The influence of compost and zeolite co‐addition on the nutrients status and plant growth in intensively cultivated Mediterranean soils

Abstract

The main objective of the study was to test the benefits of compost and zeolite co-addition on the fertility of organic-rich Mediterranean soils. Previous pot study in greenhouse found that zeolites mixed with compost significantly improved potassium availability as well as exchangeable potassium capacity in the soils. To further test this finding, a field experiment was conducted using potatoSolanum tuberosum L., desiree cultivar in peat soils of the Hula Valley, Israel. Adhering to the protocol of the greenhouse experiments, the treatments included 5% compost addition with no zeolites, 2% zeolite addition without compost, co-addition of 5% compost mixed with 2% zeolites and control. We found that compost addition increased significantly the potatoes yield and the number of large tubers; however, the zeolite addition had no impact on yield. Co-addition of compost and zeolites did not improve total crop yield or number of large tubers compared with compost addition only. The results are consistent with nutrients availability (N, P, K) across the treatments. In a commercialized field using the experiment conditions, the 2% zeolite addition would amount to 18 ton of zeolites per hectare. Hence, we conclude that soil amendment with the tested zeolite might be beneficial to improve soil retention for cationic nutrients (e.g. K + ) under high leaching systems such as plant culture in pots, but in the field with high loads of compost, its effect is minor.

The Impact of Fertilization Regime on the Crop Performance and Chemical Composition of Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Cultivated in Central Greece

“…According to Ghannad et al [20] who studied the effect of different fertilizer programs on the quality and yield of potato, it was found that zeolite treatment as a fertilizer management practice increased the crop yield. Another suggested farming practice includes the combination of zeolite and compost which presents several advantages such as the improvement of water use efficiency and of soil properties, the increase of soil water holding capacity, and the reduction of soil and environmental pollution [21][22][23].…”

The Optimization of Nitrogen Fertilization Regulates Crop Performance and Quality of Processing Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. cv. Heinz 3402)

“…Li et al [35], who studied zeolite as a slow release fertilizer in spinach cultivation, reported that zeolite treatment increased crop yield over the conventional fertilizer. Moreover, farming practices that include combinatory applications of zeolite and composts may present various benefits, including an increase in water use efficiency and the improvement of soil properties and water holding capacity, while they may also help towards the reduction of soil degradation and the pollution of the environment [36][37][38].…”

Differential responses of the soil nutrient status, biomass production, and nutrient uptake for three plant species to organic amendments of placer gold mine‐tailing soils

“…Peat amendments have also been observed to increase the rate of soil N supply in oil sands mine soils (Pinno et al, ). In our study, the organic biosolids had relatively higher organic matter and nutrient concentrations (Table ), which could have directly improved the soil nutrient status (Adebayo et al, ; Jόzefowska et al, ; Litaor et al, ). Additions of organic biosolids to postmined soils have been suggested to restore other soil properties (e.g., soil porosity and density, soil pH, and microbial growth) (Asensio et al, ; Escobar & Hue, ; Zornoza et al, ), thus enhancing the nutrient status of mine‐tailing soils.…”

“…In many cases, low soil fertility is the limiting factor for plant growth in postmined soils (Arocena, Mourik, Schilder, & Cano, ; Daws, Standish, Koch, & Morald, ). Thus, increasing soil nutrients after organic amendment has been widely reported to improve plant growth (Litaor et al, ; Pinno et al, ). In addition, manure amendments were found to increase the ratios of aboveground biomass to root biomass, indicating higher availability of soil nutrients, which may have resulted in less biomass allocation to roots by plants (Davidson, ; Ericsson, ).…”

“…Soil nutrients are crucial for the successful re‐establishment of plants in areas where mining activities have been previously carried out (Adebayo et al, ; Litaor, Katz, & Shenker, ). Therefore, it is usually required to amend mining tailing soils before the re‐establishment of vegetation.…”