Fertigation - a challenge in organic food production

Oral presentation of organic greenhouse production.
The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of fertigation with chicken manure extract,
lupin sap or a combination of the two on nutrient concentration, pH and electrical conductivity (EC)
in the growing medium and on growth parameters of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). Six fertigation
treatments were established in a completely randomized design under greenhouse conditions. Two were
control treatments, one without liquid fertilizer (W) and the other one based on inorganic fertilizers
(IN). Two organic treatments received only either lupin sap (L) or chicken manure extract (C) the third
was a 1:1 (v/v) mixture of C and L (CL) and the fourth treatment received L + inorganic micronutrients
(LM). The shoot fresh and dry weight, and total leaf area were higher in the IN treatment than in the
organic treatments and among organic treatments C had higher values than L. The pH of the growing
medium solution was around one unit higher in C compared with IN and another half to one unit higher
in L compared with C. The high EC measured in L was primarily due to a high concentration of potassium.
Other nutrients such as phosphorus, nitrogen and most of the micronutrients were present in deficit
levels in L. In the growing medium of the C treatment the concentrations of nitrogen, calcium and
magnesium were lower and the concentrations of potassium, chloride, sodium and iron were higher
than in IN. When the two organic fertilisers were compared, C resulted in higher phosphorus, sulphur,
sodium and micronutrient concentrations but lower potassium and magnesium concentrations in the
growing medium than L. This study indicates that chicken manure extract has the potential to support a
higher biomass production if the soil pH is controlled at an optimum level and concentration of available
nitrogen is increased.

Documents

Fertigation - a challenge in organic food production () Oral presentation at Organic Greenhouse Production symposium in Turkey, Apr. 2016

Details

Activity type

Participation in scientific conference

Activity work package

Secure sustainable fruit production

Activity number

AU-WP5-A8

Activity contact

Senior researcher Karen Koefoed Petersen
Aarhus University, Department of Food Science
Kirstinebjergvej 10, 5792 Aarslev, DK
[email protected]
+45 8715 8336

Activity partner

Aarhus University

Activity country

Denmark

Last edit

23-01-2017