MerMold og CropDrive - to prosjekter om jordhelse2024
Power point presentation on the main results of MERMOLD projects: effects of cover crop and organic amendments on potato yield and quality. Presentation of the CroDrive project, where we investigate how the use of cover crops affect soil and plant health.
Effects of organic amendments and cover crops on soil characteristics and potato yields2023
Intensive potato production may reduce the soil organic matter content (SOM), which may impact several soil functions and increase the incidence of potato diseases. We examined if cover crop and addition of organic materials may counteract these effects. Organic materials were one application of biochar mixed with liquid digestate (BLD); solid digestate (SD); or farmyard manure (FYM); with or without winter rye as cover crop, in a field with regular potato growing. Organic amendment increased SOM, especially for FYM and BLD, while cover crop did not affect SOM. Yet, cover crop increased tuber yields in the second year, and reduced the severity of potato diseases by 10% in post-harvest potatoes in both years. In the second year, the number of marketable potatoes after storage increased by 37% with cover crop. Organic amendments did not affect potato yield or quality, but the proportion of marketable potatoes tended to be higher in the amended soil. By lab incubation, BLD showed the largest potential for SOM storage, up to 32 years, followed by FYM and SD. Cover crops and organic amendments is recommended in potato production, especially for early potatoes where there is sufficient time after harvest to establish a good cover crop.
Effect of soil organic matter management on soil characteristics, potato yield and potato disease in an intensive potato growing system (MERMOLD)2022-08-01
The MERMOLD project (2019-2022) was a collaboration between industry and research partners. The project was owned by Sunndalspotet AS and managed by the Norwegian Centre for Organic Agriculture (NORSØK). The other partners were Standard Bio AS, Ecopro AS and Landbruk Nordvest. Production of potatoes is a specialised industry, and commonly occurs on farms without animal husbandry. Hence, cereals are often the only other crop being grown, and with a lack of animal manure and growing of perennial ley, in combination with intensive soil tillage for potatoes, soil organic matter (SOM) tends to decline. The main objective of this project was to assess if cover crop and organic amendment practices could increase SOM storage, and possibly affect potato yields and soil-borne diseases. To do so, we established a field experiment in July 2019 to: (i) assess under field conditions with and without cover crop the impact of a single application of various organic materials to soil (biochar+liquid digestate, solid digestate, or farmyard manure) on SOM storage; (ii) quantify
the impact of cover crop and application of organic materials on potato yields and potato diseases; (iii) discuss a suitable cover crop and organic soil amendment practice for potato cropping systems in this part of Norway. Furthermore, we performed a laboratory incubation to (iv) measure under controlled conditions the effect of organic amendments on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the experimental soil. Our results show that: a single addition of organic materials increased SOM storage, especially in the farmyard manure and biochar+ liquid digestate treatments, while the presence of cover crop did not significantly affect SOM storage. Yet, the cover crop significantly increased potato yield in 2021 and
reduced the severity of potato diseases by 10% in the post-harvest potatoes in 2020 and 2021, while the number of marketable potatoes after storage in 2021 was increased by 37%. Organic amendments did not significantly affect potato yield or quality, but the proportion of marketable potatoes tended to be higher in the treatments where organic materials were applied 2 years afterthe application.
Mold i potetproduksjon2022
I prosjektet MERMOLD har ulike typer organisk materiale blitt tilført jord som brukes til intensiv potetdyrking. Vi har undersøkt om dette i kombinasjon med fangvekster øker moldinnholdet og hvordan det påvirker jord, potetavlinger og sjukdommer på tidligpotet
Organic amendments and cover crop effects on soil organic matter and disease suppression in potatoes2022
Early potatoes come first to the market in summer and hence are a very profitable crop. In Norway, they are produced in small areas repeatedly without crop rotation. Potato production is often conducted on sandy soils, with intensive soil tillage reducing the content of soil organic matter (SOM) in the topsoil (0-20 cm). With less SOM, soilborne diseases may thrive, also fungal disease may also survive on decaying plant residues. Cover crops (CC) and application of organic amendments to the soil may increase SOM, but concurrently provide sites of survival for Rhizoctonia (black scurf), a very serious potato disease. We have examined the effects of winter rye as cover crop, sown after potato harvest, and addition of different organic materials on soil characteristics, potato yields and soilborne potato diseases in a field experiment in Norway during 2019-2021. Organic materials applied were biochar mixed with liquid digestate; solid digestate; and horse manure with sawdust bedding material. One single addition of these materials, applied as 15 Mg total C per hectare in April 2019 increased SOM assessed in 2021, especially with horse manure, while the presence of CC did not significantly affect SOM in 2021. The CC significantly increased potato yield in 2021 and reduced the severity of potato diseases by 10% in the post-harvest potatoes in 2020 and 2021, while the number of marketable potatoes after storage in 2021 was increased by 37% with CC. Application of organic materials did not significantly affect potato yield or quality, but the proportion of potatoes with diseases tended to be higher after application of biochar + liquid digestate. These results indicate that in the short-term, the use of a CC over winter after early potato harvest may enhance productivity by increasing the number of marketable potatoes, while addition of organic amendments lead to an increase of SOM levels without affecting the potato yield and productivity in the short term.
