Building nutrient supply with biological and organic (matter) approaches
Organic amendments and biological inputs can play an important role in supporting soil fertility and nutrient cycling. This topic examines the opportunities and limitations of products such as compost, biochar, crop residues, cover crops, microbial inoculants including mycorrhizal fungi.
You will find out how these inputs contribute to nutrient availability, soil health and crop performance, and how to account for their nutrient contributions. The resources help to better understand when and where organic nutrient sources can be integrated into production systems.
Sub-topics
- Organic amendments (e.g. compost, biochar), cover crops, crop residues
- Biological products (e.g. microbial inoculants, mycorrhiza, ‘biofertilisers’)
- Accounting for organic amendments, crop residues and cover crops, crop rotation/cover crop effects on nutrient supply
Learning outcomes
After completing this topic, you will be able to:
- Compare the nutrient supply characteristics of organic amendments, cover crops and biological products.
- Estimate nutrient contributions from organic amendments, crop residues and cover crops.
- Integrate organic nutrient sources into crop nutrition programs while accounting for nutrient release from the sources.
Resources by sub-topic
- Organic amendments (e.g. compost, biochar), cover crops, crop residues
- Guide: Nutrition product guide (to be released)
- Fact sheet: The ‘breakdown’ on composts
- Webinar recording: Compost calculator: Knowing the value of organic amendments in your vegetable nutrition program in Victoria
- Global scan: Organic soil amendments
- Video: How FOGO compost is made and why it is safe to use in horticulture
- Poster: Organic nitrogen: Rules of thumb
- Case study: Oakdale demonstration site: Soil health and nutrient management
- Poster: Cover crops for Australian vegetable growers
- Case study: Composting comes through for carbon with cover crops and minimum tillage
- Fact sheet: Organic soil amendments
- Publication: Use and understanding of organic amendments in Australian agriculture: a review
- Case study: Organic soil amendments put to the test in Tasmania
- Case study: Compost boosts soil health on the Adelaide Plains, South Australia
- Case study: The effect of custom made composts on the performance of carrot crop and soil health
- Webinar recording: Salinity and potato production (Part 4 of 4): Organic soil amendments, biologicals & biostimulants
- Fact sheet: Biochar – What is its potential for vegetable production?
- Case study: Biochar showing positive benefits for organic vegetable grower in Darwin
- Biological products (e.g. microbial inoculants, mycorrhiza, ‘biofertilisers’)
- Tool/database: Biological Products Database
- Webinar recording: Biostimulant Products: Cutting through the noise
- Fact sheet: Biostimulant Labelling Code of Practice
- Fact sheet: Boosting mycorrhizal fungi in vegetable crops
- Webinar recording: Using cover crops to manage mycorrhizal fungi in vegetable crops
- Accounting for organic amendments, crop residues and cover crops, crop rotation/cover crop effects on nutrient supply
- Case study: Optimising nitrogen supply to sweet corn using legume cover crops
- Article: Harnessing the power of cover crops for enhanced soil health
- Case study: Optimising nitrogen with cover crops: Oakdale (NSW) demonstration site update
- Publication/fact sheet: Project aims to unlock the true value of organic soil amendments
- Poster: Organic nitrogen: Rules of thumb
