Reducing Nitrogen Fertilization in Olive Growing by the Use of Natural Chabazite-Zeolitite as Soil Improver

Valeria Medoro, Giacomo Ferretti, Giulio Galamini, Annalisa Rotondi, Lucia Morrone, Barbara Faccini and Massimo Coltorti ()
Additional contact information
Valeria Medoro: Department of Physics and Earth Science, University of Ferrara, Via Giuseppe Saragat 1, 44122 Ferrara, Italy
Giacomo Ferretti: Department of Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Sciences, Via Luigi Borsari 46, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
Giulio Galamini: Department of Physics and Earth Science, University of Ferrara, Via Giuseppe Saragat 1, 44122 Ferrara, Italy
Annalisa Rotondi: Institute of Bioeconomy, National Research Council, Via Piero Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy
Lucia Morrone: Institute of Bioeconomy, National Research Council, Via Piero Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy
Barbara Faccini: Department of Physics and Earth Science, University of Ferrara, Via Giuseppe Saragat 1, 44122 Ferrara, Italy
Massimo Coltorti: Department of Physics and Earth Science, University of Ferrara, Via Giuseppe Saragat 1, 44122 Ferrara, Italy

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 9, 1-20

Abstract: In order to improve the sustainability and productivity of modern agriculture, it is mandatory to enhance the efficiency of Nitrogen (N) fertilizers with low-impact and natural strategies, without impairing crop yield and plant health. To achieve these goals, the ZeOliva project conducted an experiment using a zeolite-rich tuff as a soil amendment to improve the efficiency of the N fertilizers and allow a reduction of their inputs. The results of three years of experimentation performed in three different fields in the Emilia-Romagna region (Italy) are presented. In each field, young olive trees grown on zeolite-amended soil (−50% of N-input) were compared to trees grown on unamended soil (100% N-input). Soils and leaves were collected three times every year in each area and analyzed to monitor the efficiency of the zeolite treatment compared to the control. Vegetative measurements were performed along with analysis of pH, Soil Organic Matter and soluble anions in soil samples, whereas total C and N, C discrimination factor and N isotopic signature were investigated for both soils and leaves. Besides some fluctuations of nitrogen species due to the sampling time (Pre-Fert, Post-Fertilization and Harvest), the Total Nitrogen of leaves did not highlight any difference between treatments, which suggest that plant N uptake was not affected by lower N input in the zeolite treatment. Results, including vegetative measurements, showed no significant differences between the two treatments in all the observed variables, although the control received twice the N-input from fertilization. Based on these results, it is proposed that zeolite minerals increased the N retention time in the soil, allowing a better exploitation by plants which led to the same N uptake of the control notwithstanding the reduction in the N inputs. The use of zeolite-rich tuff in olive growing thus allows a reduction in the amount of fertilizer by up to 50% and improves the N use efficiency with many environmental and economic benefits.

Keywords: sustainable agriculture; soil; natural zeolite; chabazite; soil amendment; olive; nitrogen (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/9/1471/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/9/1471/ (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:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:9:p:1471-:d:905957

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

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