copy (?Er^eEKi6 PROTOCOL FOR THE UTILIZATION OF WASTE FRUITS ON AGRICULTURAL LANDS July, 1994 & Ministry of Environment Energy ® Ontario . " PROTOCOL .:,. . -, FOR THE UTILIZATION OF WASTE FRUITS ON AGRICULTURAL LANDS 1.0 INTRODUCTION ' t ... '= ' • ' This protocol describes the criteria governing the use of waste fruits as soil conditioning agents on agricultural lands. The criteria, recommended in the protocol represent good management practice and have been developed by staff of the Ontario. Ministries, Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and ' : Environment and Energy in consultation with representatives' of the agricultural community. These recommendations apply only to the spreading of solid waste fruits which have not been altered by chemical or thermal processing and for which the consent of the land owner has been obtained. .:..t..^,:.-,: For information on the use of other waste materials for soil conditioning, reference should be made to the two Provincial guidelines entitled Guidelines for Sewage Sludge Utilization on Agricultural Lands and Interim Guidelines for the Utilization of Waste (Other Than Sewage Sludge) on Agricultural Lands . 2.0 PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS It is recommended that the criteria described in this protocol be used where waste fruits are to be utilized as soil conditioning agents on agricultural lands. In situations where approval is required for this activity under the Ministry of Environment and Energy's organic soil conditioning site program, these criteria will serve as- a basis for the issuance of those approvals .. .- . 7'-.^. Under the Ministry' s organic soil conditioning site program, waste which meets the processed organic waste definition pursuant to Regulation 347 of the Environmental Protection Act may be applied to land as a soil conditioner. Waste fruits.,which have not been altered by chemical or thermal processing would normally meet this definition. Application forms for approval under the organic soil conditioning site program are available from any local office of the Ministry of Environment and Energy. Approval under the organic soil conditioning site program is not required for the application of waste fruits to agricultural lands where the. waste fruits result from farm operations. As . . ' packing and processing operations are considered to be integral . parts of normal farming activities, the agricultural waste exemption also applies to waste fruits from these operations where the fruits are to be used as soil conditioning agents on agricultural lands. This exemption applies to packing and processing operations which receive fruits from a farm and provided the waste fruits have not been altered by chemical or thermal processing. It does not apply to waste fruits from other generators such as food terminals and retail food stores. 3.0 QUALITY OF WASTE FRUITS ._ This protocol applies only to the spreading of solid waste fruits which have not been altered by chemical or thermal processing. If managed properly, these materials have an " acceptably low odour potential and an acceptably low concentration of pathogenic organisms for application to agricultural land. Fruit culls and fruits which have been physically processed" such as by washing, brushing, crushing and cutting are acceptable. The heating of grapes to sub- pasteurization temperatures during wine making is also acceptable as it does not significantly alter the waste for purposes of land application. The waste fruits should be essentially free of any deleterious materials such as packaging material, plastic or wire., 4.0. APPLICATION RATES The maximum application rates for waste fruits should be .. based on an assessment of the following: • the nitrogen content of the waste fruit, and • the nitrogen demand of the agricultural crop. The criteria for nitrogen content and nitrogen demand provided in Tables I and II should be used in determining maximum application rates unless more specific recommendations are obtained from an agronomist. Similar determinations should be made for other types of crops not listed in Table II. Table I shows how to perform this calculation. In some cases, the maximum application rate may also be limited by the practicality of incorporating the waste fruits into the soil, the desired amount to be left as soil cover and consideration of any potential environmental impact. The determination of maximum application rates should consider these factors . . 1 . As the primairy purpose of applying waste fruits to agricultural land is their value as a soil conditioning agent, there should be no case where the annual application rate exceeds 150 tonnes per hectare. An application rate in excess of this amount is indicative of a disposal operation rather than use for soil conditioning purposes. '•', The application rate determined by the calculation shown in ' Table I is based on an annual application of waste fruits. The calculation does not take into account situations where other waste materials such as sewage sludge may have been spread. In determining the application rate for waste fruits, therefore, the effects of any other recent waste spreading activities should • also be considered. -. . • Under certain situations, the application of waste fruits to land may alter soil -pH sufficiently to adversely affect growing conditions. This is most likely to occur following repeated applications of low pH wastes to a given parcel of land. In addition, where the waste fmits are to be applied to fmait producing land, consideration should be given to ensuring pest and disease potential is not increased. The local office of the ' Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs can be contacted for further information on these issues. From an agricultural perspective; "it" is recommended that soil testing be conducted from time to time. Soil testing can provide information on geneiral soil characteristics and the amount of plant available nutrients present in the soil The use . of this information to assist in the determination of application rates is consistent with agricultural best management practices. A list of accredited soil test facilities is available from the local office of the Ministry of Agriculture., Food and Rural Affairs. ./-.^v^V:, c.\/ r;;?/^. ?;: The local office of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs may be contacted for further information on determining application rates and potential pH or pest/disease considerations. 5.0 SEPARATION DISTANCES FOR SPREADING Recommended separation distances for spreading waste fruits are listed below. Provided the waste fruits meet the quality requirements described in this protocol, the presence of field drainage tiles should not affect the recommended separation -3