Soil health throughout an organic potato rotation

Karen Larder¹, Dr. D. Lynch¹, Dr. G. Boiteau²

Abstract
Soil health is a central concept in sustainable agriculture as it is the “capacity for a specific soil to function within natural or managed ecosystem boundaries, to sustain biological productivity, maintain environmental quality, and promote plant and animal health.” Organic agriculture is considered a sustainable management practice which utilizes extended rotations to minimize degradation of the soil. Evaluation of soil health is problematic requiring minimum data sets of biological, physical, and chemical indicators to assess the overall system function.

The aim of this on-farm study is (i) to examine the length of time required for the soil to rebuild its health prior to the inclusion of the potato crop and (ii) evaluate the use of the soil organism, Folsomia candida, as a potential standard indicator of soil health. At four sites, soil total and available C and N, microbial biomass, light fraction, bulk density, plus earthworm abundance and biomass are to be examined from composite (n=4) soil samples (d.i.=5cm, depth=15cm), throughout the phases of 4-5 year forage/grain/potato rotations. Folsomia candida will be added to soil cores collected throughout the potato rotation to assess their sensitivity to changes in key parameters used to determine soil health. Preliminary results from year one will be presented.

Source
Organic Agriculture Research Symposium held at the 26th Guelph Organic Conference, University of Guelph, January 2007


Author Locations & Affiliations
(1) Nova Scotia Agricultural College, P.O. Box 550, Truro NS, Canada, B2N 4L2;
(2) Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Potato Research Center, 850 Lincoln Road, P.O. Box 20280, Fredericton, NB, Canada E3B 4Z7


en français


Posted February 2007