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BorUP

Projekt title: 

BorUp: Targeted boron nutrition of crops by upcycling of waste materials

Duration:

2024-2026

Funding:

Hessisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst, LOEWE-Exploration

Project partners:

 

 

Institut für Bodenfoschung (IBF), BOKU Wien

Institut für Umweltbiotechnologie, BOKU Wien

Institut für Verfahrens- und Energietechnik (IVET), BOKU Wien
Staff involved: Prof. Dr. Birgit Hütsch, Prof. Dr. Jakob Santner

 

Boron (B) deficiency is considered to be the most widespread micronutrient deficiency worldwide. The high mobility of B in soil combined with leaching losses, the small window between deficiency and toxicity, and the necessity of an even distribution of this micronutrient in soil makes great demands on the fertilization practice. A bad spatial distribution on the field can locally cause over- or suboptimal fertilization. In addition, row minerals used to produce soluble B-fertilizers are a limited available resource. Therefore, the aim of this project is to enhance B-use efficiency with the focus on B recycling. B-containing insulation material is upcycled to a slow-release B fertilizer, used for incrustation of plant seeds. The experiments focus on the following hypotheses: seed incrustation (1) provides a sufficient B supply to the plants during the entire growth period, (2) prevents B toxicity particularly in the seedling stage, and (3) minimizes B leaching out of the soil.

These hypotheses are tested with the agriculturally important crop species oilseed rape, sugar beets, maize, and wheat. The plant development is monitored, the nutrient uptake and the yield are determined along with various other parameters. With seed incrustation and thus targeted placement of the B fertilizer an improvement of the synchronization between B availability and plant demand is expected combined with minimizing the disadvantages of the prevailing B fertilization practice.

Bormangel bei Zuckerrübe

Figure 1 Boron deficiency sugar beet. Schubert (2018)

 

Upcycling von Isoliermaterial zum Bordünger

Abbildung 2 Upcycling von Isoliermaterial zur Bor-Gewinnung für die Sameninkrustierung. Everaert et al. (2023)

Background:     Can Boron-containing waste materials be recycled and used as crop fertilizers?

  • Boron (B) is an important plant nutrient.
  • B deficiency causes yield decreases of crops such as sugar beet, wheat, oilseed rape and maize.
  • B needs to be available during the entire growth period.
  • Overfertilization with B can easily occur (small window between deficiency and toxicity).
  • In this project a novel, slow-release B-fertilizer will be developed using B-containing insulation waste.

Advantages:    

  • high nutrient-use efficiency
  • recycling of waste material
  • saving of the restricted, naturally occurring B-resources

 

Literature:

Everaert M, Duboc O, Willems E, Sojo G, Pfeifer C, Van Velthofen N, de Oliveira-Silva, R, Sakellariou D, Santner J (2023) Thermochemical processing of boron-impregnated cellulose insulation waste for upcycling to slow-release boron fertilizers. J. Clean. Prod. 399, 136684. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.136684