Design and Evaluation of Peat-Free Blocking Media

无泥炭封闭介质的设计与评估

• 批准号: 10053549
• 金额: $ 28.74万
• 依托单位: RIVERFORD ORGANIC FARMERS LIMITED
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Collaborative R&D
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=10053549
• 关键词: Design; Evaluation; Peat; Free; Blocking

The production of field vegetables and salad crops is highly dependent on transplanted seedlings that are grown in media often containing peat. The mining of peat has adverse environmental consequences including the release of CO2, biodiversity loss and increased risk of flooding and is being phased out by the UK government. Commercial peat-free growing media have been developed, however whilst these are suitable for use in plastic modular trays they are not cohesive enough to produce the larger 'soil blocks' that are more widely used by growers for certain key crops. Furthermore, few organic solutions exist, despite this being a growing market sector.This project will therefore develop organic, peat-free growing media suitable for producing blocks that can be handled by existing machinery at both the plant nursery stage and during transplanting into the field. However, the findings will also be relevant for conventional production as the basic problem of ensuring the integrity of the blocks from sowing until transplanting is the same.The project will investigate a range of potential materials, concentrating on materials available in the UK to provide a resilient, locally-based solution. The selection of test materials will be made following a literature review and assessment of the 'state of the art' through consultation with growing media industry representatives. Investigations will ensure that the media hold together throughout the whole process of pressing, seeding, seedling growth, transport, and planting in the field. To build on the measurements made of the properties of particular blends a computer model will be developed to quantify the effect of the various ingredients. The most successful media will be identified for subsequent testing by Delfland Nurseries.Delfland will evaluate the performance of selected growing media blends, in comparison with a peat based control, using commercial scale equipment and facilities. Replicated trials will assess the growth and quality of test crops of lettuce transplants. The plant transplants from these trials will be further evaluated after planting out by Riverford Organic Farmers, on certified-organic land and using farm scale equipment to determine the robustness of blocks and the effect of the media on crop yield and quality.Finally, to determine economic viability of the novel peat-free growing media a farm-business cost-benefit analysis will be conducted using partial budgeting methodology to consider all relevant stages of the bio/eco-economy supply chain. The wider environmental effects of each of the proposed materials and blends will be quantified.

田间蔬菜和沙拉作物的生产高度依赖于在通常含有泥炭的培养基中种植的移植幼苗。泥炭的开采对环境有不利影响，包括二氧化碳的释放，生物多样性的丧失和洪水风险的增加，英国政府正在逐步淘汰。已经开发了商业无泥炭生长介质，然而，虽然这些适合用于塑料模块化托盘，但它们的粘性不足以产生种植者更广泛地用于某些关键作物的更大的“土壤块”。此外，有机解决方案很少，尽管这是一个不断增长的市场领域。因此，该项目将开发适合生产块的有机无泥炭生长介质，这些块可以在苗圃阶段和移植到田间时由现有机械处理。然而，这些发现也将与传统生产相关，因为确保块从播种到移栽的完整性的基本问题是相同的。该项目将调查一系列潜在的材料，专注于英国可用的材料，以提供弹性，基于本地的解决方案。测试材料的选择将在文献回顾和评估“最先进的”通过与不断增长的媒体行业代表协商。调查将确保在压制、播种、幼苗生长、运输和田间种植的整个过程中，培养基保持在一起。为了建立在对特定混合物的性质进行的测量的基础上，将开发一个计算机模型来量化各种成分的影响。最成功的培养基将由Delfland Nurseries进行后续测试。Delfland将使用商业规模的设备和设施，与泥炭基对照相比，对选定的生长培养基混合物的性能进行评估。重复试验将评估生菜移植试验作物的生长和质量。来自这些试验的植物移植将在Riverford Organic Farmers种植后进行进一步评估，在认证的有机土地上使用农场规模的设备，以确定块的稳健性以及培养基对作物产量和质量的影响。为了确定新的无泥炭生长介质的经济可行性，将使用部分预算编制方法进行效益分析，以考虑生物/生态经济供应链的所有相关阶段。将量化每种拟议材料和混合物的更广泛的环境影响。