Zoonotic fertilisers (manure, slurry), rich in nitrogen, can be a very important source of this element for plants.
It is important to apply the right dose at the right time. However, it is not only the right amount, timing and method of fertilisation that determine whether a treatment will be effective and at the same time safe for the environment. As in the case of poor storage, animal manures left on the soil surface and in contact with atmospheric air are rapidly degraded. The result of these transformations is a large loss of nitrogen, which escapes into the atmosphere in the form of ammonia, causing not only the loss of a macronutrient needed by plants, but also atmospheric pollution.
The way to prevent unfavourable decomposition processes and nitrogen losses is to plough the fertilisers as quickly as possible – according to the rules to be introduced in the coming years – within 12 hours at the latest.
For the same reasons that applied fertilisers are ploughed into the field, liquid fertilisers must be applied directly into the soil – such will be the future requirements for their use. Already today, so-called ultra-localised fertilisation technology envisages strip-tillage with simultaneous in-row application of liquid fertilisers. Fertilisers are applied into the soil, a few centimetres below the seed.
Another way to deliver fertiliser to the soil is to pour animal manure onto the surface of the field and mix it into the soil as quickly as possible.