Fertility Management of Establishing Organic Black Currants
A. M. Hammermeister, D. W. Hobson, K. Pruski and D. Lynch
Abstract
While black currant (Ribes nigrum) production is prevalent in Europe and New Zealand, it has been slow to take off in North America. Availability of increasingly disease-resistant cultivars has sparked interest in organic currant production on Prince Edward Island (PEI) to satisfy a health-savvy Japanese market that prizes black currant berries for their high vitamin C, antioxidant levels and flavor. Organic production of this fruit is extremely limited globally, and the growing conditions in Atlantic Canada are starkly different from other countries.
Two sites (1 and 2) of black currant ‘Titania’ were established on PEI in 2009 to measure the effects of nutrient rate and timing on the growth, yield and nutrient uptake of young plants. Seven fertility treatments were used based on kg ha-1 of estimated available N applied: control (SP0), three spring treatments (SP50, SP100 and SP150), one summer (SU150) and two treatments split across spring and summer (SL100/50 and SL50/100). The amendments were a mix of crab meal and poultry manure (Nutriwave™). Black plastic mulch was used to prevent weed growth.
The two sites responded differently, with site 1 having almost twice the yield of site 2, and the treatments following very different patterns. In 2011, there was no difference in bush volume or yield among treatments at site 1 unlike site 2. Vegetative growth was highest for the SP150 at both sites, but the split treatments had higher yields. At site 2, vegetative growth rates of the summer-only and split treatments were much less than at site 1. Tissue N was significantly higher in amended treatments than the control at both sites. Tissue tests revealed that potassium and possibly phosphorus may be limiting at site 2. The best treatment for yield was SL100/50; SP50 and SU150 are not recommended, as growth of the plants was much lower.
Source
Proceedings of the 2nd International Organic Fruit Symposium. June 18-21, 2012. Leavenworth, Washington.
Author Locations and Affiliations
(1) Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada, Nova Scotia Agricultural College, Truro, NS, Canada
(2) Department of Plant and Animal Sciences, Nova Scotia Agricultural College, Truro, NS, Canada
Posted August 2012