condition
build-up and thus to the nitrogen supply capacity of the soil. The amount of organic matter used with cut-and-carry fertilizer varied between 4.3 and 8.8 tons/ha. However, when applying cut-and-carry fertilizer (ton/ha), a correct estimate of its dry matter content is crucial to prevent overdosing, which may lead to excessive residual mineral nitrogen values at the end of the growing season.
Comparison with farmyard manure
Compared to farmyard manure, cut-and-carry fertilizer has the advantage that more N per unit P is supplied, which is important in the context of the stricter fertilization standards for P. The N / P2O5 ratio of the cut-and- carry fertilizers used in the various trials was between 2.3 and 4.5, while the N / P2O5 ratio of cattle stable manure is 2.4 on average. The fraction of ammonia N is also smaller in the case of cut-and-carry fertilizer, which reduces the risk of N losses due to volatilization during application.
Contact:
• Koen Willekens, [email protected] • Pauline Deltour, [email protected]
• Justine Dewitte, [email protected] • Stefaan De Neve, stefaan.deneve @ugent.be
Partners: ILVO, Inagro, Department of organic production, PCG and Ghent University (2015 - 2017)
More info: The final report (in Dutch) is available
SQ159/Natyra® is a new apple variety for organic fruit growing. In the
orchards, however, it has a weak vigor, which results in too-low production volumes of the trees and too-small apples. Currently, the fertilizer companies are bringing various products on the market that would improve the vigor. In this project we want to see whether these products can add value to the growing SQ159/Natyra®. On the other hand, in 2018 production and vigor
are still being monitored in the Natyra® trial that was planted in 2016 as part of the demonstration project “Practical solutions for organic matter building in organic agriculture under MAP5”, in which various soil improvers were applied during planting.
Construction of a new orchard
An important step in the construction of a new orchard is to prepare the parcel for planting. Since we have in apple growing a crop rotation of 10 to 15 years, we only can work constructively on the soil structure every 10 to 15 years. Here, the use of organic material (manure, mushroom manure, green compost, cover crops, ...) is certainly important. In addition to the provision of minerals, this will affect the soil structure, the pH and the organic matter content. These are parameters that influence the soil life and the mineralization and so can influence the root activity and the vigor of the trees. In addition, soil improvers can also be incorporated into the planting hole. This is a better way to work in a more targeted manner and to access the root system.
Stimulation of the vigor in new orchards
Once the trees are planted, it becomes more difficult to stimulate the vigor. In spring 2018, therefore, a comparative trial was started in which various products that claim to improve vigor. This happened on 2 different parcels of Natyra® in the 3rd growing year. Both parcels have different soil types
and there is also a difference in standard fertilization by the grower.
Optimization of the vigor of Natyra
®Results
The preliminary conclusions of the project “Practical solutions for organic matter building in organic agriculture under MAP 5” are:
• Using BVB Peat in the planting hole gave after 2 years the best result for vigor. This object also had the highest production. At the end of 2016, this object also had the highest organic matter content, but this decreased quite sharply in 2017.
• Vivimus also caused a little more shoot growth. But here the lower calcium content in the fruits is still a point of attention. The organic matter content was not strongly influenced.
• The impact of all other treatments on the organic matter content was very limited. It was noticeable that 2 applications of organic material + the extra sowing of Japanese oat (which was not equally available everywhere) had only a limited influence on the organic matter content. For the second part of the project, it is still too early to have results. The various products that claimed to stimulate vigor were only used in the spring of 2018.
Contact:
• Jef Vercammen, [email protected] • Ann Gomand, [email protected]
Funding: CCBT-project ‘Optimalisatie van de groeikracht bij Natyra®’
(Optimization of the vigor of Natyra®) (Department of Agriculture and
Fisheries, Government of Flanders) (16/02/2018 - 31/12/2019) More info: www.ccbt.be (projects)
BVB Peat control
The organic specifications guarantee high environmental protection and healthy, natural products. But there is always room for improvement. For example, the use of certain products is somewhat contentious in organic farming, such as copper, conventional manure, antibiotics or anthelmintics. The RELACS project was set up to address this. RELACS stands for
‘Replacement of Contentious Inputs in Organic Farming Systems’: the aim is to assist the organic sector to minimize or even eliminate the use of such products.
Alternatives and management techniques
Various inputs are being discussed. In particular, RELACS wants to work on: • reducing or even avoiding the use of copper as crop protection or leaf
fertilization by testing alternatives and introducing reduction strategies; • the development of strategies to reduce the use of mineral paraffin
oils, including by replacing them with plant extracts, using functional biodiversity and biological control methods;
• the identification of sustainable sources for fertilization, as an alternative to non-organic animal manure and non-renewable phosphate sources (rock phosphate), for example technologies to recycle nutrients from human waste streams;
• searching for alternatives to anthelmintics for small ruminants;
• development of preventive health management measures and alternatives to antibiotics, in particular for mastitis;
• finding solutions for the needs of vitamin B2 in poultry and pigs, and vitamin E in ruminants. The availability of GM-free vitamin B2 is becoming increasingly limited, and vitamin E is only available in synthesized form. Trials will be carried out, both on experimental fields and on-farm.