Open AccessWool and Hair Waste as Nutrient Source for High-value Crops
Author(s) -
Valtcho D. Jeliazkov,
Glenn W. Stratton,
James A. Pincock,
Stephanie Butler,
Ekaterina Jeliazkova
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
hortscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.518
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 2327-9834
pISSN - 0018-5345
DOI - 10.21273/hortsci.40.4.1133a
Subject(s) - wool , nutrient , sawdust , biomass (ecology) , agronomy , environmental science , chemistry , horticulture , biology , materials science , organic chemistry , composite material
One small-plotfield and five container experiments were conducted to evaluate sheep wool-wastes and human hair-wastes as soil amendments and nutrient sources for high-value crops. Overall, the wool-waste or hair-waste addition to soil: 1) increased yields from basil, garden sage, peppermint, valerian, thorn apple, marigold, foxglove, and swiss chard; 2) increased the amount of secondary metabolites (such as essential oils and alkaloids); 3) increased NH 4 -N and NO 3 -N in soil; 4) increased total N (and protein) content in plant tissue; 5) did not affect soil microbial biomass; and 6) decreased mycorrhizae colonization of plant roots. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analyses indicated that some of the wool and hair in soil from the container and field experiments (after two field seasons and several harvests) retained its original structure, retained a significant amount of S and some N, and was not fully decomposed. Our results indicate that single addition of wool or hair-waste of 0.33% by weight to soil would support two to five harvests or crops, without addition of other fertilizers, and may improve soil biological and chemical characteristics.