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Suitability of different organic amendments from agro-industrial wastes in organic lettuce crops

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Abstract

An inadequate replacement of organic matter in agricultural lands progressively leads to soil fertility reduction and therefore, soil application of organic fertilizers and amendments should be promoted. The objectives of this 3-year research project on organic lettuce were to investigate the agronomic performance of experimental organic amendments obtained by using agro-industrial wastes in comparison with a commercial organic fertilizer, and to evaluate their short-term effects on soil mineral-N and soil organic carbon changes. Two types of olive pomace mixtures, with different initial C/N ratios, were composted and either stopped at the active phase (A1 and B1) or processed until maturation (A2 and B2). Also an anaerobic digestate (DA) and the B2 in combination with mineral fertilizer (B2-MIN) were studied. The four composts, DA and B2-MIN were compared with a commercial organic fertilizer (Org), and an unfertilized control (N0). Results suggested that the best compromise for organic lettuce yield and soil fertility could be obtained with the B2 compost, thus highlighting the need for choosing a good stage of maturity of the compost, along with an appropriate C/N ratio of composting mixture, to improve the fertilizing efficiency of agro-food residues in organic farming. Furthermore, the application of immature amendments did not increase (B1) or significantly reduce (A1) marketable lettuce yield, indicating that the choice of organic fertilizer is an important concern in sustainable agriculture, especially in organic vegetable production.

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Acknowledgments

The research has been supported by Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policies, in the framework of the CONSSABIO (Compost di qualità per la conservazione del suolo e la sostenibilità delle produzioni in agricoltura biologica) research project (DM 297/7303/06).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Unit for Cropping Systems in Dry Environments (Azienda Sperimentale Metaponto), Consiglio per la Ricerca e l’analisi dell’economia Agraria – CRA-SCA, Metaponto, MT, Italy

    Francesco Montemurro

  2. Research Centre for the Soil–Plant System, Consiglio per la Ricerca e l’analisi dell’economia Agraria – CRA-RPS, Roma, Italy

    Corrado Ciaccia

  3. Research Unit for Cropping Systems in Dry Environments, Consiglio per la Ricerca e l’analisi dell’economia Agraria – CRA-SCA, Via Celso Ulpiani 5, 70125, Bari, Italy

    Rita Leogrande & Mariangela Diacono

  4. CIHEAM – MAIB, Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari, Valenzano, BA, Italy

    Francesco Ceglie

Authors
  1. Francesco Montemurro
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  2. Corrado Ciaccia
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  3. Rita Leogrande
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  4. Francesco Ceglie
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  5. Mariangela Diacono
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Correspondence to Mariangela Diacono.

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Montemurro, F., Ciaccia, C., Leogrande, R. et al. Suitability of different organic amendments from agro-industrial wastes in organic lettuce crops. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 102, 243–252 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-015-9694-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-015-9694-5

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