Published in Scientific Papers. Series "Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and rural development", Vol. 22 ISSUE 2
Written by Dimo ATANASOV, Galya DOBREVSKA, Manol DALLEV

The quality of rootstocks is very important for the long term production results of apple trees. It depends on many factors, such as good air and water regime of the soil, good supply of nutrients etc. Different methods of enriching the soil are practiced in order to produce high quality planting material. Bearing in mind the concepts of sustainable agriculture and bioeconomy’s principles of production, the authors of this paper, also scientists at the Agricultural University – Plovdiv, Bulgaria undertook a 3 year experimental project aiming to discover efficient ways for improving quantity and quality of apple rootstocks per unit area, while using cheap soil additives or even organic wastes in an environmentally friendly manner. To what extent the use of natural humates and pyrolysis residue from biogas production can change soil conditions and improve quality of apple rootstocks; have positive environmental impact; reduce production cost and guarantee higher economic results was the unifying idea of the project. This article’s main objective is to evaluate the impact of the use of natural humates and pyrolysis residue on apple rootstock’s production efficiency from technical and economic perspectives. Natural humates contain a certain amount of moisture-absorbing crystals and pressed organic substances, the use of which drastically reduces the use of water and fertilizers in the production system. These have positive economic as well as environmental impact. Pyrolysis residues are obtained as a result of using biogenic fuels for heating greenhouses. They are waste, but can be used as a valuable resource for soil improvement.

[Read full article] [Citation]