Production of soil amendment by utilization of the weed Amaranth

Abstract

There is a possibility of using agricultural waste, in particular weeds, in innovative technologies for the restoration of disturbed land in order to increase fertility. Digestate, after anaerobic digestion of manure and weed plant Amaranthus retroflexus L. (AR), as well as solid carbonaceous residue after pyrolysis of AR. The combination of digestate, which contains high concentrations of total nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and solid carbonaceous residue, provides a new composite soil amendment. It has high potential as a source of nutrients because it contains a large amount of mineral components. The soil amendment does not contain toxic elements such as: lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic and nickel, but the zinc and copper content exceeds the recommended values.