Articles
Effects of organic fertilizers on lettuce cultivation in a high-humidity environment assuming large-scale plant factories with artificial lighting
Article number
1441_7
Pages
51 – 58
Language
English
Abstract
To reduce environmental impacts and realize sustainable food production, plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs) need to use organic fertilizers in the near future though chemical fertilizers are currently primarily used.
Shinohara (2006) developed a method for simultaneous ammonification and nitrification in a solution containing organic fertilizers and succeeded in cultivating plants hydroponically using organic fertilizers, which was considered nearly impossible.
Because of the closed environment and high plant density in PFALs, relative humidity tends to be high, often approaching 100%. Because a high-humidity environment inhibits transpiration and reduces nutrient uptake, organic fertilizers, which contain more non-nutrient substances than those in chemical fertilizers, are likely to cause poorer growth and physiological disorders.
In this study, lettuce was cultivated using organic fertilizers such as waste liquid from dried bonito production and oyster shell lime according to the method developed at the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization by Shinohara et al. (2014) in a high-humidity environment with a relative humidity of at least 85% to obtain the basic information for introducing organic fertilizers into PFALs.
The results of this study suggest that adjusting the amount of nitrogen in waste liquid from dried bonito production to at least 6 mg plant‑1 day‑1 produces yields close to those obtained from cultivation with chemical fertilizers with conventional concentration under long-day and high-humidity conditions, such as PFALs.
Although more detailed studies are needed, water absorption may be easily inhibited in plants grown with organic fertilizers, and care is needed regarding with the composition and amount of organic fertilizers used to prevent the induction of physiological disorders.
Shinohara (2006) developed a method for simultaneous ammonification and nitrification in a solution containing organic fertilizers and succeeded in cultivating plants hydroponically using organic fertilizers, which was considered nearly impossible.
Because of the closed environment and high plant density in PFALs, relative humidity tends to be high, often approaching 100%. Because a high-humidity environment inhibits transpiration and reduces nutrient uptake, organic fertilizers, which contain more non-nutrient substances than those in chemical fertilizers, are likely to cause poorer growth and physiological disorders.
In this study, lettuce was cultivated using organic fertilizers such as waste liquid from dried bonito production and oyster shell lime according to the method developed at the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization by Shinohara et al. (2014) in a high-humidity environment with a relative humidity of at least 85% to obtain the basic information for introducing organic fertilizers into PFALs.
The results of this study suggest that adjusting the amount of nitrogen in waste liquid from dried bonito production to at least 6 mg plant‑1 day‑1 produces yields close to those obtained from cultivation with chemical fertilizers with conventional concentration under long-day and high-humidity conditions, such as PFALs.
Although more detailed studies are needed, water absorption may be easily inhibited in plants grown with organic fertilizers, and care is needed regarding with the composition and amount of organic fertilizers used to prevent the induction of physiological disorders.
Publication
Authors
M. Eguchi, B. Lin, K. Nakamura, Y. Kitaya
Keywords
plant factory with artificial lighting, vertical farm, organic fertilizer, physiological disorder
Groups involved
- Division Landscape and Urban Horticulture
- Division Greenhouse and Indoor Production Horticulture
- Division Precision Horticulture and Engineering
- Division Plant-Environment Interactions in Field Systems
- Division Horticulture for Human Health
- Division Vegetables, Roots and Tubers
- Working Group Vertical Farming
- Working Group Urban Horticulture
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