Organic and conventional farming differentially influenced soil respiration, physiology, growth and head quality of artichoke cultivars

Abstract

Soil amendment using organic fertilizer has been used widely to dispose animal waste, reduce environmental pollution and improve soil and fruit quality. The objective of this two-year study was to assess the influence of organic and conventional systems on growth, marketable yield, head quality (chlorogenic acid and cynarin concentration) and soil chemical properties of globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus). Cultivars used were Deserto, Lulu, Romolo, 11-018, 12-179, Green Globe Improved and Imperial Star. Fertilizers were applied to both conventional and organic soil through drip irrigation system. In both years, significant differences were found across cultivars and soil type. Although cultivar response to soil system treatments were inconsistent across the two growing seasons, the cv. Imperial Star had the lowest marketable yield and head quality. Artichoke grown in the conventional field had higher plant height and width, chlorophyll content index (SPAD), leaf area index (LAI), stomatal conductance (gs), photosynthesis (Pn) and marketable yield. Conversely, artichoke head quality from the organic field was higher than conventional. Organic system increased chlorogenic acid by 31% and cynarin by 12% compared to the conventional system. In fact, after two years of soil amendment, organic fertilizer improved soil respiration-CO 2 (soil health indicator) by 20-fold compared to chemical fertilizer (conventional field). Overall, based on this two-year study we suggest organic farming as the best system to improve soil and head quality of globe artichoke, but it may not be the best option for farmers when yield is the primary target short-term.

Assessment of Two Sheep Wool Residues from Textile Industry as Organic Fertilizer in Sunflower and Maize Cultivation

“…On the other hand, the highest WUE, mainly due to high PN, was found in the plants growing with the highest SWRs concentrations, especially in BW treatments, indicating that nutrients from SWRs were invested in photosynthetic capacity. A similar result was found in plants fertilized in saline soils (Leskovar and Othman 2018), and can also be confirmed by the higher chlorophyll content found in these treatments. Looking at the efficiency of the photosystem II, all treatments with SWRS at 0.5% and BW2% showed a good performance in the reduction of the primary electron acceptor from the PSII (Fm was high, particularly compared to WW2%).…”

“…Also, methods that increase the water use efficiency should be promoted in order to sustain crop yields (Fließbach et al 2007;Alagöz and Yilmaz 2011). Organic soil amendments or fertilizers, such as agricultural by-products or waste, could be effective solutions (Leskovar and Othman 2018;Truong and Marschner 2018). In Europe, the agricultural sector produces more than 200,000 t per year of coarse wool.…”

Correlation between Carbon dioxide Evolution and Biological Quality Index of Long-term Nutrient Management Adopted Soils

“…The INM and OM which recorded the highest SBQI values with the highest CO 2 release followed by IC and Control. The present results are in agreement with the previous reports on organic and conventional nutrient management (Leskovar and Othman, 2018).…”

Improving Soil Simazine Dissipation Through an Organic Amendment Inoculated with Trametes versicolor

“…can reduce the half-life times of the herbicide in soil. In our study, we showed that soil preincubation with an organic amendment (inoculated or not) can improve microbial responses to simazine contamination and improve the soil quality (Leskovar and Othman 2018). This preincubation caused an increase in the enzymatic activity and improved the soil conditions in order to obtain better simazine degradation rates and a lower half-life time.…”