Effects of organic cultivation on soil fertility and soil environment quality in greenhouses

Abstract

Organic cultivation has been considered as an important cultivation approach for sustainable agriculture in the world. Whether organic cultivation can mitigate the negative impact of agriculture on the environment especially in greenhouses is still unclear. The purpose of this study is to investigate the long-term impacts in soil fertility and environment quality through organic cultivation (OC), low-input cultivation (LC) and conventional cultivation (CC) in greenhouses after 15 years of cultivation. We found that the soil organic carbon (SOC) content in the OC treatment was 1.7 times of that in CC, 1.2 times of that in the LC treatments. Vegetable yield and the content of alkali nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium in the OC treatment was significantly higher than those in the LC and CC treatments. Due to the high input of organic fertilizers, increased content of heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Cr and As) were observed in the OC treatment. In addition, organic cultivation resulted in considerable residue accumulation of tetracycline antibiotics (TCs) and pesticides in the soil. Ecological risk assessment of soil pollutants showed that organic cultivation has the highest ecological risk index. At present, organic partial substitution or low-input cultivation could be a promising approach for the development of sustainable agriculture.

Long‐term organic management: Mitigating land use intensity drawbacks and enhancing soil microbial redundancy

“…One of the major benefits of organic cultivation to soil is to increase organic matter content, thus improving soil structure and fertility. SOC and TN increased after 21 years of organic management in all the three land uses, which agrees with previous findings (i.e., Crystal-Ornelas et al, 2021;Tong et al, 2022).…”

Determination of Heavy Metals in Root and Shoot of Durum Wheat, Plant Soil: Translocation and Bioaccumulation Factor

“…A comparable report has been published [27] with more pronounced effect of conventional farming to the organic method in the cultivation soil. In contrast, higher content of Cd, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cr, and As have been reported under organic compared to conventional farming [12]. However, it should be noted that their analysis was based on soil used for cultivating vegetables and the excessive application of organic fertilizer; thus explaining the variability in the results.…”

“…Organic cultivation action utilizes organic fertilizers, compost, and indigenous methods to provide plants with nutrients; the conventional method focuses on chemicals to provide nutrients to the plants. The application of organic fertilizer obtained from animal waste to vegetable crops resulted in a 3.21%-62.28% yield higher than the conventional practice with 2.18%-24.34% yield [12], and higher plant height, number of seeds and yield of wheat crops [13].…”

“…Despite the advantages of the aforementioned farming practice, there are reports on mixed effects on crops and soil. Organic treatment increased the content of lead, arsenic, cadmium, and pesticides in soil [12]. Therefore, emerging issues on whether organic method is healthier than the conventional method is an ongoing research.…”

Improving the Sustainability of Agricultural Activities and the Environmental Impact: A Review

“…A study in Frontiers claims that crop rotation, legume planting, and the use of organic fertilizers are ways that organic farming increases soil fertility. It also forbids the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides to ensure a sustainable agricultural system (Tong et al, 2022).…”