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Animal manure may be a valuable resource for the development of agricultural sustainability. We proposed to verify the feasibility of applications of three types of animal manures to improve soil attributes and to sustain crop yields under intensive cropping and no-tillage systems. The field experiment was established in 2004 on Typic Hapludalf soil with pig slurry (PS), cattle slurry (CS), pig deep-litter (PL), mineral fertilizer (MF) and a non-fertilized treatment. From 2004 to 2015, were grown black oat, maize, forage turnip, black beans, and wheat. Soil samples were taken after winter 2014 and summer 2015, and submitted to chemical, physical, microbiological and biochemical analyses. Animal manures increased soil pH, but MF caused acidification of soil. The PL and CS applications reduced soil density, and increased total pore volume and hydraulic conductivity. Animal manures increased soil P fractions, total organic carbon, total nitrogen, stimulated soil respiration, and had higher activities of glucosidase and acid phosphatase. Wheat had its biggest dry matter and grain yields with MF, but maize grain yields with CS were higher than MF. All indicators pointed that application of animal manure converges to an interesting strategy to recycle nutrients at farmyard level and to contribute to global sustainability.

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to develop and improve protein concentration techniques for two industrial by-products with the potential for use in fish feed. In particular, we chemically characterized crambe meal and sunflower meal and their protein concentrates. Three different protein concentration methods were tested: isoelectric pH (pHi), acid pH and alkaline pH. For crambe and sunflower meals extraction using the pHi method was most efficient in terms of protein yield and crude protein content in the concentrates; this method also increased lysine and methionine content in the concentrates. The water holding capacity of the sunflower protein concentrate was greater than that of the crambe protein concentrate. The crambe protein concentrate had a foam-formation capacity of 15%, which stabilized at 6% after 90 minutes. The protein concentration method also reduced total phenolic content by approximately 50% in the concentrates compared with the meals. Therefore, we conclude that protein concentration using the pHi method is the most efficient technique for crambe and sunflower meals, and the use of this technique can decrease total phenolic compounds while improving meal quality for fish feeding.