Valerie Ifeyinwa Ofili Edosa, a graduate researcher within the “Water for energy production” workpackage based at University of Benin, presented a paper titled “Comparative effects of conventional fertilizers and anaerobic digestate of food waste-cattle rumen on performance of tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) and soil properties changes” at the 45th Annual Conference of the Soil Science Society of Nigeria (SSSN-BOWEN 2021) with the theme “Understanding Soil Organic Matter Dynamics: Key to Sustainable Ecosystem Health and Food Security” scheduled during May 17-21, 2021 at Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State, Nigeria.
The paper argues that waste-to-energy processes, such as anaerobic digestion, have considerable scope to improve sanitation and waste management, produce methane for use as a fuel and to supply soil conditioners and/or sustainable alternatives to inorganic fertilizers. To prove that, digestate derived from an anaerobic codigestion process (cattle rumen contents and food waste) in a household canister model reactor was evaluated as a soil amendment in a pot experiment using tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum). The experiment evaluated four treatments (control, digestate, cured poultry manure and NPK 15:15:15), which were replicated three times and set up in a completely randomized design.
The SSSN-BOWEN 2021 brought together the scientific community working on various aspects of research & development to encourage the exchange of ideas across a broad range of Soil Science discipline including the major advancement and challenges in food security and its allied areas. This year`s conference adopted a new style of conference, with traditional conference talks in the mornings, followed by a range of scientific and interactive topic masterclasses in the afternoons. The event gathered together many members of the Institute for Soil Science in Nigeria, lecturers, authors, and students. The presenters gave lectures on different topics such as:
- Aligning Land use with land potential.
- Soil solutions: A solution to climate change, adaptations, and mitigation.
- Soil health, management, and sustainable intensification.
- Benefits of sustainable soil/land management.
- Soil degradation, rehabilitation, and conservation.
- Benefits of sustainable soil/land management.
Keynote speakers invited were Professor Rattan Lal, Professor of Soil Science and Director of Carbon Management and Sequestration Centre, Professor Bala Abdullahi, Professor of Soil Science and Vice Chancellor of Federal University of Technology, Minna and Professor Jibrin Jibrin, Professor of Soil Science, Dry Land Agriculture and Director of Centre for Arid Agriculture, Bayero University, Kano.
