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BACKGROUND Environmentally friendly agriculture needs to reduce the use of synthetic fertilizers and to reclaim nutrients from organic wastes. In this study the effect of five doses (0, 12, 24, 48 and 96 t ha−1) of two two-phase olive mill waste (TPOMW)-based composts on the bioactivity and chemical characteristics of an agricultural soil and their potential to fertilize alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and stimulate nodulation were assessed during a two-year incubation experiment. The two composts were prepared either with the olive mill waste alone (compost A), which served as control, or mixed with a liquid fatty-proteinaceous hydrolyzate waste (FPH) from the pharmaceutical industry (compost AH). RESULTS Compost AH resulted in greater N immobilization than compost A because the former supplied the soil with easily degradable C and N, which increased microbial biomass and activity. Both compost mineralizations during the first year of incubation supplied the soil with more nutrients (mainly N), more so with A than with AH. Nevertheless, plant growth was similar in soils amended with either A or AH. Both composts induced nodulation similarly and the highest dose (96 t ha−1) increased the formation of nodules by a factor of 11 compared with the four lower doses. CONCLUSION TPOMW serves as an effective ground material for co-composting with liquid wastes such as FPH. TPOMW supplies key nutrients and stimulates nodulation in alfalfa. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry

[ES] El uso de modelos de simulación de la dinámica del agua en el suelo requiere del conocimiento de un gran número de parámetros, algunos de los cuales son difíciles de medir y es necesaria su calibración a partir de medidas experimentales. Por ello, es conveniente elegir aquellos parámetros que mayor incidencia tienen en los procesos a estudiar, simplificando con ello el proceso de calibración del modelo. En este trabajo se propone la utilización de métodos de análisis de sensibilidad global para determinar los parámetros más influyentes en los errores de la predicción del contenido de humedad del suelo de dos modelos de simulación con diferente grado de complejidad, LEACHM y EU-Rotate_N. Se ha hecho uso de los valores medidos de la humedad del suelo en dos ensayos de cultivo de coliflor en dos años consecutivos, utilizando los datos del primer ensayo para la calibración de ambos modelos y los datos del segundo ensayo para evaluar la capacidad predictiva de los mismos una vez calibrados. Los resultados muestran que es posible obtener buenas predicciones calibrando solo un número reducido de parámetros., Este trabajo ha sido subvencionado parcialmente por el Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad mediante el proyecto INIA-RTA 2011–00136-C04-01.

Environmentally friendly agriculture needs to reduce the use of synthetic fertilizers and to reclaim nutrients from organic wastes. In this study the effect of five doses (0, 12, 24, 48 and 96 t ha(-1) ) of two two-phase olive mill waste (TPOMW)-based composts on the bioactivity and chemical characteristics of an agricultural soil and their potential to fertilize alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and stimulate nodulation were assessed during a two-year incubation experiment. The two composts were prepared either with the olive mill waste alone (compost A), which served as control, or mixed with a liquid fatty-proteinaceous hydrolyzate waste (FPH) from the pharmaceutical industry (compost AH).Compost AH resulted in greater N immobilization than compost A because the former supplied the soil with easily degradable C and N, which increased microbial biomass and activity. Both compost mineralizations during the first year of incubation supplied the soil with more nutrients (mainly N), more so with A than with AH. Nevertheless, plant growth was similar in soils amended with either A or AH. Both composts induced nodulation similarly and the highest dose (96 t ha(-1) ) increased the formation of nodules by a factor of 11 compared with the four lower doses.TPOMW serves as an effective ground material for co-composting with liquid wastes such as FPH. TPOMW supplies key nutrients and stimulates nodulation in alfalfa.