Abstract
Chemical fertilizer has been excessively used for high yield of citrus around the world, especially in China; meanwhile, it deteriorates the citrus orchard soil environment. To resolve the conflict, the use of organic fertilizer provides a promising solution. However, the data about organic fertilizer used in citrus orchard is rarely available. Here, four treatments including CK (no fertilizer), CF (chemical fertilizer), OF + CF (chemical fertilizer reduction combined with organic fertilizer; application of N, P2O5, K2O fertilizer and organic fertilizer is 0.564, 0.236, 0.336 and 10 kg/plant), and BF + CF (chemical fertilizer reduction combined with bioorganic fertilizer; application of N, P2O5, K2O fertilizer and bioorganic fertilizer is 0.508, 0.320, 0.310 and 10 kg/plant) were performed in a ‘Ponkan’ (Citrus reticulata Blanco) orchard to evaluate the effect of organic fertilizer on citrus yield, growth, soil properties etc. when nutrients of fertilizer of each treatment were equal except CK. The data obtained in 2019 and 2020 showed that both OF + CF and BF + CF were beneficial to improve soil fertility (soil physicochemical and microbe properties) and citrus growth physiology (growth, nutrient and photosynthesis), alleviate NO3−-N leaching, and promote yields. Comprehensive evaluation indicated that BF + CF was more effective than OF + CF. Together, organic fertilizer has the potential to substitute partial chemical fertilizer with improvement in soil properties, growth physiology, and yield of citrus.
Highlights
Chemical fertilizer has been generally overused around the world
A beneficial approach to overcome this problem is reduction of chemical fertilizers combined with the application of organic fertilizers; this has been shown to better sustain soil fertility compared to applying chemical or organic fertilizers alone [7,15,20]
CK, CF, OF + CF, and BF + CF were performed
Summary
Global chemical fertilizer use has been reported to be about 1.9 × 1011 t, with China ranking first in consumption, accounting for 25% of world usage [1]. Excessive application of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) fertilizers were approximately 3.6 × 106, 4.3 × 106, 3.6 × 106 t of citrus main production area in China, respectively [6]. Organic fertilizer can improve the physical and chemical properties of soil, such as structure, water retention, nutrients, and cation exchange capacity, and promotes positive biological soil properties, enhancing yield and quality and even alleviating the risks of ecological environment deterioration [15,16,17]. A beneficial approach to overcome this problem is reduction of chemical fertilizers combined with the application of organic fertilizers; this has been shown to better sustain soil fertility compared to applying chemical or organic fertilizers alone [7,15,20]
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