Effects of Cultivars and Tillage Treatment on the Growth of Organic Vegetable Production and Soil Carbon Storage

Abstract

Comparison of the growth of organic cherry tomatoes, eggplants, bell peppers, and watermelons with each two cultivar types were done in between the tillage and no-tillage fields. Commercial cultivar and cultivar for nature farming were adopted in the research field. The research was conducted in Center for International Field Agriculture Research & Education, Ibaraki University from April to October 2018. Yields of cherry tomatoes, eggplants, bell peppers, and watermelons showed higher in the tillage plots than in the no-tillage plots. Eggplants and watermelons showed considerable yield differences between the tillage and no-tillage treatments, but cherry tomatoes showed relatively a small difference between the tillage treatments. The yield of eggplants showed higher in the cultivar for nature farming compared with the commercial cultivar. Soil carbon and soil nitrogen were higher in the no-tillage plot at the surface layer compare with the tillage plot. This result suggests that no-tillage with grass mulch was a promising candidate for a sustainable agricultural management method because this system maintains and improves soil carbon. However further improvement of yield responses will be required to maximize the agriculture productivity in organic no-tillage conditions.