Abstract
Organic fertilization has been proposed as an alternative approach to supply nutrients for crops, in the frame of organic and sustainable agriculture, with the aim to decrease high inorganic fertilization rates, protect the environment and decrease production costs for farmers. Since different types of organic fertilizers, such as manures, olive mill wastewater (OMW), sewage sludge (SS), crushed pruning wastes, composts and cover crops, exist as soil amendments to improve soil fertility, enhance plant nutrition and sustain the productivity of tree crops, their role as biofertilizers has been fully analyzed under the most important published papers. In addition, the benefits and drawbacks of organic fertilization, in a comparative approach with inorganic fertilization, are presented and discussed. Within the most important advantages of organic fertilizers, the enhancement of beneficial soil microorganisms and the improvement in soil physical properties and fertility should be included, while their most important disadvantage is their inability to directly satisfy the prompt N nutritional needs of tree crops, due to slow N mineralization rates. Finally, some novel aspects on the interrelation among innovative organic fertilizers for tree crops, sustainable field management, crop productivity and fruit quality are also included in this review, under the light of the most important and recent research data existing in the literature, with the aim to provide recommendations and future directions for organic fertilizers by tree growers.
Highlights
One of the most promising challenges for modern sustainable agriculture is how to decrease the high unnecessary fertilization rates without (i) negatively influencing the nutritional requirements of plants, and (ii) decreasing crop yields and plant products’ quality
Some novel aspects on the interrelation among innovative organic fertilizers for tree crops, sustainable field management, crop productivity and fruit quality are included in this review, under the light of the most important and recent research data existing in the literature, with the aim to provide recommendations and future directions for organic fertilizers by tree growers
Apart from the above-mentioned effects of the excessive use of inorganic fertilizers on soil chemistry and some environmental aspects related to climate change, the decreased activity of microorganisms should not be neglected from the negative consequences on soil quality
Summary
One of the most promising challenges for modern sustainable agriculture is how to decrease the high unnecessary fertilization rates without (i) negatively influencing the nutritional requirements of plants, and (ii) decreasing crop yields and plant products’ quality. Apart from the ability of organic amendments/fertilizers to decrease inorganic N inputs and enhance the sustainability of agroecosystems towards more sustainable production of fruits, it is stated that their application enhances soil nutrient availability and increases organic matter contents and microbial biomass, while it stimulates microbial activity, field productivity and fruit weight [5,6,7,8,9] Another very important aspect of organic amendments’ application is that they may improve food quality; incorporation of vermicompost in the soil had a significant impact on the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of C. cajan leaves, while farmyard manure application resulted in a high concentration of total phenols and chlorophyll [10]. Based on the most important and recent literature data on organic fertilization for tree crop nutrition, the aims of this review are the following: (a) to indicate the beneficial effects of organic fertilization on soil fertility, organic C and soil microbiology, (b) to present and compare the positive and negative aspects of organic and inorganic fertilizers on trees’ nutrition and field sustainability, (c) to point out the importance of organic fertilization on tree productivity and fruit quality, (d) to present the current situation of organic fertilization and to share thoughts about its future perspectives, realizing this in relation to the presentation of innovative and alternative organic soil amendments used as biofertilizers, and (e) to categorize the different types of organic amendments (manures, composts, by-products of the agricultural sector, sewage sludge, crushed pruning wastes, cover crops) that are used—or could be used—as biofertilizers and showcase their importance for tree crop nutrition
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