A. Berner et al., EFFECT OF DIFFERENT ORGANIC MANURES AND GARDEN WASTE COMPOST ON THE NITRATE DYNAMICS IN SOIL, N UPTAKE AND YIELD OF WINTER-WHEAT, Biological agriculture & horticulture, 11(1-4), 1995, pp. 289-300
The different ratios of organic to inorganic nitrogen of organic ferti
lizers affect the nitrate dynamics in soil as well as the yield of cro
ps. To examine this, winter wheat was cultivated on loess in Therwil n
ear Basel (Switzerland). The plots were amended with stacked, composte
d and rotted manure, garden waste compost, slurry or mineral fertilize
r (mineral control). In additional treatments, a top dressing with slu
rry was applied. Nitrate concentration in soil water was measured with
ceramic cups. The N uptake of winter wheat was determined at three gr
owing stages: tillering, flowering and at harvest. The nitrate dynamic
s in soil water were not significantly influenced by the different org
anic manures. Only the top dressing with slurry led to slightly enhanc
ed nitrate concentration in the soil water. After sowing in autumn and
the following winter period, the organically fertilized plots showed
the same nitrate concentrations in soil water in 110 cm depth as the m
inerally fertilized control. This indicates a similar potential of nit
rogen losses in all treatments. The different organic manures strongly
affected the winter wheat plants both in the rate of N uptake during
the growing season and in the growth rate. However, a high potential o
f the plants to compensate in later growing stages led to comparable y
ields in all organically manured treatments. The increased yield in th
e top dressed plots compared to the plots without top dressing was abo
ut 7%.