Nutrient management for fruit and vegetable crop production: Using manure and compost as nutrient sources for vegetable crops

Abstract

Manure and compost not only supply many nutrients for crop production, but they are also valuable sources of organic matter. Increasing soil organic matter improves soil structure, increases the water-holding capacity of coarse-textured sandy soils, improves drainage in fine-textured clay soils, provides a source of slow release nutrients, reduces wind and water erosion, and promotes growth of earthworms and other beneficial soil organisms. Most vegetable crops return small amounts of crop residue to the soil, so manure, compost, and other organic amendments help maintain soil organic matter levels. This discussion addresses differences between the composition of fresh and composted manure, nutrient availability from manure and compost, and calculation of how much manure or compost to apply. Although focused on manure or composted manure, much of the discussion and the methods for calculating rates are generally applicable to effective use of different types of compost, biosolids, and similar organic nutrient sources.