DEVELOPING ORGANIC SOIL AMENDMENTS FROM LOBSTER SHELLS FOR DISEASE SUPPRESSION AND SOIL HEALTH IMPROVEMENT

The overall goal is to increase understanding of the physical property (particle size) and chemical composition (chitin, minerals, protein) of lobster shell meal on soilborne disease suppression and soil microbiome dynamics and advance the development of green processing technologies for targeted modification of lobster shell meal to enhance its capability to improve soil health. Objective 1. Create a suite of organic amendments with distinct particle sizes (through sequential milling) and compositions (through CO2 assisted subcritical water fractionation). Objective 2. Investigate the efficacy of amendments to suppress soilborne disease of solanaceous plants (potato and tomato) and enhance soil microbiomes. Objective 3. Conduct techno-economic analysis (TEA) to evaluate the economic feasibility of the shell-derived amendment production.