Assessing nitrogen availability in biobased fertilizers

Biobased nitrogen (N) fertilizers derived from agro-waste have the potential to substitute synthetic N fertilizer and contribute to more sustainable agriculture. However, N availability in fertilizers is usually determined by laboratory incubation, excluding the effect of plant growth.

The present work compared the N dynamics in soil with and without vegetation, under fertilization of synthetic N fertilizer (calcium ammonium nitrate, CAN) and biobased N fertilizers (pig manure and liquid fraction of digestate). The main objective was to estimate the N availability of biobased products under vegetation and verify the results from the incubation experiment.