Pollution control by injection of pig slurry into growing crops

In Europe, new legislation on environmental protection is likely to require methods that reduce the emission of ammonia and odour from land spreading of slurry. Shallow injection of slurry is one of the methods recommended, albeit of higher cost than standard surface application techniques such as tanker-broadcasting. The aims of this study were to investigate the agronomic effect of shallow injection of slurry into a growing crop, and to examine the available information on the potential cost benefits of slurry-fertilizer utilization in the light of the new legislation. It was found that shallow injection of slurry into growing winter-wheat during spring did not have a detrimental effect on the yield, and that it was of comparable cost to alternative application techniques that satisfy the requirements of the new legislation.