Application of bioproducts in crops
As a part of the LignoBioLife project, the tests of the bioproducts, biochar and wood vinegar, were designed with the farmers. The bioproducts were delivered from the Neoliquid production plant to the farmers and they were applied to the crops following different treatments. The crops are located in three towns, in the province of Guadalajara: Brihuega, Mondéjar and Valfermoso de Tajuña.
In Brihuega, biochar was applied over lavender fields, in order to increase its production. It was used in five treatments with different concentrations of the bioproduct to check its effects. A tractor equipped with a fertilizer spreader and a cultivator was used to place the biochar in the soil. The effects on productivity will be quantified in the following two years.
Also, wood vinegar was applied as an herbicide, but this time over fallow land, with the objective of controlling weeds. It was applied with a tractor equipped with a fumigator, using two treatments, with different doses. The results will be measured with the plant cover in few weeks.
In Mondéjar, biochar was used over vines, also with the aim of improving productivity. The tractor first passed with a fertilizer spreader and then with the cultivator. Four different treatments with increasing doses were used. The effects will be measured this year and the next one.
Wood vinegar was applied diluted to be used as bio-stimulant, this time in olive trees. The trees were damaged due to the snowfalls and low temperatures of the past winter, related to the storm “Filomena”. We hope that the diluted wood vinegar will help in the recovery of the treated trees, and also controlling the weeds under them. A tractor equipped with a fumigator was used to distribute the product in the land, whereas the bases of the trees were treated individually. Five treatments were used in increasing doses. The results will be obtained this year, comparing the physiological state of the treated plants with a control, and also measuring the weed cover.
In Valfermoso de Tajuña, the bioproducts were applied over a truffle crop. A large surface was superficially treated with non-diluted wood vinegar, in order to act as an herbicide over weeds. Besides, a part of this surface was also treated with biochar, following two treatments: In the first one, the biochar was applied in the “truffle nests” (the place where the mycelium is introduced), whereas in the second one it was applied in the bases of the holm oaks. The objective is to improve the soil conditions in order to ease the truffles and holm oaks development. Both bioproducts were applied manually. The effect of the herbicide will be measured in few weeks, and the effect of the bio-stimulation, in a year.
