After 8 years, the MAC field trial in Lelystad, the Netherlands, shows the effects of different fertiliser strategies, ranging from animal manure to plant compost to mineral fertiliser. The impact on yield, soil quality, soil health, environment and climate change is discussed. The trial is unique in monitoring the effect of so many types of fertilisers over so many year

Bokhorst, G.J.

Koopmans, C.J.

Zanen, M.

English

Name not available

Organic fertilisers of the mac trial and their impact on soil quality, environment and climate change

NARCIS 

Wageningen Yield 

The 5th International Scientific Conference on Sustainable Farming Systems                  E C O M I T  
 
 
67
ORGANIC FERTILISERS OF THE MAC TRIAL AND THEIR IMPACT ON SOIL 
QUALITY, ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE 
 
C.J. Koopmans1, M. Zanen1 & J.G. Bokhorst1 
1Louis Bolk Institute, Hoofdstraat 24, 3972 LA Driebergen, The Netherlands, c.koopmans@louisbolk.nl 
 
Abstract 
After 8 years, the MAC field trial in Lelystad, the Netherlands, shows the effects of 
different fertiliser strategies, ranging from animal manure to plant compost to mineral 
fertiliser. The impact on yield, soil quality, soil health, environment and climate 
change is discussed. The trial is unique in monitoring the effect of so many types of 
fertilisers over so many years. 
 
Introduction 
Applying fertiliser is the easiest measure a farmer can vary to maintain soil health. 
Uncertainty about the different characteristics of fertilisers means that the choice of 
fertiliser varies widely between farms. 
After a completed rotation of eight years (1999-2006), organic soils of the Manure as 
a Chance (MAC) trial were analysed for the effect of amendments on yields, soil 
quality and soil biodiversity properties. 
 
Materials and Methods 
The experiment (Lelystad, The Netherlands, 5° 30’ East, 52° 32’ North, precipitation 
780mm), was set up as a randomised complete block with four replications and 7m x 
9m plot size. The manure or compost addition (Tab. 1) is limited by: 
o a maximum of 100 kg N ha-1 year-1 
o a mean net legal maximum of 80 kg P2O5 ha-1 year-1 
o a legal maximum of 6000 kg dry matter ha-1 year-1. 
 
Table 1: Selected strategies of the MAC trial and nitrogen mineralised, P2O5 
application, dry matter and organic matter from the amendments in kg.ha-1 year-1. 
Strategy Nitrogen 
active* 
P2O5* Dry 
matter* 
OM* 
Deep stable manure (FYM) 67 66  4930 
Cattle slurry (CS) 67 35  1530 
Mineral fertiliser (MIN) 67 43  0 
Household and slurry (HC+CS) 67 69  2910 
Poultry manure (PM) 47 80  1680 
Plant compost 1 (PC) 24 80  7870 
Household compost (HC) 9 57 6000 1490 
Plant compost 2 (GC) 8 48 6000 1770 
* amendments are applied two years in three. 
 
The organic vegetable rotation of the host farm includes red cabbage, potato, beet, 
carrot, parsnip, broccoli, squash and cauliflower in 2006. It is of common intensity for 
Dutch organic horticulture. The light sandy clay soil was analysed for soil physical, 
chemical and biological properties. 
 
Microbial and fungal biomass, N mineralization, nematodes and basal respiration 
were determined according to Mulder et al., 2005. Data were analyzed by analysis of 
The 5th International Scientific Conference on Sustainable Farming Systems                  E C O M I T  
 
 
68
variance (ANOVA). Significant effects were separated by the least significant 
difference (LSD) at P = 0.05. 
 
Results and Discussion 
Yields suggest significant differences due to different organic amendments after 8 
years (Fig. 1). In treatments receiving farm yard manure and household waste 
compost yields increased over time. Soil properties indicate changes, among others, 
in nitrogen mineralization, soil organic matter and biological properties like earthworm 
burrows and plant feeding nematodes. No significant changes in microbial and fungal 
biomass were found. 
 
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
FY
M CS MI
N
HC
+C
S PM PC HC GC
Yi
el
d 
(t 
fr
es
h 
m
at
te
r h
a-
1 )
Yield 1999 Red cabbage Yield 2006 Cauliflower
 
Fig. 1: Yields of red cabbage (1999) and cauliflower (2006) in the MAC trial. Bars 
indicate standard error of the mean. 
 
The strategies were evaluated in terms of five challenges society is facing nowadays: 
Sustainable yields, a sustainable soil quality, soil health, prevention of environmental 
contamination and climate change. Tab. 2. links these challenges in a qualitative way 
to indicators measured in our evaluation. 
From the evaluation it is clear that no strategy scores high in each of the five 
evaluation criteria. After 8 years deep stable manure results in highest yields. 
Fertilisers which supply little or no organic matter show a decline over the years. If 
soil quality is evaluated in terms of the capacity to supply nitrogen, the deep stable 
manure, slurry and composts score highest. The least harmful plant feeding 
nematodes were found in household waste combined with slurry and poultry manure. 
Plant based compost score highest in terms of low phosphate surpluses in a 
balancing approach and (modelled) nitrate leaching. In terms of climate change the 
deep stable manure and plant based compost show a slight increase in organic 
matter of the soil. 
Table 2: Qualitative evaluation of the fertilization strategies in MAC trial linking soil 
indicators to challenges of society and yield.  
The 5th International Scientific Conference on Sustainable Farming Systems                  E C O M I T  
 
 
69
Evaluation 
Criterion 
 
Yield Soil quality Soil health Environment Climate Change 
Indicator 
 
Fresh 
yield  
2006 
Nitrogen 
supply 
Parasitic  
nematodes 
Phosphate 
surplus and 
nitrate 
leaching 
Organic matter 
sequestration 
FYM + + 0 0 + 
CS - + 0 0 - 
MIN - - - + 0 
HC+CS 0 + + - 0 
PM 0 0 + - 0 
PC 0 + - + + 
HC 0 - 0 + + 
GC - 0 0 + + 
 
The study shows that organic amendments used within the legal framework of 
organic farming impact soil quality and soil biodiversity indicators within eight years. 
The results suggest a neutral or overall positive effect from deep stable manure in 
the long run on indicators linked to societal challenges. In terms of environment and 
climate change the different compost strategies seem to perform surprisingly well.    
 
Acknowledgements 
We thank the organic farmer Jan van Geffen for his work on the trial and allowing us 
to make use of his land, Coen ter Berg and Luc Steinbuch for their help with 
fertilization and sampling of the trial. The authors gratefully acknowledge funding 
from the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and the IONA 
foundation. 
 
References 
Koopmans, C.J., Zanen, M. (2007): Organic soil management: impacts on yields, soil 
quality and economics. In Niggli, U., Leifert, C., Alföldi, T., Lück, L., Willer, H. 
(eds.): Improving Sustainability in organic and low input food production systems. 
Proceedings of the 3rd international congress of the European integrated project 
‘Quality Low Input Food’ (Qlif). Fibl, Frick, p. 201-204.  
Mulder, C., Cohen, J.E., Setälä, H, Bloem, J., Breure, A.M. (2005): Bacterial traits, 
organism mass, and numerical abundance in the detrital soil food web of Dutch 
agricultural grassland. Ecology Letters 8(1): 80-90. 
Zanen, M., Bokhorst, J.G., Berg, C. ter & C.J. Koopmans (2008). Investeren tot in de 
bodem. Evaluatie van het proefveld mest als kans. Report no. LD11. Louis Bolk 
Institute, Driebergen, The Netherlands, 30 p. (In Dutch) 
Zanen, M., Bokhorst, J.G., Berg, C. ter & C.J. Koopmans (2008). Soil fertility and 
biodiversity effects from organic amendments in organic farming (2008). In:  
Neuhoff, D. et al. (eds.) Proceedings of the second scientific conference of the 
International Society of Organic Agricultural Research (ISOFAR), 18-20 June 
2008, Modena, Italy. p. 70-73. 
 
 


Bacterial traits, organism mass, and numerical abundance in the detrital soil food web of Dutch agricultural grassland.

Investeren tot in de bodem. Evaluatie van het proefveld mest als kans. Report no.

Organic soil management: impacts on yields, soil quality and economics.

Organic fertilisers of the mac trial and their impact on soil quality, environment and climate change

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Name not available

NARCIS

Wageningen Yield