Fertilisers, agricultural land, microbial parameters, sludge, granulated limestone

Implementing Decree amending Ministry of Agriculture Implementing Decree No 474/2000 laying down requirements for fertilisers, as amended

Ministry of Agriculture Implementing Decree No 474/2000 laying down requirements for fertilisers, as amended, pursuant to § 3(5) of the Fertilisers Act stipulates risky elements and substances, their limit values for individual groups of fertilisers and auxiliary substances, as well as permitted tolerances. Pursuant to § 4(9) of the Fertilisers Act, it also stipulates types of fertilisers and ancillary substances. When applying treated sludge on agricultural land, limit values of selected microbial sludge parameters are used pursuant to Annex 4 to Ministry of the Environment Implementing Decree No 382/2001 on conditions for the use of treated sludge on agricultural land, as amended. When processing sludge to produce organic fertilisers and substrates, microbial contamination was not previously assessed during the registration process, which appears to be disproportionate. In addition, there are no restrictions on the application of such treated sludge, for example, for growing vegetables. In order to protect human health, products made of such risky materials should be subject to appropriate checks. The draft implementing decree stipulates products to which microbial parameters should apply, and their values.

Granulated limestone is also added to fertiliser types. Granules produced from ground limestone with sizes corresponding to the relevant type have the same agronomic effect as ground limestone after the granules disintegrate. Granulation of ground limestone also simplifies application and limits dust.

Keywords:

fertilisers, agricultural land, microbial parameters, sludge, granulated limestone