Advances in Environmental Biology

Advances in Environmental Biology, 8(16) Special 2014, Pages: 82-86
AENSI Journals
Advances in Environmental Biology
ISSN-1995-0756
EISSN-1998-1066
Journal home page: http://www.aensiweb.com/AEB/
Evaluation of some Organic Fertilizers on the Yield and Quality of Lettuce
(Lactuca Sativa L. CV. Ahoora)
Seyed Abbas Mirjalili
Agriculture Jahad Institute of Technical and Vocational Higher Education, Tehran, Iran. Isfahan Agriculture Jahad Education Center,
Isfahan, Iran
ARTICLE INFO
Article history:
Received 25 June 2014
Received in revised form
8 July 2014
Accepted 14 October 2014
Available online 16 November 2014
Keywords:
Organic, Fertilizer, Lettuce, Nitrate,
Iran.
ABSTRACT
Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is a leafy plant of considerable agricultural and economic
interest. The plant accumulates large quantities of nitrate in its leaves that threatened
public health. For the reason an experiment was accomplished to to assess the effects of
different sources of organic fertilizers on growth, yield and quality properties especially
nitrate accumulation of lettuce compared to conventional fertilizers. The experiment
comprised of four treatments and control laid in a randomized complete design (RCD),
replicated four times. Four types of fertilizers used were comprised of three organic and
one inorganic fertilizer. The organic fertilizers included a) bounce back compost
(composted chicken manure), b) mixture of animal waste (included blood and feather
meal), c) fish meal and a mixture of Urea and Ammonium Nitrate as an inorganic
fertilizer. The data collected included plant height, leaf brightness, plant fresh weight
and nitrate content. Data analyzed using SPSS software. Results indicated significant
differences in growth parameters amongst treatments compared to control. Results
showed significant (P<0.01) differences in fresh plant weight. The lettuce plants
fertilized with animal waste had relatively higher average number of plant weight.
Nitrate content was higher in plants treated with inorganic fertilizer and followed in
control. No differences observed among three organic fertilizers about this parameter.
© 2014 AENSI Publisher All rights reserved.
To Cite This Article: Seyed Abbas Mirjalili, Evaluation of some Organic Fertilizers on the Yield and Quality of Lettuce (Lactuca Sativa L.
CV. Ahoora). Adv. Environ. Biol., 8(16), 82-86, 2014
INTRODUCTION
Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is a leafy plant of considerable agricultural and economic interest but as a leafy
vegetable it accumulates large quantities of nitrate especially when grown in high NO3-N availability and low
radiation [11]. It is considered as an excellent nutritive source of minerals, vitamins and fibers as it consumed as
fresh green salad. Most of farmers use extreme amount of chemical fertilizers such as urea (46% N) and
ammonium nitrate for growing lettuce in Iran. This resulted in residue of nitrate in that plants which are harmful
for human health. However, there is little information pertaining to organic lettuce production. Organic
fertilizers usually use to reduce the amount of toxic compounds (such as nitrates) produced by conventional
fertilizers in vegetables like lettuce, Hence, improving the quality of leafy vegetables produced as well as human
health [15]. It is the reason that there is increased demand of organically produced vegetables in view of its
health and nutritional benefits.
There are studies about effects of organic fertilizers on lettuce both in soil and hydroponic [11,14,15].
Pavlou et al [18] investigated effects of some organic and nonorganic fertilizers in growth and nitrate
accumulation in lettuce. They observed the highest nitrate levels in the medium and maximum inorganic
fertilization treatments in all crop seasons. Their results were significantly higher compared to the respective
organic fertilization treatments and all other fertilization treatments.
Masarirambi et al [15] conducted an experiment to assess the effects of organic fertilizers on yield and
quality of lettuce grown in river sand. The organic fertilizers used were (a) bounce back compost, (b) cattle
manure and (c) chicken manure. Results of this experiment showed that inorganic fertilizers were less suitable in
lettuce production in river sand when compared to organic fertilizers. They recommended that lettuce can be
grown successfully using organic fertilizers.
Santos Filho et al [19] compared the effects of the protected cultivation and open field on growth of lettuce
plants (cv. Vitória de Santo Antão) through of morphological parameters. The results of the morphological
Corresponding Author: Seyed Abbas Mirjalili. Agriculture Jahad Institute of Technical and Vocational Higher Education,
Tehran, Iran. Isfahan Agriculture Jahad Education Center, Isfahan, Iran.
E-mail: [email protected]
83
Seyed Abbas Mirjalili,2014
Advances in Environmental Biology, 8(16) Special 2014, Pages: 82-86
parameters revealed that the protected cultivation promotes higher growth and development rates, when
compared to open field.
Koudela and Petříková [13] evaluated nutrients content and yield in five cultivars of leaf lettuce (Lactuca
sativa L. var. crispa). They concluded that the contents of vitamin C, minerals (K, Na, Ca, Mg), fiber, dry matter
and nitrates were significantly influenced by cultivar as well as by growing season and year.
Hanafy Ahmed et al [8] evaluated the effect of four different commercial biofertilizers on the growth, yield,
chemical composition and nitrate accumulation of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L., cv. Dark green) plants. They
reported that no significant effects could be detected on most of the studied growth characters (shoot height,
number of leaves, as well as fresh and dry weights of shoots) as well as yield of the plants treated with
biofertilizers when compared with the control-untreated plants. Significant decrease in nitrate accumulation was
recorded by the plants treated with all studied biofertilizers.
Several studies have reported the beneficial effects of blood meal, feather meal and compost on the yield
and quality of tomato, corn, cabbage and lettuce crops [20,16,3].
An important problem facing lettuce production is nitrate accumulation in this crop. Tests of nitrate
accumulation in lettuce showed considerable high values as compared to those standards [1,12,9,8]. Nitrate
accumulation in plants occurs as a result of nitrate accumulation in the soil due to the intensive application of
nitrogen fertilizers carried out by the farmers which results in unbalancing nutritional status of the plants and
consequently high nitrate accumulation as well as soil pollution [9].
There is little information on the use of organic fertilizers for lettuce production in Iran, whereas, growing
lettuce in open field using extreme nitrogen sources to achieve maximum yield without considering health rules
are common. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the effects of different sources of organic
fertilizers on growth, yield and quality properties especially nitrate accumulation of lettuce compared to
conventional fertilizers.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The experiment was conducted in an open field located in Imam Khomeini Higher Education Center
(IHEC) in Alborz province in Iran during two seasons of summer (September to November) at 2011 and 2012
(Table 1). The experiment comprised of four treatments and control laid in a randomized complete design
(RCD), replicated four times. The gross experimental area in each plot was 3m × 12m (36m2) and the net
experimental area was 3m × 2m (6m2) included 30 plants.
The lettuce variety used was an Iranian breeding seed known as Ahoora which is becoming prominent
among vegetable growers and consumers of that province. Seedlings were transplanted at the age of four weeks
after sowing. There were four types of fertilizers used. They were three organic and one inorganic fertilizer. The
organic fertilizers included a) bounce back compost (composted chicken manure), b) mixture of animal waste
(included blood and feather meal), c) fish meal and a mixture of Urea and Ammonium Nitrate as an inorganic
fertilizer.
Data were collected after harvesting. The data collected included the following parameters: plant height,
leaf brightness, plant fresh weight and nitrate content. Data were collected from at least ten sample plants from
inside rows per plot. Data analyzed using SPSS (v. 16) software. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was
undertaken on data collected so as to determine if there were any significant differences amongst treatments.
Mean separation where significant differences were detected was done by Duncan’s Test.
RESULT AND DISCUSSIONS
Results indicated significant differences in growth parameters amongst treatments compared to control
(Table 2). Plant height exhibited no significant difference in all treatments. The results, also, showed significant
(P<0.01) differences in fresh plant weight. The lettuce plants fertilized with animal waste had relatively higher
average number of plant weight, followed by fish meal and inorganic fertilizer, respectively. The lettuce plants
fertilized with inorganic fertilizers exhibited the least number of weights amongst treatments.
Organic fertilizers had relatively more brightness leaves compared to others. Among these, animal waste
had the most and chicken manure had the least.
There was a significant (P<0.01) difference on nitrate content between plants treated with organic fertilizers
and inorganic. In fact nitrate content was higher in plants from the inorganic fertilizer and followed in control.
No differences observed among three organic fertilizers about this parameter. Nitrate accumulation data as
affected by different organic treatments are presented in Table 3. All organic treatments decreased nitrate
concentration in the midrib of lettuce leaves in both samples and seasons (Table 3).
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Advances in Environmental Biology, 8(16) Special 2014, Pages: 82-86
Table 1: physical and chemical features of soil farm
Depth
(cm)
C
(%organic)
0-30
0.76
N (%
for
whole)
0.08
P
(ppm)
K
(ppm)
Saturation
(%)
EC
Ca
(%)
Soil
texture
Clay
(%)
Silt
(%)
Sand
(%)
Mg
Zn
(ppm)
B
(ppm)
Fe
(ppm)
12.2
224.6
26.08
3.1
9.29
L-C
14
20
66
6.5
0.92
0.82
3.94
Table 2: Analysis of variance for yield parameters of lettuce.
source of variation
Fresh Weight
Height
Nitrate content
Weight × height
Df
4
4
4
8
Sum of squares
232693.4
332.347
5432.345
67.459
Table 3: Mean comparison of characteristics for growth and N content in lettuce for two years.
Treatments
Plant
Leaf
Plant Fresh
height
brightness
Weight(g)
2009
2010
2009
2010
2009
2010
Control
28.4a
29.1a
3.5a
3.4a
584.33a
567.3a
Bounce back compost
29.93a
29.6a
3.9b
3.9bc
725.2b
761.6b
Animal waste
32.4b
30.3a
4.4c
4.3bc
1073.6d
1103d
Fish meal
31.7ab
30.8a
4.6c
4.6c
864.7c
852.4c
F
48.82**
18.609ns
36.96**
11.83ns
Nitrate content
(g/Kg)
2009
2010
29.7c
29.9c
27.3b
27.6b
26.4a
26.5a
27.1b
27.3b
It is very important for farmers to understand how supply nutrients to the crops that gain maximum yield
and incoming as well as public health. This study is the first report on cultivar Ahoora (an Iranian breeding
seed) that investigates effect of fertilizer type on yield and quality of it. According to differences between soil
cultivation and hydroponic for root uptake, it was necessary to evaluate quality of lettuce cultivated in soil
especially nitrate content in the open field.
Most of studies on lettuce limited to greenhouse experiments. It is demonstrated that the protected
cultivation promotes higher growth and development rates, when compared to open field, in which the protected
cultivation is indicated to maximize the yield in Lactuca sativa [19] although Zhao et al., [24] showed that the
high tunnel environment generally reduced phenolic levels in lettuce relative to the open field. For the reason,
we studied growth parameters and nitrate contents in open field.
There are a few reports that stated vegetables grown with organic fertilizers grew better and resulted in a
higher total yield than those grown with chemical fertilizers [15,23]. This might be that industrial fertilizers do
not possess good characteristics of aggregating the soil particles. As a result, the plants produced by inorganic
fertilizers showed relatively lower yield compared to organic materials [17]. Because of higher yield of lettuce
observed in plants were treated by organic fertilizers, our findings are in agreement with previous studies.
Plants which had been fertilized with animal wastes had the highest growth parameters and marketable
yield. Similar results have been reported [21].
Plant height is a character that less considered. If a lettuce plant is over mature, shoot elongation take places
and means that the plant changed to reproductive phase resulted in changing taste and losing marketable. Results
showed that none of treatments cause shoots elongation in lettuce. No significant differences observed amongst
treatments in plant height.
Organic wastes derived from slaughterhouses (feather, blood and meat meal), fish and seafood processing
(fish and crab-shell meal), and cheese making (whey) have been shown to be the best sources of organic
fertilizers [4]. Animal wastes degraded fast because of the easy degradation nitrogenous structural components
of animal and dairy products. On the other hand, carbon compounds like cellulose and hemicellulose, which
compose plant residues, are easily broken down and then can exert a considerable depressing effect on the
nitrification of the low-N materials. This could cause temporary immobilization of N in the soil, which would
thus interfere with plant growth [4]. Our finding about observing high yield of lettuce for plants treated by
animal wastes could be explained by the reason.
Nitrate accumulation in plants has been related to genetic characteristics and management factors, such as
nitrogen fertilization. The literature presents various strategies developed to decrease the concentration of nitrate
in leafy vegetables. Some methods are related to nutrient solution changes, for example replacement a part of
NO3-N concentration by urea [25], proteinate fertilizer [6], NH4-N and amino acid [6] or replacement of all
NO3-N during the last week before harvesting (URRESTARAZU et al. 1998). However, these methods have
not always been possible to match the requirements of a high yield and simultaneously, a low content of nitrate.
Some authors reported that some of the lettuce cultivars needed more time to respond the treatment with low N
supply. One of the possible explanations that the reduction of NO3- N concentration in lettuce plants by
reducing NO3-N supply during the last growing day failed is the fact that nitrate and other components such as
minerals, vitamins and sugars differ during the development stages [11]. ZHU et al [25] reported that the nitrate
content in lettuce plants was reduced by about 40 % when urea contributes 75 % of the total N supply. GÜNES
et al [5] stated that the replacing a small part (20 %) of the nitrate supply by combination amino acid and urea
with NH4Cl caused the heaviest decreases in nitrate contents [11]. We arrange the experiment with a treatment
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Advances in Environmental Biology, 8(16) Special 2014, Pages: 82-86
containing mixture of nitrogen element as N-urea, N-Nitrate and N-ammonia to investigate whether these
replacements can reduce nitrate content of lettuce. Our results showed that replacement of other form of
nitrogen cannot change nitrate accumulation in lettuce.
HE and LEE [10] reported that high solar radiation and low root zone temperature had an important effect
to a formation of a compact lettuce head and higher shoot and root biomass. According to DREWS et al [2]
increased global irradiation resulted in increased values for head weights. We accomplished the experiment in
open field to evaluate whether direct solar radiation can reduce nitrate content in lettuce comparing to organic
fertilizers. Our findings showed that cultivation in open field with direct radiation cannot reduce nitrate content
of plants as well as organic fertilizers; although much more studies are needed.
Conclusion:
Effects of different sources of organic fertilizers on growth, yield and quality properties especially nitrate
accumulation of lettuce compared to conventional fertilizers showed that organic fertilizers especially, animal
wastes, had relatively higher yield and quality rather than inorganic fertilizers.
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