The Influence of an Innovative Bioproduct on Soil and Substrate Characteristics during Strawberry Cultivation

Sidona Buragienė, Kristina Lekavičienė (), Aida Adamavičienė, Edvardas Vaiciukevičius and Egidijus Šarauskis
Additional contact information
Sidona Buragienė: Faculty of Engineering, Agriculture Academy, Vytautas Magnus University, Studentu Str. 15A, Kaunas District, LT-53362 Akademija, Lithuania
Kristina Lekavičienė: Faculty of Engineering, Agriculture Academy, Vytautas Magnus University, Studentu Str. 15A, Kaunas District, LT-53362 Akademija, Lithuania
Aida Adamavičienė: Faculty of Agronomy, Agriculture Academy, Vytautas Magnus University, Studentu Str. 11, Kaunas District, LT-53361 Akademija, Lithuania
Edvardas Vaiciukevičius: Faculty of Engineering, Agriculture Academy, Vytautas Magnus University, Studentu Str. 15A, Kaunas District, LT-53362 Akademija, Lithuania
Egidijus Šarauskis: Faculty of Engineering, Agriculture Academy, Vytautas Magnus University, Studentu Str. 15A, Kaunas District, LT-53362 Akademija, Lithuania

Agriculture, 2024, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-13

Abstract: Farming systems should be sustainable in order to protect the soil from diseases and pests while preserving the environment and generating economic and social benefits. The use of biological products can help reduce the negative characteristics that damage the soil and increase the likelihood of healthy plant growth. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of biotreatment on the physical properties of different soils and substrates as well as strawberry ( Fragaria × ananassa ) yield. In the laboratory trials, “Asia” strawberries were grown one by one in special containers on different soils and substrates: loam (L), clay (C), sandy loam (SL), compost soil (CS), and coconut fiber (CF). The soils and substrates were treated once a week with a biological product based on molasses and magnesium sulfate and fertilized with a complex fertilizer: NPK11-11-21 + K 2 O + Mg, S, B, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, and Zn, enriched with potassium. Soil and substrate temperature, moisture, density, total porosity, aeration porosity, electrical conductivity as well as strawberry yield were measured in the test containers containing the plants. Studies have shown that the use of bioproducts does not significantly improve the physical properties of soils and substrates. However, the trend of the results shows that using the bioproduct for a longer period of time would have a greater effect on the physical properties of the soils and substrates, especially for peat-based substrates prepared for greenhouse use. Berry yields increased significantly (46.6% and 100%) with biotreatment in the CS and CF variants.

Keywords: biopreparation; greenhouse; soil properties; yield (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/4/537/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/4/537/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:4:p:537-:d:1365555

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().