Compost Fertilization in Organic Agriculture—A Comparison of the Impact on Corn Plants Using Field Spectroscopy
To protect the environment and reduce the impact of fertilizing on climate change, a tailored fertilization according to the needs of the plants becomes more and more important. In organic farming, the main sources of nitrogen (N) are organic fertilizers, such as compost and farmyard manure. In conv...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/6/3676 |
| _version_ | 1797613697747648512 |
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| author | Martin Strenner Lucie Chmelíková Kurt-Jürgen Hülsbergen |
| author_facet | Martin Strenner Lucie Chmelíková Kurt-Jürgen Hülsbergen |
| author_sort | Martin Strenner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | To protect the environment and reduce the impact of fertilizing on climate change, a tailored fertilization according to the needs of the plants becomes more and more important. In organic farming, the main sources of nitrogen (N) are organic fertilizers, such as compost and farmyard manure. In conventional agricultural systems, various plant sensors have already proven that they can guide efficient fertilization. Since these sensors can record the growth of the biomass growth, they can also be used in organic farming to detect the influence of various organic fertilizers on the growth of corn plants. In a field trial established in 2017, eight different organic fertilizers (biogas fermentation residue, matured farmyard manure, fresh and matured organic waste compost, fresh and matured green compost, and microbial carbonized compost) were used and applied in two different amounts (120 and 240 kg N ha<sup>−1</sup>) along with an unfertilized control variant. The fertilization was applied according to the current version of the German fertilizer ordinance. In 2021, sensor measurements of the corn plants were taken at six different stages of development (from BBCH 13 to BBCH 35) with a hand-held field spectrometer using the REIP vegetation index. The measurements showed that the unfertilized control variant could be reliably recorded. Furthermore, even at early growth stages the measurements showed the differences between different composts. The results presented in this study show that sensor measurements using vegetation indices reacted sensitively to organic fertilization and can be a tool for farmers to support their decision for an adequate fertilization strategy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:58:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-494061872ee446bd820192692505b9da |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:58:28Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-494061872ee446bd820192692505b9da2023-11-17T09:25:12ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172023-03-01136367610.3390/app13063676Compost Fertilization in Organic Agriculture—A Comparison of the Impact on Corn Plants Using Field SpectroscopyMartin Strenner0Lucie Chmelíková1Kurt-Jürgen Hülsbergen2Chair of Organic Agriculture and Agronomy, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, GermanyChair of Organic Agriculture and Agronomy, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, GermanyChair of Organic Agriculture and Agronomy, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, GermanyTo protect the environment and reduce the impact of fertilizing on climate change, a tailored fertilization according to the needs of the plants becomes more and more important. In organic farming, the main sources of nitrogen (N) are organic fertilizers, such as compost and farmyard manure. In conventional agricultural systems, various plant sensors have already proven that they can guide efficient fertilization. Since these sensors can record the growth of the biomass growth, they can also be used in organic farming to detect the influence of various organic fertilizers on the growth of corn plants. In a field trial established in 2017, eight different organic fertilizers (biogas fermentation residue, matured farmyard manure, fresh and matured organic waste compost, fresh and matured green compost, and microbial carbonized compost) were used and applied in two different amounts (120 and 240 kg N ha<sup>−1</sup>) along with an unfertilized control variant. The fertilization was applied according to the current version of the German fertilizer ordinance. In 2021, sensor measurements of the corn plants were taken at six different stages of development (from BBCH 13 to BBCH 35) with a hand-held field spectrometer using the REIP vegetation index. The measurements showed that the unfertilized control variant could be reliably recorded. Furthermore, even at early growth stages the measurements showed the differences between different composts. The results presented in this study show that sensor measurements using vegetation indices reacted sensitively to organic fertilization and can be a tool for farmers to support their decision for an adequate fertilization strategy.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/6/3676cornfertilizationcompostorganic fertilizeroptical sensor measurementsvegetation index |
| spellingShingle | Martin Strenner Lucie Chmelíková Kurt-Jürgen Hülsbergen Compost Fertilization in Organic Agriculture—A Comparison of the Impact on Corn Plants Using Field Spectroscopy Applied Sciences corn fertilization compost organic fertilizer optical sensor measurements vegetation index |
| title | Compost Fertilization in Organic Agriculture—A Comparison of the Impact on Corn Plants Using Field Spectroscopy |
| title_full | Compost Fertilization in Organic Agriculture—A Comparison of the Impact on Corn Plants Using Field Spectroscopy |
| title_fullStr | Compost Fertilization in Organic Agriculture—A Comparison of the Impact on Corn Plants Using Field Spectroscopy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Compost Fertilization in Organic Agriculture—A Comparison of the Impact on Corn Plants Using Field Spectroscopy |
| title_short | Compost Fertilization in Organic Agriculture—A Comparison of the Impact on Corn Plants Using Field Spectroscopy |
| title_sort | compost fertilization in organic agriculture a comparison of the impact on corn plants using field spectroscopy |
| topic | corn fertilization compost organic fertilizer optical sensor measurements vegetation index |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/6/3676 |
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