ISCF WAVE 1 AGRI TECH: Sphagnum Farming UK - A Sustainable Alternative to Peat in Growing Media

ISCF WAVE 1 AGRI TECH：英国泥炭藓种植——种植介质中泥炭的可持续替代品

基本信息

批准号：
BB/R021678/1
负责人：
Simon Caporn
金额：
$ 21.34万
依托单位：
Manchester Metropolitan University
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2018
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2018 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FR021678%2F1
关键词：
ISCF WAVE AGRI TECH Sphagnum

项目摘要

The current commercial extraction of peat for use as a growing media in horticulture is widely acknowledged as unsustainable, is destroying increasingly rare and highly-valued ecosystems, is having an adverse effect on carbon emissions, and is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain within the constraints of the planning process. A high-quality alternative to peat as a growing medium is urgently needed if the growing media industry is to have a long-term future. Commercially farmed Sphagnum moss could provide this because the highest-quality horticultural peat consists largely of semi-decomposed Sphagnum leaf and stem fragments. Fresh Sphagnum provides the same characteristics and properties as high-quality peat but cannot currently be readily obtained from the wild because Sphagnum-rich areas have become increasingly rare and those which do remain are largely now protected under environmental legislation. Sphagnum farming, on the other hand, offers the potential to provide a sustainable supply of high-quality growing medium into the foreseeable future. Such farming requires a source of starting propagules at the outset, however, to generate the initial crop. This is currently a significant obstacle for the same reasons that make wild harvesting of fresh Sphagnum undesirable and difficult. Until now it has not been possible to propagate and grow Sphagnum in large quantities, a limitation which has prevented active consideration of the possibilities offered by fresh Sphagnum. Micropropagation Services Ltd (MPS), however, have researched a unique laboratory technique for the micropropagation of Sphagnum which now offers the potential to grow this moss on a commercial scale. This novel solution involves the mass production of Sphagnum from leaf fragments using sterile tissue culture - micropropagation. Since 2008 MMU has supplied research support to MPS to develop methods of planting propagated Sphagnum in the field for habitat restoration. The scale of restoration using these methods in northern England is significant, having increased to 1,000 ha of upland peatland in 2013-2015.The current project proposal aims to establish the underpinning processes, the cultivation requirements and the production potential involved in growing Sphagnum on a scale sufficient to form source material in quantities which would make Sphagnum farming a viable proposition using cultivation techniques which are applicable at the farm-field scale. Our project will focus on an area of peatland which has previously been used for commercial peat extraction but which has now reached the end of its commercial life because there is little peat left to extract. MMU research within the consortium project will be strongly integrated with approaches at smaller and larger scales led by the other partners. MMU will field test the growth of selected Sphagnum genotypes in experimental small field plots; we will investigate the possibility of increasing production through nutrient addition. Drained peatlands are a source of respiratory CO2. Re-wetting and cultivation of Sphagnum has the potential to sequester carbon through raising CO2 assimilation in photosynthesis and cutting CO2 losses in respiration. However, the switch from a dry to a wet peatland may stimulate methane (CH4) emissions from the bog surface and surrounding irrigation ditches. The time-course and net benefits of wetting and Sphagnum cultivation on carbon exchange require evaluation. Nutrient demand and cycling by Sphagnum farming has not been assessed but requires investigation in order to provide optimal supply for production while minimizing losses such as emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide or release to water courses of dissolved inorganic nitrogen. Increased knowledge learned from MMU research will guide product development through improvement of Sphagnum production within an environmentally sustainable farming system.

当前将泥炭用作园艺中不断增长的媒体的商业提取被广泛认为是不可持续的，正在破坏越来越罕见且高估的生态系统，对碳排放产生不利影响，并且在计划过程的约束中越来越难以维持。如果不断发展的媒体行业拥有长期的未来，则迫切需要将泥炭作为一种不断增长的植物的高质量替代品。商业上种植的泥炭苔藓可以提供此功能，因为最高质量的园艺泥炭主要由半精制的泥炭叶叶和茎碎片组成。 Fresh Sphagnum提供了与高质量泥炭相同的特征和特性，但目前无法从野外获得相同的特征和特性，因为泥石用富裕的地区变得越来越罕见，而现在仍然在环境立法的情况下仍然受到了很大的保护。另一方面，史佩纳姆（Sphagnum）养殖具有在可预见的未来提供可持续的高质量增长媒介供应的潜力。但是，这种农业需要一开始就开始繁殖的来源才能产生初始作物。目前，这是一个重要的障碍，其原因是使新鲜泥炭纳姆的狂野收获不受欢迎且困难。到目前为止，一直不可能大量地传播和生长泥炭症，这一限制阻止了新鲜泥炭纳姆提供的可能性的积极考虑。但是，微繁殖服务有限公司（MPS）研究了一种独特的实验室技术，用于泥炭型的微繁殖，该技术现在具有在商业规模上生长这种苔藓的潜力。这种新颖的解决方案涉及使用无菌组织培养 - 微繁殖从叶片碎片中批量生产泥炭症。自2008年以来，MMU已为国会议员提供了研究支持，以开发在栖息地恢复田间种植泥石用的方法。在英格兰北部，使用这些方法的恢复规模很大，在2013 - 2015年增加到了高地泥炭地的1,000公顷peatland。当前的项目建议旨在建立基础过程，耕种需求和泥炭发展涉及的生产潜力，涉及越来越多的泥炭型，足以形成一定量的量规模，以使型号的耕种适用于型号的规模，以供养殖量规定，这是适当的养殖技术。我们的项目将重点放在泥炭地，该区域以前已用于商业泥炭提取，但现在已经达到了商业生活的终结，因为剩下的泥炭可提取。财团项目中的MMU研究将与其他合作伙伴领导的较小和较大尺度的方法强烈融合。 MMU将测试实验性小场图中选定的泥炭型基因型的生长；我们将通过添加营养来研究增加产量的可能性。排水的泥炭地是呼吸二氧化碳的来源。泥炭型的重新润湿和培养有可能通过在光合作用中提高二氧化碳同化并在呼吸中切割二氧化碳损失来隔离碳。但是，从干燥到湿的泥炭地的转换可能会刺激沼泽表面和周围灌溉沟的甲烷（CH4）排放。润湿和泥炭型培养在碳交换上的时期和净益处需要评估。尚未评估泥炭植物的营养需求和骑自行车，但需要进行调查，以便为生产提供最佳的供应，同时最大程度地减少了诸如温室气氧化物的排放或释放到溶解的无机氮的水疗程。从MMU研究中学到的知识的增加将通过改善环境可持续的农业系统中的泥炭生产来指导产品开发。