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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2017, Vol. 16 Issue (08): 1819-1831    DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(16)61476-4
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Impacts of chemical fertilizer reduction and organic amendments supplementation on soil nutrient, enzyme activity and heavy metal content
NING Chuan-chuan, GAO Peng-dong, WANG Bing-qing, LIN Wei-peng, JIANG Ni-hao, CAI Kun-zheng
Key Laboratory of Tropical Agro-environment, Ministry of Agriculture/South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, P.R.China
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Abstract      Excessive use of agro-chemicals (such as mineral fertilizers) poses potential risks to soil quality. Application of organic amendments and reduction of inorganic fertilizer are economically feasible and environmentally sound approaches to develop sustainable agriculture. This study investigated and evaluated the effects of mineral fertilizer reduction and partial substitution of organic amendment on soil fertility and heavy metal content in a 10-season continually planted vegetable field during 2009–2012. The experiment included four treatments: 100% chemical fertilizer (CF100), 80% chemical fertilizer (CF80), 60% chemical fertilizer and 20% organic fertilizer (CF60+OM20), and 40% chemical fertilizer and 40% organic fertilizer (CF40+OM40). Soil nutrients, enzyme activity and heavy metal content were determined. The results showed that single chemical fertilizer reduction (CF80) had no significant effect on soil organic matter content, soil catalase activity and soil heavy metal content, but slightly reduced soil available N, P, K, and soil urease activity, and significantly reduced soil acid phosphatase activity. Compared with CF100, 40 or 60% reduction of chemical fertilizer supplemented with organic fertilizer (CF60+OM20, CF40+OM40) significantly increased soil organic matter, soil catalase activity and urease activity especially in last several seasons, but reduced soil available P, K, and soil acid phosphatase activity. In addition, continuous application of organic fertilizer resulted in higher accumulation of Zn, Cd, and Cr in soil in the late stage of experiment, which may induce adverse effects on soil health and food safety.
Keywords:  chemical fertilizer        organic amendments        soil fertility        vegetable        soil health        heavy metal  
Received: 09 March 2016   Accepted:
Fund: 

This study was financially supported by grants of the Key Projects in the Key Technologies R&D Program of China during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2012BAD14B00) and the Guangdong Provincial Science and Technology Plan Key Project , China (2012A020100003, 2015A050502043).

Corresponding Authors:  Correspondence CAI Kun-zheng, E-mail: kzcai@scau.edu.cn    

Cite this article: 

NING Chuan-chuan, GAO Peng-dong, WANG Bing-qing, LIN Wei-peng, JIANG Ni-hao, CAI Kun-zheng . 2017. Impacts of chemical fertilizer reduction and organic amendments supplementation on soil nutrient, enzyme activity and heavy metal content. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 16(08): 1819-1831.

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