Field assessment of organic amendments and spring barley to phytomanage a Cu/PAH-contaminated soil

The INTENSE project, supported by the EU Era-Net Facce Surplus, aimed at increasing crop production on marginal land, including those with contaminated soils. A field trial was set up at a former wood preservation site to phytomanage a Cu/PAH-contaminated sandy soil. The novelty was to assess the influence of five organic amendments differing in their composition and production process, i.e. solid fractions before and after biodigestion of pig manure, compost and compost pellets (produced from spent mushroom substrate, biogas digestate and straw), and greenwaste compost, on Cu availability, soil properties, nutrient supply, and plant growth. Organic amendments were incorporated into the soil at 2.3% and 5% soil w/w. Total soil Cu varied from 179 to 1520 mg kg