Effects of poultry manure and mineral fertilizers on the quality of crops

Poultry Manure And Mineral Fertilizers At Two Rates Of Application (medium And High) And in Different Combinations., Together With A Non-fertilized Control., Were Tested At The Experimental Station Of The Agricultural University Of Padova., Italy (45° 21’ N., 11° 58’ E) in 1985–89. Compared To The Control., All The Fertilization Treatments increased The incidence Of larger-sized Bulbs Of Onion And Tubers Of Potato., improved The Fruit Colour Of Processing Tomato And The Raw Protein Content Of Spinach., But Reduced The Acidity And Acids:soluble Solids Ratio Of Tomato And The Dry Matter Content Of Spinach leaves. In Addition., The Application Of 140 Kg/ha Of N., 140 Kg/ha Of P 2 0 5 and 100 Kg/ha Of K 2 0 As Mineral Fertilizer Or As Poultry Manure Gave The Best Scores Of Processing Suitability Of Potato., Both For Sticks And Chips. All The Fertilization Formulae., Except For 140 Kg/ha Of N., 140 Kg/ha Of P 2 0 5 and 100 Kg/ha Of K 2 0 As Poultry Manure Alone., Showed Significant Decreases in The Extractable Sucrose Ratio in Sugarbeet., Compared With The Control. In Processing Tomato., The Best Scores Of Suitability For Paste Transformation Were Obtained With Mixed Fertilization (1/3 Poultry Manure And 2/3 Mineral Fertilizers) Applying 210 Kg/ha Of N., 210 Kg/ha Of P 2 0 5 and 150 Kg/ha Of K 2 0 And The Plots Receiving Only Mineral Fertilizers Produced Fruits With less Favourable Values Of PH And Electrical Conductivity Compared To The Poultry Manured Ones. © 1992, Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.