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Broccoli, eggplant, cabbage and bell pepper grown with compost made from recycled yard trimmings have produced yields equivalent to those grown with conventional agricultural practice, but without the subsequent build-up of phosphorus.
Scientists from the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) have found very high levels of phosphorus and low levels of organic carbon in vegetable growing soils, during a major research project designed to help vegetable growers from the Sydney Basin to significantly improve soil quality and productivity.
According to an DPI study of 34 farms covering the major soil types in the Sydney metropolitan region, overcropping, combined with high application rates of inorganic fertilizers and poultry manure, resulted in phosphorus levels well above the average. required for plant nutrition.
The study, published in the Australian Journal of Soil Research, compared the effect of vegetable production on the physical and chemical properties of the soil with uncultivated soils in the greater Sydney area.
Lead author, DPI Senior Research Scientist Dr. Yin Chan, said that current management practices used to produce vegetables had reduced the structural stability of the soil and increased the potential for runoff and nutrient transport.
Dr. Chan said that farmers in the region had relied too heavily on using poultry manure as fertilizer.
Farmers use poultry manure as a cheap source of nitrogen, but it is also high in phosphorus, which builds up in the soil over time, he said.
The study was carried out as part of a larger research project examining the benefits of using compost made from recycled green matter from Sydney gardens in vegetable growing systems.
The Sydney trial found that over time, additional nitrogen fertilizer may be required as nitrogen in the compost is depleted, however the overall need for inorganic fertilizers of the crop is reduced.
One of the next phases of the project is to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of three years of soil and crop data to assess whether the use of green manure as a soil amendment is an economically viable option.
The study authors advocated the development of strategies to improve nutrient management and tillage practices.
For example, the use of tillage cultivation methods could reduce additional damage to the soil structure and the loss of carbon from the system.
Adding inputs rich in organic matter, such as experimental compost, can be a way to accumulate carbon in the soil and improve the structural stability of the soil. In turn, this could reduce the high rates of surface runoff, sediment transport and nutrient export reported by vegetable farms around Sydney.
Source: NSW Department of Primary Industries
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