Mineral and Organic Additives Combination as a Modern Technique for Maximizing Crop Productivity in Organic Farming Systems

Recently ecological intensification is introduced as a modern approach for enhancing the productivity of organic farming systems to maximize their economic returns. For this purpose, a pot experiment was conducted during the autumn season of 2018 at the Experimental and Agricultural Research Center, Mansoura University in order to evaluate the efficiency and applicability potential of engineered organic blocks derived from mineral and organic additive combination for improving cucumber productivity under sandy soil conditions. In a split-split plot design with three replicates, 36 treatments were arranged to represent three combinations of compost application (i.e. 100% compost, 75% compost + 25% rice straw and 50% compost + 50% rice straw), organic additives (control, seaweed (SW), chicken manure (CM), and seaweed + chicken manure combination) and three mineral additives (control, natural mineral ores (rock phosphate and feldspar) and a partial dose of NPK fertilizers. The obtained results cleared that 100% compost, (SW) + (CM) combination and the partial mineral NPK application were the superior treatments for increasing marketable yield productivity (Mg
Fed^-1), quality of fruits shape (weight, length and diameter) as well as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) concentrations in fruits. The mutual interaction among mineral and organic constitutions of the engineered blocks introduced mineral ores application as an efficient treatment with a high capability to improve the uptake of plant nutrients (N and P in particular). It is recommended, therefore, using the combination of organic additives (e.g. CM, SW) as well as mineral additives (e.g. rock phosphate, feldspar or partial dose of NPK) to achieve the ecological intensification in organic farming systems.