Organic Blackberry Production Research. Bernadine Strik Professor, Dept. Horticulture & NWREC

Transcription

1 Organic Blackberry Production Research Bernadine Strik Professor, Dept. Horticulture & NWREC

2 Collaborators: Gil Buller and Emily Vollmer (Research Assistants) Renee Harkins, Javier Fernandez-Salvador, Emily Dixon (grad students) Luis Valenzuela-Estrada & George Cavender (Post-Docs) David Bryla & Chad Finn (USDA-ARS, HCRU) Yanyun Zhao and Mark Daeschel, Dept. Food Sci., OSU Penny Perkins-Veazie, Gina Fernandez, Charles Safley, Olha Sydorovych, Roderick Rejesus, Mara Massell (North Carolina State Univ.) Industry: Eric Pond (Riverbend farm, OR); Joe Bennett (formerly Small Planet Foods WA); Anthony Boutard (OR); Tom Avinelis (Homegrown Organics, CA, OR); Derek Peacock (Hursts Berry Farm, OR); Josh Beam (SunnyRidge, Dole, NC); Littau Harvesters Inc. and other industry contributors! Funding to date: OOCR $29,885 (2009) NCSFR $69,689 ( ) NIFA-OREI $2.4 million ( )

3 Sub-projects: Systems for processed blackberries: * Production system impacts on yield, quality, nutrient allocation Strik, Vollmer, Buller, Harkins, Fernandez-Salvador * Irrigation management & root growth Bryla & Valenzuela * Economic evaluation Strik, Safley & Sydorovych * Cultivar adaptation Strik, Finn, & Fernandez-Salvador * Fruit quality & impact of processing - Zhao & Cavender * Food borne pathogens Daeschel & Sales Systems for fresh blackberries (grower cooperator sites, OR & NC): Oregon: * Impact of cultivar 7 fertilizer source on yield & quality Strik, Bryla, Fernandez-Salvador * Economic evaluation Strik, Safley & Sydorovych * Fruit quality & healthful properties (storage) - Zhao & Cavender * Food borne pathogens Daeschel & Sales North Carolina: * Economic evaluation Fernandez, Safley & Sydorovych * Fruit quality & healthful properties (storage) - Perkins-Veazie * Food borne pathogens Massel Economic model to assess potential liability costs (food safety event) - ReJesus

4 Weed, Water, and Nutrient Management Practices for Organic Blackberry Production Bernadine Strik, David Bryla, and Renee Harkins Dept. Horticulture, OSU, USDA-ARS/HCRU

5 Objectives 1. Impact of weed management on plant growth, weed pressure, and yield & 2. Biomass and nutrient accumulation and losses in establishing organic trailing blackberries

6 Objectives 3. Effect of post harvest irrigation & 4. Impact of training time (August or February) on established trailing blackberries Note above treatments began in 2012

7 Study site North Willamette Research and Extension Center, Aurora, OR 1 acre planting TC planted June 2010 (5 x 10 ) Split-plot design with 5 reps Non-treatment guard rows & end plots A cereal rye/common vetch cover crop between rows Single lateral drip tube either suspended on trellis or under weed mat June 2010 Treatments Cultivar Black Diamond Marion Weed management Control (weedy) Hand weed Weed mat

8 Planting, May 17, 2012

9 July 2010 Methods Measurements Soil nutrients (Oct.)

10 Measurements Primocane number Primocane length Primocane nutrients Canes removed February 2011

11 Measurements off year Soil moisture & temperature Leaf water potential Primocane leaf tissue nutrient conc. Soil nutrients (Oct.) Canes trained as they grew July 2011

12 Measurements on year Primocane number Primocane length Primocane nutrient conc. April 2012

13 Measurements on year Soil moisture & temperature Leaf water potential Yield, berry weight, berry nutrient concentration Floricane & primocane leaf tissue nutrient conc. July 2012

14 Measurements on year Soil moisture & temperature Leaf water potential Floricane yield components & nutrient conc. Soil nutrients (Oct.) August 2012

15 Results

16 April 20, 2011 May 5, 2012 Weed management treatments Weed pressure was not high in 2010 Weed presence was greater by late 2011 and into 2012

17 Primocane weight, number, and length in Marion and Black Diamond during the first 3 years after planting z Cultivar Fresh cane weight/plant (kg) Year 1 Year 2 Year 1 Dry cane weight/plant (kg) Cane No./plant Length/cane (m) Year 2 Year 1 Year 2 Year 1 Year 2 Black Diamond Marion Weed management Control b b b a Hand weed a a a ab Weed mat a a a b Significance Cultivar (C ) NS 0.01 NS 0.05 NS < <.0001 Weed management (W) NS NS <.0001 NS <.0001 NS 0.04 CxW NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS Z Year 1=15 Feb 2011; Year 2=24 Feb 2012; y Mean separation (in columns) by LSD test at P 0.05 (lowercase letters) NS Non significant Primocane growth (DW)

18 Dry weight (kg/plant) Dry weight (kg/plant) Primocane growth (DW) Primocane growth (DW/biomass) on Feb (reflecting growth in planting year), was not significantly affected by cultivar or weed management. In Jan. 2012, primocane DW (growth in 2011) was greater in Marion than Black Diamond. Also, weedy Control plots had the least primocane growth Aboveground biomass by cultivar February 2012 Black Diamond Marion Weed management 2012 Aboveground biomass by weed management February 2012 Control Hand weed Weed mat Weed management

19 Percent (%) Primocane (leaf & cane) nutrients in winter 2011 There were no significant effects of cultivar or weed management on macronutrients N, P, & K For macronutrients N, P, and K, canes from Control or weedy plots had a lower %N, P, and K relative to hand weed and weed mat plots (P=0.04, <.0001, =0.002 respectively) Percent of macronutrients by weed management in primocanes Nitrogen Potassium Phosphorus Control Hand weed Weed mat Weed management

20 2011 Primocane leaf tissue nutrients, collected 18 Aug Macronutrients (%) Micronutrients (ppm) N P K Mg Ca S B Fe Mn Cu Zn Al Cultivar Black Diamond Marion Weed management Control 2.2 b 0.2 c 1.4 b c a 8.5 c 26.5 c 52.9 Hand weed 2.9 a 0.3 b 1.6 a b b 9.4 b 30.6 b 71.8 Weed mat 3.0 a 0.3 a 1.6 a a b 10.6 a 34.9 a 38.4 Significance Cultivar (C ) <.0001 <.0001 <.0001 <.0001 <.0001 <.0001 <.0001 NS NS < NS Weed management (W) <.0001 <.0001 <.0001 NS NS <.0001 NS NS <.0001 <.0001 <.0001 NS CxW NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS 2012 Primocane leaf tissue nutrients, collected 31 July 2012 Macronutrients (%) Off year On year Micronutrients (ppm) N P K Mg Ca S B Fe Mn Cu Zn Al Cultivar Black Diamond Marion Weed management Control 2.2 b c b b Hand weed 2.3 ab b a a Weed mat 2.4 a a b b Significance Cultivar (C ) <.0001 <.0001 < <.0001 <.0001 < <.0001 <.0001 <.0001 Weed management (W) 0.02 NS NS NS NS 0.00 NS 0.00 NS NS NS 0.00 CxW NS NS NS NS NS NS NS 0.03 NS NS NS NS z Mean separation (in columns) by LSD test at P 0.05 (lowercase letters) NS Non significant

21 Floricane leaf sampling 2012

22 Nitrogen (%) Floricane leaf tissue nutrient concentration Floricane leaves from weedy Control plots had a lower %N than in either Hand weed or Weed mat plots Floricane leaves collected 7 July 2012, at first black fruit. Floricane leaf tissue Nitrogen 2.0 Note floricane leaves from Control plots appeared yellow Control Hand weed Weed mat Weed management

23 Harvest 2012

24 Yield (kg/plant) Yield (kg/plant) 2012 Machine-harvested yield by cultivar Cultivar Yield (kg/ha) Black Diamond 13,333 (6 tons/a) Marion 11,555 (5 tons/a) 2012 Mean plant yield by date Mean plant yield by Cultivar Black Diamond Marion Cultivar Black Diamond Marion Jun 5-Jul 10-Jul 15-Jul 20-Jul 25-Jul 30-Jul 4-Aug Date

25 Weed management effects on yield

26 Yield (kg/plant) Yield (kg/plant) 2012 Yield by weed management Weed management Control (weedy) Hand weed Weed mat Mean plant yield by weed management Yield (kg/ha) 8,000 (3.6 tons/a) 13,333 (6 tons/a) 16,000 (7.1 tons/a) Weed mat Hand weed Control 5-Jul 9-Jul 12-Jul 16-Jul 19-Jul 23-Jul 26-Jul 30-Jul Date Mean yield by weed management Control Hand weed Weed mat Cultivar

27 Black Diamond Marion

28 Average berry weight (g) Average berry weight (g) Berry weight Black Diamond berry weight was greater than that of Marion on every harvest date Average berry weight by cultivar 2012 Black Diamond 30-Jun 5-Jul 10-Jul 15-Jul 20-Jul 25-Jul 30-Jul 4-Aug Date Marion Plants in the weedy control had less berry weight on every harvest than in weed mat Average berry weight by weed management 2012 Weed mat Hand weed Control 5-Jul 9-Jul 12-Jul 16-Jul 19-Jul 23-Jul 26-Jul 30-Jul Date

29 B (ppm) Ca (%) Berry Nutrient Concentration Black Diamond berries had a lower %Ca than Marion berries (P<.0001). Similarly, Black Diamond primocane leaves had lower %Ca than Marion in 2011 and 2012 (P<.0001 and respectively) Berry calcium concentration Black Diamond Cultivar Marion Black Diamond berries had higher %B than Marion berries (P=0.002). Conversely, Black Diamond primocane leaves and floricane leaves had lower %B than in Marion in 2012 (P<.0001) Berry boron concentration Black Diamond Marion Cultivar

30 Removal of macronutrients in harvested fruit Berry macronutrient removal (July 2012) z, y Macronutrient removal (kg/ha) N P K Mg Ca Cultivar Black Diamond Marion Weed management Control 12.6 c 2.7 c 13.3 c 1.4 c 2.6 c Hand weed 17.8 b 3.7 b 19.5 b 2.0 b 3.7 b Weed mat 25.2 a 4.7 a 25.2 a 2.7 a 5.0 a Significance Cultivar (C) NS NS NS NS Weed management (W) <.0001 CxW NS NS NS NS 0.01 z Mean separation (in columns) by LSD test at P 0.05 (lowercase letters) NS Non Significant y Total dry yield per plot divided by number of plants per plot multiplied by average berry nutrients for each plot

31 2012 Mean floricane yield components, collected Aug Length (m) No. nodes Per Floricane Bud break (%) No. Yield fruit/latera(kg/plant Cull l ) (g/plant) Berry weight (g) Soluble solid conc. (%) Berry moisture (%) Cultivar Black Diamond Marion Weed management Control c 29.1 b 4.9 b 12.4 a 84.3 b Hand weed b 31.5 b 5.4 a 11.7 b 85.7 a Weed mat a 35.2 a 5.5 a 11.7 b 85.8 a Significance Cultivar (C ) ns <.0001 <.0001 <.0001 < Weed management (W) ns ns ns ns <.0001 <.0001 <.0001 < CxW ns ns ns ns ns ns ns ns ns z Mean separation (in columns) by LSD test at P 0.05 (lowercase letters) NS Non significant Berries from weedy Control plots had less moisture and higher soluble solids ( Brix) than berries from either Weed mat or Hand weed plots.

32 Dry weight (kg/plant) Floricane biomass (DW) at caning out Floricanes in weedy Control plots had less DW at caning out than those in Hand weed and Weed mat plots (P<0.0001) Aboveground floricane biomass by weed management August 2012 c b Control Hand weed Weed mat Weed management a In 2012, nutrient concentration in floricanes was not significantly affected by weed management.

33 July 3, 2012 Control Hand weed Weed mat

34 Above-ground N gain & removal Cultivar Primocanes (25 Jan. 2012) g N/plant gained Fruit harvested (July 2012) g N/plant removed Floricane removal (9 Aug. 2012) g N/plant removed Primocanes (winter 2013) TOTAL N gained (to date)* TOTAL N removed 2012 g N/plant gained lb N/a lb N/a Black Diamond ? 29.7* 46.2 Marion ? 29.2* 52.1 Data collected February 2012, July 2012, and August Fruit + from caning out During spring 2011 and 2012, plants fertilized with 50 lb N/a * Primocanes will be sampled in winter 2013 to determine total nutrient gain & removal for 2012

35 Above-ground N gain & removal Weed management Primocanes (25 Jan. 2012) g N/plant gained Fruit harvested (July 2012) g N/plant removed Floricane removal (9 Aug. 2012) g N/plant removed Primocanes (winter 2013) TOTAL N gained (to date) TOTAL N removed 2012 g N/plant gained lb N/a lb N/a Control ? 20.0* 31.1 Hand weed ? 28.7* 50.8 Weed mat ? 39.4* 65.4 Data collected February 2012, July 2012, and August Fruit + from caning out During spring 2011 and 2012, plants fertilized with 50 lb N/a * Primocanes will be sampled in winter 2013 to determine total nutrient gain & removal for 2012

36 Temperature ( C) Temperature ( C) Temperature, Average hourly air temperature: 4 September 2011 Average air temperature Hour Average Hourly Soil Temperature: 4 September 2011 Hand Weed Control Weed Mat No effect of weed management on soil temperature There was a trend for higher daytime soil temperature in the Control (weedy) treatment Hour

37 Ca (ppm) NH4 -N (ppm) Soil nutrients, 2011, end of off-year Weed mat plots had higher soil ammonium-n than Control or Hand weed plots (P=0.0084) Weed mat plots had higher soil Ca than Control and Hand weed plots (P=0.0047) ,200 1,100 1, Ammonium-N concentration in the soil by weed management Control Hand-weed Weed mat Weed management 2011 Calcium concentration in the soil by weed management Control Hand-weed Weed mat Weed management

38 Temperature ( C) Temperature ( C) Hour Temperature, Average hourly air temperature: 4 September 2012 Average air temperature Control and Hand weed plots had higher soil temperature than Weed mat plots (P=<0.0001). Hour Average hourly soil temperature: 4 September Hand Weed Control Weed Mat

39 K (ppm) Soil nutrients, 2012, end of on-year Weed mat plots had higher soil K than Control and Hand weed plots (P=0.0002) Potassium concentrations in the soil by weed management Control Hand-weed Weed mat Weed management

40 Mg (ppm) Mn (ppm) Trends observed in soil, Magnesium was significantly greater in Weed mat plots in 2011 and 2012 (P= and 0.03 respectively). Manganese was significantly greater in Weed mat plots in 2011 and 2012 (P=<.0001 and respectively). Magnesium concentrations in the soil by weed management in 2011 & Control Hand-weed Weed mat Weed management Manganese concentrations in the soil by weed management in 2011 & Control Hand-weed Weed mat Weed management

41 ph (1:1 soil:water) NO3-N (ppm) Trends observed in soil, ph tended to increase under Weed mat from 2011 to Nitrate-N tended to decrease in all plots from 2011 to soil ph by weed management soil nitrate-n by weed management Control Hand-weed Weed mat Weed management Control Hand-weed Weed mat Weed management

42 Conclusions Black Diamond had larger berries and a greater yield than Marion. Primocane and floricane DW of Black Diamond was less than that of Marion Black Diamond required less total N than Marion Marion Black Diamond Black Diamond plants appear to be more nutrient efficient than Marion plants.

43 Conclusions cont. Plants in weedy, Control plots had fewer and longer primocanes with a lower nutrient concentration In 2012, floricane nutrient concentrations were not significantly affected by weed management treatments In 2012, floricane DW was least and yield the lowest in weedy Control plots Berry weight was less and fruit had a lower % moisture in weedy control plots

44 Conclusions cont. Weed mat plots had the greatest aboveground primocane and floricane DW in 2012 Weed mat plots had the highest yield in 2012 Nitrogen removal in Weed mat plots was highest NH 4 -N, Ca, K, S, Mg, and Mn, concentrations in the soil were all greatest in Weed mat plots

45 On-going work Impacts of post-harvest irrigation and training time evaluated in 2013 (now EY) Adjust fertility rates Monitor nutrient accumulation & losses Nov. 8, 2012

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