1st International Conference of Soil and Agriculture:
TOWARDS SOIL SUSTAINABILITY
11–13 June 2024 • Lublin–Nałęczów, Poland

https://doi.org/10.24326/ICSA1.PP.09
Published online: 4 October 2024

Possibilities of using oat in the reclamation of combustion waste
Edmund Hajduk¹*, Marcin Pieniążek¹, Bernadeta Alvarez¹, Jolanta Duda²

¹ Department of Soil Science, Chemistry of Environment and Hydrology, University of Rzeszów, Zelwerowicza 8B, 35-601 Rzeszów, Poland
² University of Rzeszów, Zelwerowicza 8B, 35-601 Rzeszów, Poland
* Corresponding author:

Abstract
Reclamation of post-industrial waste landfills is still a leading problem in today’s world. There are many studies in this field, but many issues still require clarification. The aim of the research was to assess the possibility of using oat (Avena sativa) in the process of reclamations of a coal combustion solid waste landfill. The research was carried out in the conditions of a pot experiment in 3 repetitions (in 2 repetitions nitrogen fertilization was applied at doses equivalent to a total of 50 kg N/ha). The experiment used fly ash from the Rzeszów Power Plant and soil from the humus horizon with a granulometric composition of clay dust. Vases filled with pure ash and soil only were used as control variants. The remaining 3 combinations were: (i) a vase with ash covered with a 2 cm layer of soil; (ii) as before, but mixing the ash with a 2 cm layer of soil; (iii) a vase filled with a mixture of ash and soil in a 1:1 ratio. After 3 months of oat cultivation, the crops were harvested, their weight was determined and basic physicochemical and chemical analyses of the soil and plant material were performed. The conducted research indicates the possibility of using the analysed techniques of introducing soil material into fly ash waste landfills in the reclamation of these landfills. The addition of soil reduced the alkalinity of the ash substrate, improved its physical properties (primarily water) and “diluted” the toxic heavy metals contained therein. As a result, plant growth improved, which resulted in a higher grain yield from objects containing ash-soil mixtures compared to objects with pure ash. However, the obtained results did not show a statistically significant impact of the used combinations of growing media on the yield of grain, straw and oat roots. A significantly higher mass of oat grains harvested under conditions of fertilizing the soil with nitrogen fertilizers was found compared to the objects without fertilization with this element. The addition of soil to the ash substrate generally increased the content of Mn, Cu and Ni in the grain and straw biomass. Among various organs, oat roots contained the most Mn, Cu and Ni, the smallest amounts of Ni and Cu were found in oat straw, and the least Mn was found in the grain of this plant.

Keywords: waste, reclamation, oat

How to cite
Hajduk E., Pieniążek M., Alvarez B., Duda J., 2024. Possibilities of using oat in the reclamation of combustion waste. 1st International Conference of Soil and Agriculture: Towards Soil Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.24326/ICSA1.PP.09