Comparison of Organic Fertilizer Timingand Source Material on Burley Tobacco Leaf
Quality and Yield
David H Suchoff, Matthew C. Vann, Loren R. Fisher
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~2,590 ha organic vs 67,900 ha conventional
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-Organic flue-cured leaf production dominates organic tobacco sector.
-Nitrogen critical for proper growth, ripening, total yield, and leaf quality (Flower,
1999; Peedin, 1999; Vann and Smith, 2014).
-Organic N sources (feathers, manure, fishery waste, leguminous cover crops,
etc.) must be mineralized to be available to the plant.
-Not all N is made available in a growing season:
50 - 60% of feather meal N released in one growing season. (Choi and Nelson, 1996)
-Yield, quality, total alkaloids, and reducing sugars in flue-cured tobacco fertilized
with feather meal similar to UAN (Vann et al., 2017).
Introduction
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25.7 million kg PAN & 36.2 million kg P2O5 per year.-NC Dept. of Environmental Quality, 2015
Introduction
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Objectives:
Compare application method and rate of composted poultry litter and
hydrolyzed feather meal on burley tobacco yield and quality.
Introduction
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Materials and Methods
Upper Mountain Research Station
Laurel Springs, NC
Mountain Research Station
Waynesville, NC
Two studies at each location:
Method
Rate
2018 & 2019
Transplant: May
Harvest: September-October
‘HB 3307’
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Materials and Methods
Fertilizer:
Nature Safe® 13-0-0 Blending Base Fertilizer
Hydrolyzed poultry feather meal.
Harmony™ 5-4-3 Ag. Organic
Composted poultry manure.
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Materials and Methods
Application method study:
2 (fertilizer source) x 3 (application method)
224 kg∙ha-1 broadcast
224 kg∙ha-1 side dressed
112 kg∙ha-1 broadcast + 112 kg∙ha-1 side dressed
Conventional control:112 kg∙ha-1 broadcast potassium nitrate (12-0-46)
+ 112 kg∙ha-1 side dressed UAN
K, P, and micronutrients added separately.
Feather meal
Poultry litter
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Materials and Methods
Application method study:
RCBD with four blocks.
Four rows per plot spaced at 1.22m x 0.46m.
Plot size: 4.88m x 10.06m.
Data taken from internal two rows.
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Materials and Methods
Application method study:
Data collected:
Yield
Leaf quality (converted to quantitative scale for analysis)
Total alkaloid content
Leaf nitrate (layby and post curing)*
Data analysis:
Analyzed by location
PROC GLIMMIX, SAS v 9.4
Single DOF contrast statements used to compare:
Conventional vs Organic, feather meal vs poultry litter, broadcast vs side dress, split vs side,
broadcast vs split.
Dunnett test used when appropriate
Leaf nitrate analyzed as repeated measures
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Results
Application method study:Laurel Springs Waynesville
Yield Quality Total Alkaloids Yield Quality Total Alkaloids
Treatment NS NS NS NS NS NS
Conv. vs org NS NS * NS NS NS
Feather vs litter NS NS NS NS NS *
Side vs broad NS NS NS NS NS NS
Split vs broad NS NS NS * NS *
Side vs split NS NS NS NS NS NS
NS denotes not significant at α = 0.05. *,**,*** denote significant at P < 0.05, 0.01, and 0.001, respectively.
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Results
Application method study:
Laurel Springs Waynesville
Nitrate Nitrate
Treatment * *
Time *** NS
Treatment x Time NS *
NS denotes not significant at α = 0.05. *,**,*** denote significant at P < 0.05, 0.01, and 0.001, respectively.
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Results
Application method study: Yield
Average yield:
Laurel Springs - 2357.8 kg∙ha-1
Waynesville - 4103.7 kg∙ha-1
*
Waynesville
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Results
Application method study: Cured leaf alkaloid concentrations
Average cured leaf alkaloid concentration:
Laurel Springs – 2.64%
Waynesville – 4.09%
*
Laurel Springs
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Results
Application method study: Cured leaf alkaloid concentrations
**
Waynesville
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Results
Application method study: Leaf NitrateLaurel Springs
Nitra
te (
mg
kg-
1)
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Results
Application method study: Leaf NitrateWaynesville
Nitra
te (
mg
kg-
1)
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Materials and Methods
Rate study:
2 (fertilizer source) x 4 (rates)
168 kg∙ha-1 broadcast
224 kg∙ha-1 broadcast
280 kg∙ha-1 broadcast
336 kg∙ha-1 broadcast
K, P, and micronutrients added separately.
Feather meal
Poultry litter
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Materials and Methods
Rate study:
RCBD with four blocks.
Four rows per plot spaced at 1.22m x 0.46m.
Plot size: 4.88m x 10.06m.
Data taken from internal two rows.
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Materials and Methods
Application method study:
Data collected:
Yield
Leaf quality (converted to quantitative scale for analysis)
Total alkaloid content
Leaf nitrate (layby and post curing)*
Data analysis:
Analyzed by location
PROC GLIMMIX, SAS v 9.4
Orthogonal polynomial contrasts used to determine trends
Tukey’s HSD test used when appropriate
Leaf nitrate analyzed as repeated measures
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Results
Rate study:Laurel Springs Waynesville
Yield Quality Total Alkaloids Yield Quality Total Alkaloids
Source NS NS * NS NS NS
Rate *** NS ** NS NS *
Linear *** NS ** NS NS *
Quadratic NS NS NS NS NS NS
Cubic NS NS NS NS NS NS
Source x Rate NS NS NS NS NS NS
Linear NS NS NS NS NS NS
Quadratic NS NS NS NS NS NS
Cubic NS NS NS NS NS NS
NS denotes not significant at α = 0.05. *,**,*** denote significant at P < 0.05, 0.01, and 0.001, respectively.
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Results
Rate study: Laurel Springs Waynesville
Nitrate Nitrate
Source ** NS
Rate *** NS
Linear *** NS
Quadratic NS NS
Cubic NS NS
Time *** **
Source x Time NS NS
Source x Rate NS NS
Source x Rate x Time NS NS
NS denotes not significant at α = 0.05. *,**,*** denote significant at P < 0.05, 0.01, and 0.001, respectively.
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Results
Rate study: YieldLaurel Springs Waynesville
y = 1301 + 4.4x
p = 0.0009
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Rate study: Cured leaf total alkaloid concentrations
Laurel Springs Waynesville
Feather meal: 2.48%
Poultry litter: 2.03%
p = 0.0110
Results
Feather meal: 4.23%
Poultry litter: 3.92%
p = 0.0623
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Rate study: Cured leaf total alkaloid concentrationsLaurel Springs Waynesville
y = 0.997 + 0.00498x
p = 0.0081
y = 3.016 + 0.00441x
p = 0.0311
Results
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Rate study: Leaf NitrateLaurel Springs
y = 94.4 + 52.1x
p = 0.0081
Results
Feather meal: 15,246 mg kg-1
Poultry litter: 11,205 mg kg-1
p = 0.0018
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Results
Rate study: Leaf Nitrate
Laurel Springs Waynesville
*** **
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-Both organic sources had comparable yields to conventional control.
Vann et al. (2017) found similar results in flue-cured tobacco.
-Split application preferred over broadcast/single application (potential increase in yield and
alkaloids).
-Under favorable conditions, no yield benefit above 168 kg∙ha-1 N.
-Feather meal tended to increase alkaloid concentrations and nitrate.
Composted litter N-mineralization rates can be low:
0.4 – 5.5% vs 25.4 – 39.8% in non-composted after 56 d
(Tyson and Cabrera, 1993).
Feather meal N-mineralization rates as high as 63% after 56 d (Hartz and Johnstone,
2006)
Conclusions
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