Crop growth effects of processed raw materials applied as fertilisers or growth stimulators – a summary of partial EU project results

Summary

In an EU CRAFT project (COOP-CT-2004-508458) running from March 2004 to March 2006, an international consortium of producers of environmen-tally benign crop inputs (BFPs: Biological Food for Plants), RTD performers and end users, evaluated the production and use of BFPs manufactured from differ-ent raw materials: bovine hides, trees, and herba-ceous species. At the manufacturing level, production methods and procedures were reviewed to establish possible relationships between processing steps and end-product quality. At the field level, the BFP prod-ucts were applied as solid pellets or liquids, as fertil-isers or sprays, respectively, on organically grown potatoes and tomatoes and conventionally grown watermelon, cauliflower, strawberries, black currant, raspberries and apples. Evaluations were made of yield, plant health, quality aspects, and environmental effects of the products. In this paper, some Polish crop growth results are presented. In most of the experiments the solid BFP fertilisers did not give positive growth effects additional to those obtained with conventional fertilisers, probably because of the very high fertility levels of the soils used. One of the liquid BFP products applied as a spray performed very well in most experiments. It is concluded that espe-cially liquid BFPs can have very promising effects on crop performance and as such they merit much more scientific attention than what is evident to date.