Optimizing use of anaerobic digestate as a soil amendment in agriculture

Publication date: 21-08-2026
Extent: 34 pages

Contributions by: Christina van Midden, Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, UK

Chapter synopsis:

The anaerobic digestion of organic matter produces both biogas and digestate. Digestate can be applied to agricultural land as a biofertilizer to provide nutrients for crop growth, as a soil conditioner to improve soil structural characteristics, and as a prebiotic to promote beneficial interactions between plants and microorganisms. Digestate can either be used as it is or be separated into liquid or fiber-rich solid fractions. This chapter explores the applicability of using digestate in its three forms (whole, liquid and solid fractions) as a soil amendment to fertilize crops and build soil organic matter by reviewing field experiments. It discusses methods to optimize the nutrient use efficiency of digestate, reduce nutrient pollution to the environment and recover nutrients from digestate, addresses ecotoxicological hazards associated with digestate use and highlights key areas for future research directions.

DOI: 10.19103/AS.2025.0166.05