Excessive Nitrate Limits the Sustainability of Deep Compost Mulch in Organic Market Gardening

Author:

Ruch Benjamin1,Hefner Margita1ORCID,Sradnick André2

Affiliation:

1. Organic Farming and Cropping Systems, University of Kassel, Nordbahnhofstr. 1 a, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany

2. Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ) e.V., Theodor-Echtermeyer-Weg 1, 14979 Großbeeren, Germany

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.

Publisher

MDPI AG

Subject

Plant Science,Agronomy and Crop Science,Food Science

Reference84 articles.

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2. Coleman, E. (2009). The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year-Round Vegetable Production Using Deep-Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses, Chelsea Green Pub.

3. Fortier, J.-M. (2014). The Market Gardener: A Successful Grower’s Handbook for Small-Scale Organic Farming, New Society Publishers.

4. Stone, C. (2016). The Urban: Growing Food for Profit on Leased and Borrowed Land, New Society Publishers.

5. Hartman, B. (2017). The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables: More In-Depth Lean Techniques for Efficient Organic Production, Chelsea Green Publishing. [1st ed.].

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