Articles
INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT IN CONVENTIONAL INTENSIVE HORTICULTURE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS
Article number
1076_18
Pages
159 – 164
Language
English
Abstract
In conventional production systems, nutrition programs of intensive horti-cultural crops, particularly fruit and vegetables, include the application of high rates of fertilizers, particularly nitrogen, and its control only through tissue analysis, without considering soil nutrient supply and its spatial variability.
This results in significant nutritional imbalances, reflected in plant physiological problems, particularly in crops such as table grape.
Along with this, particularly in low precipitation areas, excess fertilization induces salinity problems in the soil, and, in general, adversely impacts the quality of water due to excess N-NO3 leached.
The application of organic matter (OM), particularly fresh or stabilized manure from different sources, has been a traditional management used to improve physico-chemical properties of the soil and, from here, recover decayed orchards, with weak root systems.
However, lack of knowledge of the characteristics of the organic materials used has caused nutritional imbalances by excess nitrogen.
A variety of organic and biological products are available within the farm and in the market, which properly integrated with inorganic fertilizers in an integrated nutrient management (INM) program would allow achieving the desired productive objectives.
This requires knowing their origin and composition as well as their mechanisms of action when applied to the soil.
Most common OM products include fresh or stabilized manure, compost, plant residues, and humic substances.
On the other hand, biological products include compost tea and commercial inoculants with several functional microbial groups.
In modern agriculture, which has multiple objectives: agronomic, economic, social and environmental, the design and implementation of proper nutrition programs is essential.
The INM which considers the use of all available tools and the inclusion of organic and inorganic products within the fertilization program seems to be the future of this important agronomic management, under intensive crop production in conventional systems.
In the present work the framework for INM is established and some examples presented.
This results in significant nutritional imbalances, reflected in plant physiological problems, particularly in crops such as table grape.
Along with this, particularly in low precipitation areas, excess fertilization induces salinity problems in the soil, and, in general, adversely impacts the quality of water due to excess N-NO3 leached.
The application of organic matter (OM), particularly fresh or stabilized manure from different sources, has been a traditional management used to improve physico-chemical properties of the soil and, from here, recover decayed orchards, with weak root systems.
However, lack of knowledge of the characteristics of the organic materials used has caused nutritional imbalances by excess nitrogen.
A variety of organic and biological products are available within the farm and in the market, which properly integrated with inorganic fertilizers in an integrated nutrient management (INM) program would allow achieving the desired productive objectives.
This requires knowing their origin and composition as well as their mechanisms of action when applied to the soil.
Most common OM products include fresh or stabilized manure, compost, plant residues, and humic substances.
On the other hand, biological products include compost tea and commercial inoculants with several functional microbial groups.
In modern agriculture, which has multiple objectives: agronomic, economic, social and environmental, the design and implementation of proper nutrition programs is essential.
The INM which considers the use of all available tools and the inclusion of organic and inorganic products within the fertilization program seems to be the future of this important agronomic management, under intensive crop production in conventional systems.
In the present work the framework for INM is established and some examples presented.
Authors
R. Ortega
Keywords
integrated plant nutrition, compost, humic substances, nitrogen, intensive horticultural production systems
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