager September 26-28 2016
Presentation outline CRIQ Background Methodology Results
About CRIQ (Center research industrial of Québec) CRIQ has been an expert in industrial productivity and competitiveness for 45 years now and provides the most extensive range of innovation services available in Québec. Its experts help businesses and organisations from the public sector to find innovative solutions to their industrial productivity, exports, competitiveness, and eco-efficiency challenges.
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Compost tea development: Background Demand by industry and municipalities for organic fungistatic products; Interest in developing compost tea with fungistatic properties; CRIQ is interested in developing its knowledge base in order to provide advice and expertise in Québec; Lots of empirical information on the Internet. Need for more scientific information; Two areas of application of compost teas were identified early in the project: golf greens and potato crops; Need to develop simple and effective methods for producing compost tea;
Compost tea development: Background Dollars spots on grass caused by Sclerotinia homeocarpa
Compost tea development: Background Potatoes fungus causes by Pythium ultimum
Methodology Literature review : identification of compost tea production methods; analysis of different methods for different uses of compost tea; applications for the use of compost tea.
Methodology: Compost tea production Compost tea production parameters: proportion of compost to water; timing; extraction; aeration; measuring the amount of air during fermentation; need for sugar/commercial solution?
Methodology: Laboratory trials Laboratory trials with compost tea Chemical and biological analyzes of different composts Determination of optimal parameters for production Commercial molasse Soil Soup TM from Soil food web
Methodology: Measuring the performance of compost tea Measuring the performance of compost tea as a biofungistat (fungal inhibitor) Two strains of fungi : Sclerotinia homeocarpa (grass) Pythium ultimum (potatoes) MIC test (minimal inhibitory concentration)
Results: Literature review No detailed description of compost tea production methods; Many performance tests on biofungicides for plants; Seems preferable to aerate the tea during its fermentation to avoid the development of nauseating odors and pathogens; The use of a commercial solution with a molasses base seems widespread; Fermented tea is made within a day or two (24 to 48 hours); No information about how long the tea retains its properties; Looking into the more interesting types of compost: manure, SSO, vermicompost, etc.
Results: Literature review The use of the TOD method (total oxygen dissolved) is a common technique in fermentation process control. A dissolved oxygen concentration of less than 2 mg O 2 / L may indicate an O 2 deficiency that would limit the reproduction of microorganisms. A concentration greater than 4-5 mg O 2 / L usually means that a higher O 2 intake results in additional energy expenditure (Le Bihan, 2013).
Soil food web laboratory Results: Compost analysis PARAMETERS LOMBRICOMPOST TYPE OF COMPOST COMPOST SSO TUNNEL INSIDE COMPOST SSO WINDROW OUTSIDE COMPOST MANURE Moisture content (%) wet basis 45 52 32 / 26.2 57.3 Organic matter (%) dry basis 29 33 40 / 38.1 76.5 C/N ratio 11.83 13.36 N/A 13.90 Density (kg/m 3 ) 803 979 576 N/A Conductivity (ms/cm) 4.9 3.1 N/A 5.3 ph 8.0 8.2 N/A 7.7 Respiration rate (mg O 2 / kg S.V.-h) 209 264 349.1 186.5 Nitrites-Nitrates (mg/kg) d.b. 767 62 N/A < 2.0 NTK (g/100 g) d.b. 1.23 1.24 N/A 2.75 N-NH 3 (g/100 g) d.b. 0.0037 0.0484 N/A 0.0044 Salmonella Absent Absent Absent Absent Fecal coliforms (NPP/g) 5 400 < 10 < 10 < 10 E. Coli (NPP/g) 5 300 < 10 < 10 < 10 Calcium (µg/g) d.b. 4 644 4 128 N/A 4 933 P 2 O 5 (µg/g) d.b. 138 103 N/A 293 K 2 O (µg/g) d.b. 2 151 1 520 N/A 545 Mg (µg/g) d.b. 508 149 N/A 482 NO 3 -N (nitrate) (µg/g) d.b. 122 40 N/A N/A SO 4 (µg/g) d.b. 108 30 N/A 97 Active bacteria (µg/g) 49.7 (excellent) 46 (excellent) 12.7 (low) 30.6 (excellent) Total Bactéria (µg/g) 311 (good) 209 (good) 75.7 (low) 2 910 (good) Active Fungus (µg/g) 61.7 (excellent) 136 (excellent) 2.47 (low) 11.3 (low) Total Fungus (µg/g) 304 (excellent) 3 728 (excellent) 286 (good) 523 (excellent) Flagellates (#/g) 8 283 (low) 100 791 (high) 0 (low) 134 078 (high) Amobeas (#/g) 2 492 (low) 32 772 (high) 14 056 (high) 3 229 (low) Ciliates (#/g) 827 (high) 3 276 (high) 0 (low) 323 (high) Nematodes (#/g) 0.81 (low) 13 (low) 0.03 (low) 6.50 (low)
Oxygène dissous (mg/l) Taux aération (ml/min) Oxygène Dissous (mg/l) Taux aération (ml/min) Results: Compost tea production methods 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Bad fermentation 10 9 8 7 6 5 1000 900 800 700 600 500 Good 400 fermentation 300 200 100 0 2000 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 4 800 3 600 Temps (h) 2 1 400 200 0 0 temps (h)
Results: MIC test for fungus control Pythium ultimum: Potatoes Sclerotinia homeocarpa : Grass
Results: MIC test for fungus control Measuring the impact of fungal inhibition by autoclaved compost tea Tea acts through microbial activity
Other results The MIC test with autoclaved teas shows that the fungistatic effect of tea comes from microbiological properties rather than its physical and chemical characteristics; It is necessary to aerate and add a sugar solution to achieve meaningful fungal growth inhibition (more than 70% inhibition rate); The performance of compost tea does not seem related to the use of a commercial solution or molasses;
Conclusions The parameters of production methods for compost teas that effectively inhibit the growth of harmful fungi in two types of plants are better defined; The importance of aerating compost tea during production; The importance of identifying a suitable aeration rate which increases the performance of a liquid compost extract biofungicide that is likely to have a meaningful impact (performance of 70 to 90%); Recommended use of mature compost containing no pathogens;
Conclusions Dissolved oxygen is a quite reliable and simple parameter for the production of tea; Minimum of 24 hours of aeration after the liquid is extracted; The commercial solution would have provided the best performance with Scerotitinia homoecarpa; A proportion of one volume of compost to five volumes of water would be a good dilution for effective mixing; Compost tea does not appear to retain its properties for more than 6 days;
Results: Other investigations Does the tea retain its long-term fungicidal properties as a result of its preparation? Otherwise, are there ways to preserve these properties? Does the use of Soil SoupTM versus molasses have an advantage at this level? Which tea dosage should I use to have a significant impact on crops covered by a tea application (interesting dilution)? Would the same method (with the same production parameters) of compost tea preparation allow for control of other pathogens? Does the origin or composition of the compost have an effect on the ability of tea to control pathogens (fungi)? Could the basis of the solution used for the preparation of tea just come from processing residues in the food industry (sugar production, for example)? Do mediums other than compost (e.g. forest soil) yield good results?
Work Team: Thank you! Yves Bernard, engineer, project manager Yann Le Bihan, microbiologist, Ph. D. Marie-Andrée St-Pierre, microbiologist, M. Sc. Éric Légaré, technician, CRIQ laboratory technician, Valérie Gravel, agro. Ph. D., U. McGill, plant control disease Yves Desjardins, agro. Ph. D., U. Laval, grass expert Soil food web laboratory
Thank you! www.criq.qc.ca It will be a pleasure to take one Tea or more with you after this presentation