Use of spent mushroom substrate for bioremediation of soils contaminated with Tebuthiuron

• Grant number: 17/10831-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2017
• End date: October 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy
• Principal Investigator: Diego Cunha Zied
• Grantee: Victor Gustavo da Cunha Alves
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Tecnológicas. Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Dracena. Dracena , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 15/15306-3 - Techniques and processes in mushrooming: supplementation of compost and utilization of spent mushroom in the agriculture, AP.JP

Abstract

With the increasing production of mushrooms, the sector has encountered some difficulties in closing the production cycle, such as the proper use of the spent mushroom substrate (substrate + mycelium of the cultivated fungus), a residue of production that has high agronomic and biological potential, being used and researched due to its different forms of use, such as: animal feed, soil conditioner and biorremediator of polluted environments. Due to these factors, there is an opportunity to use the spent mushroom substrate for bioremediation of contaminated soils. Currently one of the major problems have been the cultivated soils with sugarcane, due to the excessive and inappropriate application of a herbicides, which contains the active ingredient tebuthiuron. This active ingredient has been causing phytotoxicity effects in dicotyledons planted after the cultivation of sugarcane, damaging the crop rotation and even leasing of the land for the production of this crop. Thus the objective of this proposal is to verify the efficiency of the application of the spent mushroom substrate as a function of dose and the way of incorporation, aiming the bioremediation of soils contaminated with tebuthiuron. For this, the spent mushroom substrate of the species P. ostreatus (shimeji) and Agaricus subrufescens (sun mushroom) will be used. After obtaining contaminated soil, the experiment will consist of a double factorial, being: 3 doses of spent mushroom substrate (1, 2 and 3 kg m-2) vs 2 ways of incorporation of the spent substrate + control treatment (without the spent mushroom substrate or only the soil), totaling 7 treatments (3 x 2 = 6 + 1 "control", total 7). Each treatment will be represented by 4 replicates (a box with 30 x 20 x 30cm - length, width and height), so each experiment will be 28 experimental units (n). Every 4 months, analyzes will be performed to verify the presence of tebuthiuron in soil samples + spent mushroom substrate and also in the leached water collected below the boxes. The experiment will be conducted at the Centro de Estudos em Cogumelos (CECOG), FCAT / UNESP, and will have the formation of a multidisciplinary team composed of professors, researchers and students from different universities in the country, with the aim of ensuring the good development of the project and the commercial application of the technique. (AU)