Browsing by Author "Ahjos, Outi"

Finland's latest government program outlines Finland's role as an ecologically sustainable leader in mitigating climate change and safeguarding biodiversity. In addition, the aim is to support investments promoting nutrient recycling and to improve Finland's protein self-sufficiency, which is currently only about 15%. The aim of this study is to explore the suitability of meat-and-bone-meal (MBM) for organic rapeseed farming. Rape and rapeseed are the most important protein crops grown in Finland, excluding cereals and grass. In addition, this study explores the effects of three different undergrowth plants on the quantity and quality of rapeseeds harvest. Undergrowth plants play an important role in organic farming, since they may improve soil nutrient management, combat weeds, and promote biological nitrogen fixation if pulses are used. The undergrowth plant is sown on the parcel at the same time as the main crop and is often left to grow after the harvest of the main crop. In addition, this study aims to explore which undergrowth plant would be best suited for use with MBM fertilizers. Rapeseed (Brassica rapa, oleifera group) is a cruciferous oil plant and a subspecies of turnip. Rapeseed is used as a raw material for edible oil and for animal protein feed. Like oil plants in general, rapeseed is a nutrient-demanding plant. Organic rapeseed is sown in early June, when the soil temperature is 15-20 degrees celsius. At that time the seedlings start to grow so strongly that the fleas do not have time to destroy them. Organic rapeseed can be fertilized using livestock manure or other organic fertilizers such as MBM. MBM is a highly nutrient-containing by-product of the slaughtering industry. It contains nitrogen and phosphorus and is rich in trace elements and therefore has a good fertilizing effect. The experimental part of the study explored the fertilizer properties of MBM and MBM product in terms of yield and quality of spring rapeseed. Slurry and non-fertilized screens were used as reference data. In addition, the experiment explored the effects of different undergrowth plants. The undergrowths used in this study were Italian ryegrass, white clover and Persian clover. The experimental part consisted of two randomized quadratic tests, conducted in 2006 and 2007 at MTT's Research Center in Karila, Mikkeli. I have received the research data ready for analysis. I have analyzed both years crop yield amount (in 9% humidity), the amount of oil, the amount of nitrogen and protein production, as well as in concentrations as in total amounts (kg/ha), so that the explanatory variables are fertilizers and undergrowth plants. Particularly the MBM product obtained the highest qualitative yields in both the year 2006 and 2007 tests for all criteria, excluding the oil content. However, in 2006 the oil content exceeded the criteria for edible oil. There were no statistically significant differences found in total yields between different fertilizers in 2006. In the 2007 trial, MBM fertilizers proved to be at least better than the non-fertilized screen, but the difference compared to slurry was not statistically significant. Based on these results, it can be said that MBM and MBM product are good fertilization alternatives for organic rapeseed, at least if the rapeseed is used for feed. No interactions with the undergrowth plants were found for MBM and MBM product. From the 2007 trial it can be concluded that Italian ryegrass is not suitable for undergrowth of rapeseed as it reduces both the quantity and the quality of the crop. No other statistically significant observations were made for other undergrowth plants.