폐코이어 배지로부터 생산된 바이오차의 유기질 비료로서의 활용 가능성 평가 = Evaluation of Potential Utilization of Biochar from Spent Growing Media as an Organic Fertilizer

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

With the expansion of greenhouse horticulture in South Korea, the generation of by-products and spent growing media from controlled environment agriculture, including smart farms, has been increasing. This study was conducted to evaluate the potential use of biochar derived from spent growing media as an organic fertilizer for crop production. The spent growing media were completely dried and pyrolyzed at 400℃ for 2 h. The produced biochar had a pH of 10.2, with total nitrogen (T-N) and total phosphorus (T-P) contents of 1.24% and 0.33%, respectively. A cultivation experiment was carried out using lettuce (Lactuca sativa) under five treatments: inorganic fertilizer at the standard application rate (IF, control), biochar at 5 t ha (BC5), biochar at 10 t ha (BC10), inorganic fertilizer combined-1-1with biochar at 5 t ha (IFBC5), and inorganic fertilizer combined with biochar at 10 t ha (IFBC10). Results showed that the fresh-1-1weight of lettuce increased by 53.6%, 29.8%, 107%, and 98.3% in BC5, BC10, IFBC5, and IFBC10, respectively, compared with IF. Plant height was also increased by 19.3%, 20.9%, 31.4%, and 30.4% in the same treatments. After harvest, soil pH and organic matter (OM) were higher in the biochar treatments than in IF. These findings demonstrate that biochar produced from spent growing media can promote crop growth and improve soil properties, highlighting the need for further studies to optimize application rates and assess performance under different crops and environmental conditions.