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2023-05-18Subject
570 Life sciences; biology 630 Agriculture MulchNachhaltigkeitBiologische LandwirtschaftDirektsaatDenitrifikationMetadata
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Excessive Nitrate Limits the Sustainability of Deep Compost Mulch in Organic Market Gardening
Abstract
Market gardening is a widespread practice of bio-intensive vegetable production characterized by direct marketing, small-scale farming structures, high crop densities, and innovative cultivation approaches. Currently, deep compost mulch (DCM) is a popular trend among related growing techniques. The combination of no-till and a permanent mulch of compost aims to improve soil fertility, regulate soil temperature, retain soil moisture, and control weeds. To address the problem of perennial weeds in organic no-till, deep mulch layers of typically 150 mm are used. The amount of compost required and the associated N inputs are immense and carry the risk of environmentally harmful N surpluses that can be lost through nitrate leaching or denitrification. The aim of this study is to evaluate the use of compost as mulch and to investigate N dynamics under DCM. For this purpose, a literature review was conducted, and soil inorganic nitrogen (Nmin-N) was measured under on-farm conditions up to a soil depth of 900 mm in a market garden with DCM in Germany for one year. Furthermore, based on the collected data, the different N pathways were calculated using the N-Expert and NDICEA models and simulated for two additional scenarios. Results from field measurements showed a strongly increased N-surplus not taken up by the crops and a shift of Nmin-N to deeper soil layers for municipal organic waste compost (MW), with an average accumulation of 466 kg Nmin-N ha-¹ at 600–900 mm depth. N inputs from DCM can be significantly reduced by the use of green waste compost (GW) with low bulk density or wood waste compost (WW) with an additional high C/N ratio.
Citation
In: Agriculture Volume 13 / Issue 5 (2023-05-18) eissn:2077-0472Sponsorship
Gefördert durch den Publikationsfonds der Universität KasselCitation
@article{doi:10.17170/kobra-202306198256,
author={Ruch, Benjamin and Hefner, Margita and Sradnick, André},
title={Excessive Nitrate Limits the Sustainability of Deep Compost Mulch in Organic Market Gardening},
journal={Agriculture},
year={2023}
}
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2023-06-19T10:17:48Z 2023-06-19T10:17:48Z 2023-05-18 doi:10.17170/kobra-202306198256 http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/14839 Gefördert durch den Publikationsfonds der Universität Kassel eng Namensnennung 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ organic vegetables organic mulch no-dig no-till soil mineral N nitrate leaching denitrification 570 630 Excessive Nitrate Limits the Sustainability of Deep Compost Mulch in Organic Market Gardening Aufsatz Market gardening is a widespread practice of bio-intensive vegetable production characterized by direct marketing, small-scale farming structures, high crop densities, and innovative cultivation approaches. Currently, deep compost mulch (DCM) is a popular trend among related growing techniques. The combination of no-till and a permanent mulch of compost aims to improve soil fertility, regulate soil temperature, retain soil moisture, and control weeds. To address the problem of perennial weeds in organic no-till, deep mulch layers of typically 150 mm are used. The amount of compost required and the associated N inputs are immense and carry the risk of environmentally harmful N surpluses that can be lost through nitrate leaching or denitrification. The aim of this study is to evaluate the use of compost as mulch and to investigate N dynamics under DCM. For this purpose, a literature review was conducted, and soil inorganic nitrogen (Nmin-N) was measured under on-farm conditions up to a soil depth of 900 mm in a market garden with DCM in Germany for one year. Furthermore, based on the collected data, the different N pathways were calculated using the N-Expert and NDICEA models and simulated for two additional scenarios. Results from field measurements showed a strongly increased N-surplus not taken up by the crops and a shift of Nmin-N to deeper soil layers for municipal organic waste compost (MW), with an average accumulation of 466 kg Nmin-N ha-¹ at 600–900 mm depth. N inputs from DCM can be significantly reduced by the use of green waste compost (GW) with low bulk density or wood waste compost (WW) with an additional high C/N ratio. open access Ruch, Benjamin Hefner, Margita Sradnick, André 13 Seiten doi:10.3390/agriculture13051080 Mulch Nachhaltigkeit Biologische Landwirtschaft Direktsaat Denitrifikation publishedVersion eissn:2077-0472 Issue 5 Agriculture Volume 13 false 1080
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