Articles
A multi-year study on organic nitrogen fertilization in ‘Conference’ pear
Article number
1403_32
Pages
243 – 250
Language
English
Abstract
Apart from its pivotal role in vegetative growth the importance of nitrogen (N) for pear fruit quality and suitability for storage cannot be underestimated.
Consistent analysis of fruit mineral content over many years and recent research clearly points toward a minimum N content of 0.50 mg N per gram fresh weight for long-term storage of ‘Conference’ pears and a better peel color retention during storage.
The most common type of N fertilizers used by Belgian growers are ammonium nitrate and calcium nitrate.
A significant part of the growers, however, is welcoming the often free of charge organic fertilizers offered by their fellow livestock farmers that have an excess of farmland manure or slurry.
In recent years there is also an increasing interest to apply digestate.
As these organic fertilizers contain a mixture of elements, it is crucial to know their composition and especially the N, potassium (K) and phosphorus (P) content prior to their use.
In the first part of this study and embedded in an ongoing trial since 2012, spring fertilization consisting of 30-40 kg N ha‑1 originating from slurry or digestate plus 20 kg N ha‑1 supplied by calcium nitrate was compared to 50 kg N ha‑1 applied as calcium nitrate and a non-fertilized control treatment.
Measurements in 2018-2020 clearly demonstrate that slurry in combination with calcium nitrate yielded comparable production and fruit quality to calcium nitrate alone.
Similar to the non-fertilized control, digestate combined with calcium nitrate showed lower yield compared to calcium nitrate alone.
The second part of the work revealed that application of digestate in April results in the highest N content in the pears compared to its application in March or May, but yield tended to decrease compared to the application in March and there is a risk for a delayed shoot growth arrest in summer.
Consistent analysis of fruit mineral content over many years and recent research clearly points toward a minimum N content of 0.50 mg N per gram fresh weight for long-term storage of ‘Conference’ pears and a better peel color retention during storage.
The most common type of N fertilizers used by Belgian growers are ammonium nitrate and calcium nitrate.
A significant part of the growers, however, is welcoming the often free of charge organic fertilizers offered by their fellow livestock farmers that have an excess of farmland manure or slurry.
In recent years there is also an increasing interest to apply digestate.
As these organic fertilizers contain a mixture of elements, it is crucial to know their composition and especially the N, potassium (K) and phosphorus (P) content prior to their use.
In the first part of this study and embedded in an ongoing trial since 2012, spring fertilization consisting of 30-40 kg N ha‑1 originating from slurry or digestate plus 20 kg N ha‑1 supplied by calcium nitrate was compared to 50 kg N ha‑1 applied as calcium nitrate and a non-fertilized control treatment.
Measurements in 2018-2020 clearly demonstrate that slurry in combination with calcium nitrate yielded comparable production and fruit quality to calcium nitrate alone.
Similar to the non-fertilized control, digestate combined with calcium nitrate showed lower yield compared to calcium nitrate alone.
The second part of the work revealed that application of digestate in April results in the highest N content in the pears compared to its application in March or May, but yield tended to decrease compared to the application in March and there is a risk for a delayed shoot growth arrest in summer.
Publication
Authors
A. Gomand, J. Vercammen, B. Vanhoutte, P. Janssens, D. Bylemans, S. Remy
Keywords
ammonium nitrate, calcium nitrate, digestate, fruit quality, mineral content, organic fertilizer, slurry
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