Abstract
In dry areas, unconventional feeds are increasingly used for mitigating feed shortages and rangeland degradation. We evaluated how feeding sheep diets containing olive leaves, saltbush leaves and olive cake affects manure quality compared to a barley straw based diet. Soil incubation and plant growth experiments were carried out to measure soil nitrogen (N) mineralization and N uptake by barley plants and to calculate N flow through the feed-animal-soil–plant system. Fresh feces, composts consisting of feces, urine and straw, and ammonium sulfate fertilizer were mixed with soil at rate of 90 mg N kg−1 soil dry matter. Comparisons were made with non-amended soils (control) and soils amended with fresh olive cake applied at 90 and 22.5 mg N kg−1 soil dry matter, respectively. The latter treatment enabled investigation of the effect of passage of olive cake through the digestive tract of sheep on N availability and phenol transformation. Applying fresh olive cake and feces, except the saltbush leaf derived feces, resulted in a net N immobilization. All composts resulted in net N mineralization, although not significantly different from the 0N control soil. Barley growing in soils with amendment that caused N immobilization took up less N than barley growing on the 0N treatment. Reduction in N uptake was most pronounced after amendment with fresh-olive cake. Treatments with net mineralization increased barley N uptake over the 0N treatment with 2–16 % of N applied being taken up. Dietary composition had a minor effect on N fertilizer value of either feces or compost, but feces N alone was not an efficient N source.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbeddou S, Rihawi S, Hess HD, Iñiguez L, Mayer AC, Kreuzer M (2011a) Nutritional composition of lentil straw, vetch hay, olive leaves and saltbush leaves, and their digestibility as measured in fat-tailed sheep. Small Rum Res 96:126–135
Abbeddou S, Rihawi S, Zaklouta M, Hess HD, Iñiguez L, Kreuzer M (2011b) Ruminal degradability, digestibility, energy content, and influence on N and mineral turnover of various Mediterranean by-products in fat-tailed Awassi sheep. Anim Feed Sci Technol 163:99–110
AOAC (1997) Official methods of analysis. Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Arlington
Benitez E, Melgar R, Nogales R (2004) Estimating soil resilience to a toxic organic waste by measuring enzyme activities. Soil Biol Biochem 36:1615–1623
Bosshard C, Sørensen P, Frossard E, Dubois D, Mäder P, Nanzer S, Oberson A (2009) Nitrogen use efficiency of 15N-labelled sheep manure and mineral fertilizer applied to microplots in long-term organic and conventional cropping systems. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 83:271–287
Bosshard C, Oberson A, Leinweber P, Jandl G, Knicker H, Wettstein H-R, Kreuzer M, Frossard E (2011) Characterization of fecal nitrogen forms produced by a sheep fed with 15N labeled ryegrass. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 90:355–368
Bremner JM, Keeney DR (1965) Steam distillation methods for determination of ammonium, nitrate, and nitrite. Anal Chim Acta 32:485–495
Cayuela ML, Bernal MP, Roig A (2004) Composting olive mill waste and sheep manure for orchard use. Compost Sci Util 12:130–136
Crews TE, Peoples MB (2005) Can the synchrony of nitrogen supply and crop demand be improved in legume and fertilizer-based agroecosystems? A review. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 72:101–120
El Shaer HM (2010) Halophytes and salt-tolerant plants as potential forage for ruminants in the Near East region. Small Rum Res 91:3–12
Fliessbach A, Oberholzer HR, Gunst L, Mader P (2007) Soil organic matter and biological soil quality indicators after 21 years of organic and conventional farming. Agric Ecosyst Environ 118:273–284
Frossard E, Bünemann EK, Carsky R, Compaoré E, Diby LN, Kouamé VH, Oberson A, Taonda SJ-B (2006) Integrated nutrient management as a tool to combat soil degradation in Sub Saharan Africa. In: Bearth T, Becker B, Kappel R, Krüger G, Pfister R (eds) Afrika im Wandel. vdf Hochschulverlag Zurich, pp 137–146
Gardner JB, Drinkwater LE (2009) The fate of nitrogen in grain cropping systems: a meta-analysis of 15N field experiments. Ecol Appl 19:2167–2184
Harmsen K (2003) A comparison of the isotope-dilution and the difference method for estimating fertilizer nitrogen recovery fractions in crops. I. Plant uptake and loss of nitrogen. Neth J Agric Sci 50:321–347
Jensen B, Sorensen O, Thomsen IK, Jensen ES, Christensen BT (1999) Availability of nitrogen in N-15-labeled ruminant manure components to successively grown crops. Soil Sci Soc Am J 63:416–423
Keeney DR, Nelson DW (1982) Nitrogen-inorganic forms. In: Page AL et al (eds) Methods of soil analysis. Part 2, 2nd edn. Agron. Monogr. 9, ASA and SSSA, Madison, WI, pp 643–698
Langmeier M, Frossard E, Kreuzer M, Mäder P, Dubois D, Oberson A (2002) Nitrogen fertilizer value of cattle manure applied on soils originating from organic and conventional farming systems. Agronomie 22:789–800
Lekasi JK, Tanner JC, Kimani SK, Harris PJC (2001) Managing manure to sustain smallholder livelihoods in the East African high-lands. HDRA, Coventry
Louhaichi M, Tastad A (2010) The Syrian steppe: past trends, current status, and future priorities. Rangelands 32:2–7
Makkar HPS (2003) Quantification of tannins in tree and shrub foliage, a laboratory manual. Kluwer, Dordrecht
Mekki A, Dhouib A, Sayadi S (2006) Changes in microbial and soil properties following amendment with treated and untreated olive mill wastewater. Microbiol Res 161:93–101
Molina-Alcaide E, Nefzaoui A (1996) Recycling of olive oil by-products: possibilities of utilization in animal nutrition. Int Biodeterior Biodegrad 38:227–235
Molina-Alcaide E, Yáñez-Ruiz DR (2008) Potential use of olive by-products in ruminant feeding: a review. Anim Feed Sci Technol 147:247–264
Oktay Z (2006) Olive cake as a biomass fuel for energy production. Energ Sour Part A 29:329–339
Olsen SR, Cole CV, Watanabe FS, Dean LA (1954) Estimation of available phosphorus in soils by extraction with sodium bicarbonate. United States Department of Agriculture, Washington DC, pp 171–188
Powell JM, Fernández-Rivera S, Hofs S (1994) Effects of sheep diet on nutrient cycling in mixed farming systems of semi-arid West Africa. Agric Ecosyst Environ 48:263–271
Powell JM, Wattiaux MA, Broderick GA, Moreira VR, Casler MD (2006) Dairy diet impacts on fecal chemical properties and nitrogen cycling in soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 70:786–794
Richards LA (1954) Diagnosis and improvement of saline and alkali soils. USDA Agric Handbook 60. Washington, DC
Rischkowsky B, Thomson EF, Shnayien R, King JM (2004) Mixed farming systems in transition: the case of five villages along a rainfall gradient in North-West Syria. Expl Agric 40:109–126
Roig A, Cayuela ML, Sànchez-Monedero MA (2006) An overview on olive mill wastes and their valorisation methods. Waste Manage 26:960–969
Rufino MC, Rowe EC, Delve RJ, Giller KE (2006) Nitrogen cycling efficiencies through resource-poor African crop-livestock systems. Agric Ecosyst Environ 112:261–282
Ryan J, Masri S, Garabet S, Diekmann J, Habib H (1997) Soils of ICARDA’s agricultural experiment stations and sites, Climate, chemical and physical properties, and land management. ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria. Tech. Bull., p 107
Sampedro I, Romero C, Ocampo JA, Brenes M, García I (2004) Removal of monomeric phenols in dry mill olive residue by saprobic fungi. J Agric Food Chem 52:4487–4492
Sangaré M, Bationo A, Hiernaux P, Fernández-Rivera S, Pandey V (2002) Effect of type and level of roughage offered to sheep and urine addition on compost quality and millet growth and production in the Sahel. Nutr Cycl Agroecosys 62:203–208
Sansoucy R (1985) Olive by-products for animal feed. Online: FAO Animal Production and Health Paper No. 43 (accessed 31.12.11) www.fao.org/docrep/003/X6545E/X6545E00.htm
Schröder JJ, Jansen AG, Hilhorst GJ (2005) Long-term nitrogen supply from cattle slurry. Soil Use Manage 21:196–204
Sellami F, Jarboui R, Hachicha S, Medhioub K, Ammar E (2008) Co-composting of oil exhausted olive-cake, poultry manure and industrial residues of agro-food activity for soil amendment. Bioresour Technol 99:1177–1188
Sommer R, Ryan J, Masri S, Singh M, Diekmann J (2011) Effect of shallow tillage, moldboard plowing, straw management and compost addition on soil organic matter and nitrogen in a dryland barley/wheat-vetch rotation. Soil Till Res 115–116:39–46
Sørensen P, Thomsen IK (2005) Separation of pig slurry and plant utilization and loss of nitrogen-15-labeled slurry nitrogen. Soil Sci Soc Am J 69:1644–1651
Thomsen IK (2000) C and N transformations in 15N cross-labelled solid ruminant manure during anaerobic and aerobic storage. Bioresour Technol 72:267–274
Thomsen IK, Kjellerup V, Jensen B (1997) Crop uptake and leaching of N-15 applied in ruminant slurry with selectively labelled faeces and urine fractions. Plant Soil 197:233–239
Tiemann TT, Hincapie B, Frossard E, Kreuzer M, Hess HD (2009) Effect of supplementing tropical tannin-free and tanniniferous legumes to grass-fed sheep on the utility of their manure as nitrogen fertilizer. Livest Res Rural Dev 21 http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd21/3/tiem21041.htm
Vallis I, Peake DCI, Jones RK, McCown RL (1985) Fate of urea-nitrogen from cattle urine in a pasture-crop sequence in a seasonally dry tropical environment. Aust J Agric Res 36:809–817
van Bruchem J, Verhoeven F, Brussaard L, Tamminga S (1999) Diet and manure characteristics in relation to nitrogen flows in a dairy farming system. In: van der Heide D, Huisman EA, Kanis E, Osse JWM, Verstegen MWA (eds) Regulation of feed intake. Proceedings of the 5th Zodiac Symposium 22–24 April 1998, Wageningen, The Netherlands, pp 219–225
Walkley A (1947) A critical examination of a rapid method for determining organic carbon in soils: effect of variations in digestion conditions and of organic soil constituents. Soil Sci 63:251–263
Wichern F, Müller T, Joergensen RG, Buerkert A (2004) Effects of manure quality and application forms on soil C and N turnover of a subtropical oasis soil under laboratory conditions. Biol Fertil Soils 39:165–171
Acknowledgments
This work was funded by the Swiss Development Cooperation, Berne, through the North–South Center, ETH Zurich, Switzerland. We are grateful to Thomas Flura from the plant nutrition group (ETH Zurich) for his help to set up the experiment and his technical advice during soil and plant analysis. Our thanks go to George Estefan, Ahmed Sawass and their teams from ICARDA for their technical help during the whole experiment and to Rolf Sommer (ICARDA) and the anonymous reviewers for the helpful comments on our manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Abbeddou, S., Diekmann, J., Rischkowsky, B. et al. Unconventional feeds for small ruminants in dry areas have a minor effect on manure nitrogen flow in the soil–plant system. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 95, 87–101 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-013-9550-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-013-9550-4