Economics of Grape Pomace, Poultry Manure and Horse Manure as Soil Amendments

Abstract

The importance of organic fertilizers in modern agriculture is steadily rising, driven by their eco-friendly and sustainable attributes. In regions like Arizona, the adoption of organic practices faces challenges despite the increasing demand for certified organic products. To bridge this gap, innovative solutions are explored, focusing on utilizing farm waste and industry by-products to enhance soil fertility and crop growth. This study delves into specific organic treatments, such as grape pomace, poultry manure, and horse manure, to assess their impact on crop yield and quality. By investigating different combinations and treatment methods, the aim is to uncover commercially viable approaches for sustainable agricultural practices. The study helps understand the untapped potential of grape pomace, a significant waste product generated by wineries, which can be repurposed for soil health management through composting or solarization. We used 11 different combinations of treatments consisting of Grape Pomace, Poultry and Horse Manure with treatment 1(T1) being the control, and comparisons between solarized and composted methods made to assess their impact on crop productivity. These findings contribute valuable insights into leveraging organic resources for sustainable agriculture, addressing environmental concerns and aligning consumer demand. This research also quantifies key parameters related to the economics of transportation, indicating how valuable a crop needs to be to justify the cost of the amendment plus transportation cost in distance shipped. As the costs for shipping amendments is high, we generalized the base gross returns and percent yield increase, allowing us to determine an upper limit on the breakeven distance for shipping. This calculation helps us identify the economically viable shipping distances for compost based on the combination of crop value and percentage increase in yield.