Projects Laboratory for Ecological Monitoring and Modeling Department of Multidisciplinary Scientific Research KarRC RAS

The intensification of agricultural production is based on the application of new economically profitable methods and techniques that provide, among others, an increase in soil fertility. Currently, agricultural practices are being actively studied, allowing, on the one hand, to maintain a high level of soil fertility, and on the other, to reduce the cost of agricultural products. A wide range of substances is being considered and studied as a partial replacement for the application of high doses of fertilizers to the soil, but the question of the possibility of using sludge from the pulp and paper industry for these purposes remains open. The aim of this project is to assess the impact of the application of pulp and paper mill (PPM) sludge (lignosulfonate, mill activated sludge, primary sludge, coniferous bark) into soils of various types (mineral and peat) in various combinations and doses on the agrochemical and physical properties of the soil and, most importantly, on the yield of a wide range of cultivated plants in open and closed ground. It is expected that PPMsludge contributes to an increase in soil productivity and fertility through an increase in the content of organic matter, mineral nutrients, cation exchange capacity, changes in the structure, density, water-holding capacity, and other soil properties. Sludge-related improvement in soil properties is expected to have a positive impact on agricultural yields. Since yield largely depends on the physiological activity of photosynthesis, respiration, and water exchange of plants, the effect of waste on their ability to activate these processes and act as hormonal biostimulant of growth is important to study in this project. However, these hypothetical statements require confirmation, which are found or refuted during this study. Thus, for the first time, the role of PPM sludge in optimizing the physiological processes of plant growth and development is revealed indirectly through the effect on soil properties, or directly through hormonal and other biostimulation.