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Organic strawberry in Mediterranean greenhouse: Effect of different production systems on soil fertility and fruit quality
- Source :
- Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. 32:485-497
- Publication Year :
- 2016
- Publisher :
- Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2016.
-
Abstract
- In Europe, the lack of specific rules regulating organic vegetable production in protected conditions has led to the implementation of extremely diversified systems of production, at different level of intensification. In this study, we compared three strawberry organic production systems based on the following main criteria of soil fertility management: input substitution (SB), a simplified system of organic production that mimics conventional agricultural practices and two systems characterized by a more complex soil fertility management, based on the introduction, in the rotation of agroecological service crops (ASCs) and compost (AC), and of ASCs and cattle manure (AM). Strawberry yields, in the compared systems, were not significantly different in both years of our research, while, as a whole, the yield in 2013 (30.3 Mg ha−1) was significantly higher than in 2014 (28.9 Mg ha−1). Crop nitrogen (N) needs, during the entire cycle of production, were satisfied according to the same pattern by SB, AC and AM, while green manuring and organic amendments in AM and AC determined a higher soil organic N content, compared with SB. As far as the production quality is concerned, both AM and AC treatments yielded strawberry fruits similar to SB, but with better characteristics in terms of color and phenolic content. AM and AC did not differentiate statistically in the two year period of our research.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
chemistry.chemical_classification
business.industry
Compost
04 agricultural and veterinary sciences
engineering.material
01 natural sciences
Manure
Soil management
chemistry
Agronomy
Agriculture
040103 agronomy & agriculture
engineering
Organic farming
0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries
Environmental science
Organic matter
Soil fertility
business
Agronomy and Crop Science
Agroecology
010606 plant biology & botany
Food Science
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 17421713 and 17421705
- Volume :
- 32
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........ff290939e7bf7b4e878ec194da5b9869