RESEARCH ARTICLE


Effects of Organic Amendment Application on Soil Quality and Garlic Yield in Central-Western Argentina



M. F. Filippini1, A. Abril*, 2, M. Cony3, L. Noe2, M. Venier1, D. Consoli1, R. Vallone4
1 Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Chacras de Coria, 5505, Mendoza, Argentina
2 Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Cc 509, 5000, Córdoba, Argentina
3 IADIZA CCT - CONICET Mendoza, Parque General San Martín, 5500, Mendoza, Argentina
4 INTA EEA Mendoza, Luján de Cuyo, 5507, Mendoza, Argentina


Article Metrics

CrossRef Citations:
3
Total Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 1463
Abstract HTML Views: 2442
PDF Downloads: 1639
Total Views/Downloads: 5544
Unique Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 694
Abstract HTML Views: 1347
PDF Downloads: 1071
Total Views/Downloads: 3112



Creative Commons License
F. Filippini et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Cc 509, 5000, Córdoba, Argentina; Tel/Fax: 54 351 4334105/03; E-mails:aabril@agro.unc.edu.ar, adriana_abril@arnet.com.ar


Abstract

We analyzed during two garlic crop cycles, the effects of chicken manure and vermicompost on soil chemical and biological properties in an agricultural farm irrigated with municipal wastewater of central-western Argentina. Also we evaluate garlic yield and possible health risks as resulting from the organic amendments and the wastewater use. We found that: a) different doses and types of amendments did not have any significant effects on soil fertility; b) chicken manure and soil before planting, had E. coli and Salmonella spp.; and c) crop yields were quite similar in all treatments, only treatments with 8 Mg ha-1 of both amendments (chicken manure and vermicompost) without N fertilized, were significantly higher than control in both garlic assays. These results are probably the consequence of heavily tilled soils and poor quality of irrigation water with high abundance of enteric bacteria and labile organic matter content. We conclude that to obtain beneficial effects on soil fertility from organic amendment application, wastewater treatment systems must be improved and tillage practices must be reduced.

Keywords: Chicken litter, Vermicompost, Municipal wastewater, Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp..