Manure management plan in livestock farms in Lebanon : case of Bekaa and Baalbek-Hermel governorates.

Abstract

The improper management of animal manure has significant impacts on the environment and human health due to soil and groundwater pollution, and malodourous emissions. Several physical and biological methods are used to treat manure before being disposed or reused, of which composting and anaerobic digestion (AD) are widely applied. This study assesses the current management of manure in the Bekaa and Baalbek-Hermel Governorates and proposes a plan for its future management. 30 farms were visited in the study area where livestock production is concentrated. It was found that farmers either add manure to their lands without prior treatment as a means of soil amendment, or sell manure to other farmers to be used for the same purpose. Manure and soil samples were collected from the visited farms and analyzed for their nutrient content (N, P and K). A nutrient management plan was proposed for the two mostly planted crops in the Bekaa and Baalbek-Hermel regions which are wheat and potatoes. The analysis showed that in some sites manure should not be added since the concentration of P available for crops exceeds the requirements. This leads to the generation of excess manure that could not be used directly as fertilizer. Knowing that raw manure may contain pathogenic bacteria and antibiotics which should be mitigated before the manure is disposed of, the study recommends to install a centralized integrated AD and composting plant in Baalbek-Hermel governorate. This will lead to the generation of biogas and composted digested material that can be used as fertilizers. As for the Bekaa governorate, the study recommends to upgrade the existing composting facility in Terbol so that it can treat most of the manure that is generated from small and medium farms in that area. These facilities can benefit from the subsidized environmental loans. Both solutions were found to be economically feasible. Moreover, in some farms that have the available space, it is feasible to carry out onsite windrow composting, as this would not ent