ISCF WAVE 1 AGRI TECH: Sphagnum Farming UK - A Sustainable Alternative to Peat in Growing Media

ISCF WAVE 1 AGRI TECH：英国泥炭藓种植——种植介质中泥炭的可持续替代品

• 批准号: BB/R021678/1
• 负责人: Simon Caporn
• 金额: $ 21.34万
• 依托单位: Manchester Metropolitan University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2018 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FR021678%2F1
• 关键词: ISCF; WAVE; AGRI; TECH; Sphagnum

The current commercial extraction of peat for use as a growing media in horticulture is widely acknowledged as unsustainable, is destroying increasingly rare and highly-valued ecosystems, is having an adverse effect on carbon emissions, and is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain within the constraints of the planning process. A high-quality alternative to peat as a growing medium is urgently needed if the growing media industry is to have a long-term future. Commercially farmed Sphagnum moss could provide this because the highest-quality horticultural peat consists largely of semi-decomposed Sphagnum leaf and stem fragments. Fresh Sphagnum provides the same characteristics and properties as high-quality peat but cannot currently be readily obtained from the wild because Sphagnum-rich areas have become increasingly rare and those which do remain are largely now protected under environmental legislation. Sphagnum farming, on the other hand, offers the potential to provide a sustainable supply of high-quality growing medium into the foreseeable future. Such farming requires a source of starting propagules at the outset, however, to generate the initial crop. This is currently a significant obstacle for the same reasons that make wild harvesting of fresh Sphagnum undesirable and difficult. Until now it has not been possible to propagate and grow Sphagnum in large quantities, a limitation which has prevented active consideration of the possibilities offered by fresh Sphagnum. Micropropagation Services Ltd (MPS), however, have researched a unique laboratory technique for the micropropagation of Sphagnum which now offers the potential to grow this moss on a commercial scale. This novel solution involves the mass production of Sphagnum from leaf fragments using sterile tissue culture - micropropagation. Since 2008 MMU has supplied research support to MPS to develop methods of planting propagated Sphagnum in the field for habitat restoration. The scale of restoration using these methods in northern England is significant, having increased to 1,000 ha of upland peatland in 2013-2015.The current project proposal aims to establish the underpinning processes, the cultivation requirements and the production potential involved in growing Sphagnum on a scale sufficient to form source material in quantities which would make Sphagnum farming a viable proposition using cultivation techniques which are applicable at the farm-field scale. Our project will focus on an area of peatland which has previously been used for commercial peat extraction but which has now reached the end of its commercial life because there is little peat left to extract. MMU research within the consortium project will be strongly integrated with approaches at smaller and larger scales led by the other partners. MMU will field test the growth of selected Sphagnum genotypes in experimental small field plots; we will investigate the possibility of increasing production through nutrient addition. Drained peatlands are a source of respiratory CO2. Re-wetting and cultivation of Sphagnum has the potential to sequester carbon through raising CO2 assimilation in photosynthesis and cutting CO2 losses in respiration. However, the switch from a dry to a wet peatland may stimulate methane (CH4) emissions from the bog surface and surrounding irrigation ditches. The time-course and net benefits of wetting and Sphagnum cultivation on carbon exchange require evaluation. Nutrient demand and cycling by Sphagnum farming has not been assessed but requires investigation in order to provide optimal supply for production while minimizing losses such as emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide or release to water courses of dissolved inorganic nitrogen. Increased knowledge learned from MMU research will guide product development through improvement of Sphagnum production within an environmentally sustainable farming system.

目前作为园艺生长介质的泥炭商业开采被广泛认为是不可持续的，正在破坏越来越稀有和高价值的生态系统，对碳排放产生不利影响，并且在规划过程的限制下变得越来越难以维持。如果生长介质行业想要拥有长远的未来，就迫切需要一种高质量的泥炭替代品作为生长介质。商业养殖的泥炭藓可以提供这一点，因为最高品质的园艺泥炭主要由半分解的泥炭藓叶和茎碎片组成。新鲜的泥炭藓具有与优质泥炭相同的特征和特性，但目前无法从野外轻易获得，因为富含泥炭藓的地区变得越来越稀有，而那些仍然存在的地区现在大多受到环境立法的保护。另一方面，泥炭藓养殖具有在可预见的未来可持续供应高质量生长介质的潜力。然而，这种农业从一开始就需要起始繁殖体的来源，以产生最初的作物。出于同样的原因，这目前是一个重大障碍，导致新鲜泥炭藓的野生收获不受欢迎且困难。到目前为止，还不可能大量繁殖和种植泥炭藓，这一限制阻碍了对新鲜泥炭藓提供的可能性的积极考虑。然而，微繁殖服务有限公司（MPS）已经研究了一种用于泥炭藓微繁殖的独特实验室技术，该技术现在提供了商业规模种植这种苔藓的潜力。这种新颖的解决方案涉及使用无菌组织培养（微繁殖）从叶子碎片中大规模生产泥炭藓。自 2008 年以来，MMU 一直为 MPS 提供研究支持，开发在田间种植繁殖泥炭藓以恢复栖息地的方法。在英格兰北部使用这些方法进行的恢复规模非常巨大，2013-2015 年高地泥炭地面积增加到 1,000 公顷。当前的项目提案旨在确定种植水苔的基础过程、栽培要求和生产潜力，其规模足以形成大量的源材料，从而使水苔种植成为使用适用于农田规模的栽培技术的可行方案。我们的项目将重点关注以前用于商业泥炭提取的泥炭地区域，但由于几乎没有剩余的泥炭可供提取，因此该区域现已达到其商业寿命的终点。该联盟项目内的 MMU 研究将与其他合作伙伴主导的更小规模和更大规模的方法紧密结合。 MMU 将在实验小田地中实地测试选定的泥炭藓基因型的生长情况；我们将研究通过添加养分来提高产量的可能性。排水的泥炭地是呼吸二氧化碳的来源。泥炭藓的再润湿和栽培具有通过提高光合作用中的二氧化碳同化和减少呼吸中的二氧化碳损失来固碳的潜力。然而，从干燥泥炭地到潮湿泥炭地的转变可能会刺激沼泽表面和周围灌溉沟渠的甲烷（CH4）排放。湿润和泥炭藓培养对碳交换的时间进程和净效益需要评估。泥炭藓养殖的养分需求和循环尚未评估，但需要进行调查，以便为生产提供最佳供应，同时最大限度地减少损失，例如温室气体一氧化二氮的排放或溶解无机氮向水道的释放。从 MMU 研究中学到的更多知识将通过在环境可持续的农业系统中改善泥炭藓生产来指导产品开发。