Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The world faces big challenges regarding sustainability, including among much else also the use of phosphorus and the depletion of soils used for agriculture. Every year, large amounts of waste are produced globally and far from all of it are handled in a sustainable way. The organic part of this waste could be managed by letting larvae of the Black soldier fly process it. The process reduces the waste volume while animal feed is produced in the form of the larvae. The residue that remains could possibly be used as fertilizer and soil improvement. Before the start of this study tests has been made by inoculation fungus Trichoderma reesei or Rhizopus oligosporus to the substrate to enhance the yield of larval biomass. The knowledge of the genus Trichoderma and the use of it for biological control in crop production arouse the question of how this pre-treatment affected the attributes of the substrate as a fertilizer. In this study a completely randomized plant growth trial was conducted. It comprised 40 pots and the different larvale residues´ effect on plant health and growth was evaluated from five parameters. The results showed that the residues adversely affected the plants compared to the reference pots amended with either a mature, traditional compost or mineral fertilizer. The conclusion is that new trials where the residues has had time to mature are needed to evaluate if they can be successfully used for soil improvement.