Plant Mineral Nutrition and Growth in a Saline Mediterranean Soil Amended with Organic Wastes

Abstract

This work describes the effects of a poultry manure and a compost (prepared from olive mill and cotton wastes) on soil conditions and plant nutrient status and growth in a saline soil from Mediterranean Spain, having an electrical conductivity for a 1:5 aqueous extract of 1.51 dS m À1 . Two Brassica spp. (B. carinata A. Br. and B. oleracea L.) were selected from a hydroponic screening with two salinity levels, in which the greater tolerance of B. oleracea seemed to be related to maintenance of shoot K þ and restriction of Na þ and Cl À , behavior shown also by B. carinata at the lower salinity level. ORDER REPRINTSBrassica carinata and B. oleracea were grown in the soil after incorporation of the organic materials. The amendments increased the cation exchange capacity of the soil and the concentrations of exchangeable K þ and Mg 2þ . A significant proportion of the K þ added by the amendments was retained in the exchange complex. The equilibrium between soluble and exchangeable K þ tended toward the exchangeable forms, whereas Na þ remained mainly in the soil solution. Addition of manure significantly increased shoot growth for both Brassica species, while compost markedly improved B. oleracea shoot growth. These effects may have been related to increased shoot tissue K þ :Na þ ratios and total phosphorus (P) concentrations, reflecting the K þ and P contents of the amendments. When tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) was grown in the amended soils used for B. oleracea, its growth was not significantly greater than in the control. Although the organic amendments raised the water-extractable boron (B) concentration of the soil, plant tissue B concentrations were unaffected, possibly due to the elevated concentration of soluble SO 2À 4 in the soil.

Impact of Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers on Yield and Yield Contributing Characters of Mustard (Brassica napus L.)

“…Moreover, vermicompost significantly increased plant height. A similar result was reported by Walker and Bernal, [24].…”

Impact of organic fertilizers on yield and nutrient uptake of cabbage (Brassica Oleracea var. capitata)

“…Vermicompost is a tea like structure organic fertilizer which is more nutrient rich than the other organic fertilizers and might have improved the soil porosity, structure, water holding capacity and supplied other plant growth promoting substances and hence vermicompost significantly increased plant height. Similar result was reported by other researchers (Walker and Bernal, 2004).…”

“…Organic fertilizers should be incorporated with inorganic fertilizer for expected outcome through IPNS. Similar result was reported by Walker and Bernal (2004). Organic fertilizers help in constructing the leaves of cabbage to form the cabbage head.…”

Performance of Medicago sativa Grown in Clay Soil Favored by Compost or Farmyard Manure to Mitigate Salt Stress

“…Under salt stress, compost can raise the mineral nutrient status and growth of plants under salt stress by furnishing greater amounts of N and P [44,45]. However, plant K + status did not improve by the addition of compost ( Figure 2B), probably as a result of the already high K + concentration of the soil used in this experiment (Table 1).…”