Effect of Rock-Dust-Amended Compost On the Soil Properties, Soil Microbial Activity, and Fruit Production In an Apple Orchard From the Jiangsu Province of China

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-29-2020

Department

Biological Sciences

School

Biological, Environmental, and Earth Sciences

Abstract

© 2020, © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This study examined the effect of compost fortified with rock dust on the soil properties, soil microbial activity, and yield and fruit quality in a mature apple orchard from the Jiangsu province of China. The incorporation of rock dust significantly improved the microelement contents of Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, B, and Al, but without increasing phytotoxicity of the compost. The fortified compost had higher metabolic activity and functional diversity of microorganisms as determined by the community-level physiological profiling with Biolog EcoPlates. The two-year incorporation of the rock dust compost into a poor-quality soil led to a significant increase in the yield with the increase of 120% and 187% compared to untreated control in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Application of rock dust compost obviously promoted superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and concentration of vitamin C in mature apple trees. The beneficial effects coincided with higher microbial activity and shifts in the composition of the soil microbiome. Our results demonstrate that the practice of combining the rock dust-fortified compost with NPK fertilizers provides a cost-effective way of supplying crops with macro-and micronutrients ensuring better vegetative growth and higher yields.

Publication Title

Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science

Volume

67

Issue

10

First Page

1313

Last Page

1326

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