Organic Fertility Sources for the Production of Short-day Organic Onion Transplants

Abstract

<jats:p>This study evaluated poultry litter, commercial organic fertilizer, and compost for organic production of onion (<jats:italic>Allium cepa</jats:italic>) transplants within the Vidalia onion growing region of southeastern Georgia. Two field experiments were conducted. The first experiment tested six rates of poultry litter (0–10 tons/acre). The second experiment tested a factorial combination of two rates of nitrogen (N) (0 and 130 lb/acre) and three rates of compost (0, 5, and 10 tons/acre). Seedling weight, length, and diameter were measured ≈10 weeks after sowing. Poultry litter had a significant increasing linear effect on plant weight and diameter. There was also a significant increasing quadratic effect on plant length. Commercial organic fertilizer (3N–0.9P–2.5K) at 130 lb/acre N had a significant effect on plant length, but compost at 0, 5, or 10 tons/acre did not affect plant length. There were organic fertilizer by compost interactions for plant weight and diameter. There was a significant effect on plant diameter with organic fertilizer (130 lb/acre N) and 10 tons/acre compost, but there was no fertilizer effect on plant diameter at 0 or 5 tons/acre compost. The interaction effect on plant weight indicated there was a significant effect from fertilizer with 5 and 10 tons/acre compost, but not with 0 tons/acre. Based on this study, nutrition should not be a problem in producing organic onion transplants in southeastern Georgia. Four to 6 tons/acre fresh poultry litter should be adequate for producing good quality transplants. An alternative approach of using organic fertilizer at a rate of 130 lb/acre N with 5 to 10 tons/acre compost can also be used to produce good quality transplants.</jats:p>

Evaluation of Poultry Litter and Organic Fertilizer Rate and Source for Production of Organic Short-day Onions

“…A number of studies have been conducted evaluating the organic production of onions (Beek, 2005;Boyhan et al, 2006;Boyhan and Hill, 2008;Gonc xalves and Sousa e Silva, 2004;Piazza et al, 2003;Russo, 2005;Sharma et al, 2004). These studies have evaluated fertility, insect control, weed control, transplant production, various cropping systems, and varieties.…”

“…Additional experiments after transplanting with conventional potting media indicated that bell pepper required higher rates of organic fertilizers compared with conventional fertilization, but this was not the case with onions. Boyhan and Hill (2008) found that fertilizer requirements were higher with organic fertilizer sources compared with conventional fertilizers presumably because nutrients were less available in organic compounds due to slow mineralization rates.…”

“…Dry bulb onions in Georgia are produced from seedlings grown onfarm in high-density plantings, which are transplanted to their final spacing (Boyhan and Kelley, 2007). Seedlings of short-day onions in southeastern Georgia could be produced organically with 4 to 6 tons/acre poultry litter with %60 lb/ton N or with organic fertilizer (3N-0.9P-2.5K) at 130 lb/acre N as long as compost was also used at 5 or 10 tons/acre (Boyhan and Hill, 2008). The N recommendation for onion transplant production in southeastern Georgia is 130 lb/acre (Boyhan and Kelley, 2007).…”

Yield and Nutrient Dynamics in Conventional and Organic Sweet Corn Production Systems

“…Poultry litter can be an alternative fertilizer source for crops as indicated by previous studies. A field study by Boyhan and Hill (2008) showed positive correlation with onion ( Allium cepa L.) yield, comparable with response from commercial fertilizers, over a range of approximately 8.9 to 13.5 Mg poultry litter ha –1 . Other field studies have shown increased soil productivity and soil organic matter from poultry litter surface applied or subsurface applied in no‐till soils (Pote et al, 2011).…”

Pre-harvest Viral Contamination of Crops Originating from Fecal Matter

“…The other crops also fertilized with manure are barley, cotton, oats, peanuts, sorghum, soybeans, and wheat (USDA 2009). Poultry litter is heavily used as a fertilizer for cotton, peanuts and fresh produce (Alsup and Kahn 2002;Boyhan and Hill 2008), while beef manure is used on more than half of wheat and sorghum farms. Soybeans have been noted to be fertilized by manure from various livestock species.…”