Abstract
The principal goal of the organic farming system (OFS) is to develop enterprises that are sustainable and harmonious with the environment. Unfortunately, the OFS yields fewer products per land than the non-organic farming system in many agricultural products. The objective of our study was to assess the effects of digestate and biochar fertilizers on yield and fruit quality of processing tomato produced under the OFS. The experiment was carried out in Po Valley, during the 2017 and 2018 growing seasons. Liquid digestate (LD), LD + biochar (LD + BC) and pelleted digestate (PD) were evaluated and compared to biochar (BC) application and unfertilized control. The results showed that plants fertilized with LD + BC recorded the maximum marketable yield (72 t ha−1), followed by BC (67 t ha−1), PD (64 t ha−1) and LD (59 t ha−1); while the lowest production (47 t ha−1) was recorded in unfertilized plants. Over the two cropping seasons, LD + BC, BC, PD, and LD, increased fruit number per plant (+15%), fruit weight (+24%), Brix t ha−1 (+41%) and reduced Bostwick index (−16%), if compared to the untreated control. Considering the overall agronomic performances, digestate and biochar can be useful options for increasing yield and quality of processing tomato production in the OFS. Hence, these fertilizers can be assessed in future research both on other crops and farming systems.
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Claims 10
Claim · model-written summary
LD plus biochar gave the highest marketable yield, 72 t ha−1.
Verbatim
e0“plants fertilized with LD + BC recorded the maximum marketable yield (72 t ha−1)”
t0“processing tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar gave 67 t ha−1 marketable tomato yield.
Verbatim
e0“followed by BC (67 t ha−1)”
e1“marketable yield (72 t ha−1)”
t0“processing tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Pelleted digestate gave 64 t ha−1 marketable tomato yield.
Verbatim
e0“PD (64 t ha−1)”
e1“marketable yield (72 t ha−1)”
t0“processing tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Liquid digestate gave 59 t ha−1 marketable tomato yield.
Verbatim
e0“LD (59 t ha−1)”
e1“marketable yield (72 t ha−1)”
t0“processing tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Unfertilized tomato had the lowest production, 47 t ha−1.
Verbatim
e0“the lowest production (47 t ha−1) was recorded in unfertilized plants.”
t0“processing tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
The fertilizer treatments increased tomato fruit number by 15% relative to controls.
Verbatim
e0“LD + BC, BC, PD, and LD, increased fruit number per plant (+15%), fruit weight (+24%), Brix t ha−1 (+41%) and reduced Bostwick index (−16%), if compared to the untreated control.”
t0“processing tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
The fertilizer treatments increased tomato fruit weight by 24%.
Verbatim
e0“LD + BC, BC, PD, and LD, increased fruit number per plant (+15%), fruit weight (+24%), Brix t ha−1 (+41%) and reduced Bostwick index (−16%), if compared to the untreated control.”
t0“processing tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
The fertilizer treatments increased tomato Brix output by 41%.
Verbatim
e0“LD + BC, BC, PD, and LD, increased fruit number per plant (+15%), fruit weight (+24%), Brix t ha−1 (+41%) and reduced Bostwick index (−16%), if compared to the untreated control.”
t0“processing tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
The fertilizer treatments reduced tomato Bostwick index by 16%.
Verbatim
e0“LD + BC, BC, PD, and LD, increased fruit number per plant (+15%), fruit weight (+24%), Brix t ha−1 (+41%) and reduced Bostwick index (−16%), if compared to the untreated control.”
t0“processing tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors view digestate and biochar as useful for organic processing tomato yield and quality.
Verbatim
e0“digestate and biochar can be useful options for increasing yield and quality of processing tomato production in the OFS.”
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