Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: MAURICIO BOTTON PICCIN

Uma banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : MAURICIO BOTTON PICCIN
DATE: 29/08/2025
TIME: 09:00
LOCAL: Fazendinha Km47 (CFAO)
TITLE:

Characterization of Microbial Communities Present in Organic Compost, Compost Extract, and Compost Tea, Recommended for the Reconstitution of the Soil Food Web.

KEY WORDS:

Soil microbiome, soil food web, compost tea, organic compost, regenerative agriculture, organic agriculture, soil health

PAGES: 30
BIG AREA: Ciências Agrárias
AREA: Agronomia
SUBÁREA: Ciência do Solo
SPECIALTY: Microbiologia e Bioquímica do Solo
SUMMARY:

This dissertation project tackles a central challenge in the transition from industrial to regenerative agriculture: the need to replace chemical inputs with biological ones and implement management strategies that restore soil life. Reconstituting the soil food web is essential to break the historical dependence on pesticides and soluble fertilizers. However, this transition can present risks such as increased costs and a potential initial reduction in productivity if proper techniques aren't used.

Given this scenario, the proposed work focuses on developing effective, low-cost, and easily accessible technological alternatives for plant protection, soil structuring, and growth promotion, aiming to accelerate the natural reconstitution of the soil food web. The biological characterization of organic compost, compost extract, and compost tea is crucial to ensure these biological inputs contain the microbial diversity and abundance necessary to act as catalysts in soil regeneration and to advance the analysis of methodological processes that can achieve these goals.

Therefore, the general objective of this research will be to characterize the bacterial and fungal microbiome of organic compost over a one-year composting process (4 collections; 3 repetitions), as well as the aqueous extract and compost tea collected after 24 and 48 hours of aeration. The compost, extract, and tea will be produced according to the methodology described by Dr. Elaine Ingham (based on the Soil Food Web approach), which is used as an accessible and low-cost tool for reconstituting the soil food web and catalyzing the transition to sustainable agricultural systems. The microbiome's composition will be determined by extracting DNA from the samples, followed by amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA and ITS regions and bioinformatics analysis, in addition to microscopic analysis of the microfauna (bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, and microarthropods).

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - ***.536.817-** - NORMA GOUVÊA RUMJANEK - EMBRAPA
Interno - ***.371.857-** - JOSÉ GUILHERME MARINHO GUERRA - EMBRAPA
Externo à Instituição - LUC FELICIANUS MARIE ROUWS
Externo à Instituição - LUIZ AUGUSTO DE AGUIAR - PESAGRO-RIO