Nuovi ammendanti di qualità per prodotti particolari

Recycling to soil Olive Mill Waste (OMW) has the potential to contrast soil desertification thus improving soil fertility and, at the same time, reducing CO2 emission associated to global warming. However, the short period in which OMW are produced and the high load of recalcitrant compounds, make difficult direct land spreading of raw OMW. Consequently, sustainable biological treatments able to transform OMW into a safe amendment have been progressively investigated. With this regard, ISAFoM-CNR in 2004 developed a new technology termed MATReFO (patent WO/2005/082814). The process consists essentially of mixing raw, destoned OMW with hygroscopic organic waste such as straw, wool waste, sawdust, olive leaves and twigs from olive mill and pruning residues. The resulting mixture is then stored aerobically to promote static composting before use. Using such kind of improved mixture, ISAFoM-CNR performed several agronomic trials which showed it to be a good amendment/fertilizer in Oliveculture and short-term crops, a valuable surrogate of peat in potted nursery cultivations and an excellent ingredient in the preparation of substrate for industrial cultivation of Agaricus bisporus. Field trials showed significant increases in soil humic content and beneficial effects on soil microbiota, mainly nitrifying bacteria. Nursery trials showed good performances for olive, strawberry, laurel, Cupressus spp., and ornamental plants such as Pelargonium spp. and Clorophytun comosum cv., further showing to be a slow releaser of nitrogen during cultivation. The OMW- amended substrate supported higher populations of beneficial microorganisms in Agaricus bisporus cultivation especially, actinomycetes which enabled the breakdown of the compost ingredients and resulted in higher biological efficiency than control.