Reproduction (WCA) on the Soil Lifted Potato Yield 63%
Baryalai Malekzada, Konkuk University, Department of Bioresources and Food Science (student; advisor Prof. Doo Hwan Kim) · Afghanistan
A potato trial at Paju, March to July 2016, grown with natural farming solutions throughout, tested ten ways of giving Reproduction (water-soluble calcium, WCA): on the soil, on the leaves, or both, at three strengths. The strongest soil dose gave the top yield, 40.7 t/ha against 25.03 for no calcium, and the heaviest tubers. Calcium on the leaves alone did little for yield; soil and leaf together built the most foliage.
What they found
How much water-soluble calcium, given on the soil, on the leaves or both, best helps potato yield under Natural Science Farming?
Paju, Korea, March 31 to July 15, 2016. Potato (variety not stated). Completely randomized design, 10 treatments, 4 replications; slide gives 3.03 plants/m², 12.5 m² per plot (spoken as 10.5), 54 seed tubers per plot, planting depth 8 cm. All plots were grown the natural farming way: Microbes (IMO4) on raised beds two weeks before planting; after planting a soil treatment of Medicine (OHN) 1:1000, Food (FPJ) 1:500, Cleanser (BRV) 1:500 and Minerals (seawater) 1:30, then straw cover. Vegetative stage: Fuel (FAA) 1:1000, OHN 1:500, Protectors (LAB) 1:1000, FPJ 1:500, seawater 1:500. Flowering and again before maturation: transition sprays of FPJ, FAA, OHN, LAB, Structure (calcium phosphate, 'Ca P') 1:1000 and BRV. Calcium went on three times: before hilling (250 ml soil / 80 ml leaves per plant), at tuber bulking (300 / 80 ml), at maturation (300 / 120 ml). Statistical test not named; tables carry significance letters.
- T1 Control — No calcium (all other natural farming steps as above).
- T2–T4 Calcium on soil — WCA at 50, 100 and 150 ppm calcium (diluted 1:338, 1:169, 1:113), poured around the plant.
- T5–T7 Calcium on leaves — WCA at 30, 60 and 90 ppm (1:563, 1:281, 1:140), sprayed on the leaves.
- T8–T10 Calcium on soil and leaves — 50+30, 100+60 and 150+90 ppm (soil + leaves).
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Strongest soil dose (T4) gave the top yield: 40.7 t/ha vs 25.03 with no calcium
Table 2: T4 40.7, T10 39.3, T3 36.42, T9 36.28, T7 35.16, T2 34.7 t/ha; foliar-only T5 27.88 and T6 28.57 grouped with the control (letter d). That is about 63% over the no-calcium control.
▶ 13:21 Said and shown on the slides
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Heaviest tubers with T4: 112.42 g vs 77.22 g for the control
Table 2, average tuber weight. Next: T3 110.06, T9 107.41, T10 106.53, T7 105.18 g.
▶ 13:51 Said and shown on the slides
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Most tubers per plant with T10: 12.2 vs 10.7
Table 2. Foliar-only T5 and T6 had the fewest (9.75 and 9.8).
▶ 13:09 Said and shown on the slides
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Highest tuber dry matter with T10 and T4: 7.90 and 7.62 t/ha vs 4.88
Table 3, tuber dry weight per hectare; all other treatments 5.35–6.95.
▶ 15:22 From the slides
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Most foliage with calcium on both soil and leaves
Table 3: foliage dry weight T10 42.24 g/plant, T9 40.25 vs 35.14 control; foliage dry matter T10 13.97% vs 12.63%.
▶ 14:30 Said and shown on the slides
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Medium soil+leaf dose (T9) gave the most leaves and tallest plants
Table 1 at 80 days: T9 78.65 leaves and 43.6 cm vs control 58.2 and 38.9 cm. Stems per plant (2.9–3.55) not affected.
▶ 12:14 Said and shown on the slides
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Soil phosphorus rose from 67 to 642 mg/kg over the season
Table 4, before planting vs after harvest. Other values changed little: pH 6.1 to 6.3, organic matter 18 to 19 g/kg, K 1.02 to 1.09, Ca 4.1 to 4.5, Mg 1.1 to 1.5 cmol/kg, EC 0.4 both. The speaker credits the microbes breaking down and mineralizing soil phosphorus.
▶ 16:12 Said and shown on the slides
- One season, one site, 4 replications; potato variety and statistical test not stated.
- Plot figures do not agree: 54 seed tubers on 12.5 m² is 4.3 per m², not the 3.03 on the slide; the speaker said 10.5 m².
- Calcium was given as volumes of diluted WCA; the ppm values assume a calcium content of the WCA that was not reported.
- The phosphorus claim is weak: one before/after soil test, plots not specified, and the talk said no phosphorus was applied though the transition sprays included calcium phosphate ('Ca P' 1:1000) and IMO4 itself carries nutrients.
- All plots, including the control, got the full set of natural farming solutions, so the trial shows the effect of calcium on top of them, not natural farming against anything else.
- Some spoken rankings differ from the slides (average tuber weight order; which treatment had the highest tuber dry weight).
- In this trial, calcium poured on the soil around potato plants did far more for yield than calcium sprayed on the leaves.
- The best yield came from the strongest soil dose tried (about 1:113 WCA, 250–300 ml per plant, three times in the season); stronger doses were not tested.
- Leaf sprays of calcium alone did not raise yield above the no-calcium plots at the two lower strengths.
Next to Master Cho's teaching
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Goes further
WCA strength and route Cho's WCA is sprayed on leaves at about 1:1000 once fruits enlarge. This trial used 2 to 9 times stronger mixes and also poured them on the soil, and the soil route gave the yield gain.
Cho, Janong Natural Farming (2003), p. 132
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Agrees
Calcium fills the storage organs Cho: calcium moves carbohydrate from leaves to storage organs. Here calcium gave heavier tubers (112 vs 77 g) and more tuber dry matter.
Cho, Janong Natural Farming (2003), p. 85
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Agrees
IMO4 two weeks before planting Cho's recipe: IMO4 soil treatment 7 days before planting, or 14 days where crops have been grown repeatedly.
Cho recipe book (scan), p. 6
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Agrees
OHN recipe The talk's method matches Cho's: angelica, cinnamon and licorice dry and soaked in rice wine, garlic and ginger fresh, equal brown sugar, 3–5 days' fermentation, then distilled liquor, with angelica at two parts.
Cho, Janong Natural Farming (2003), p. 121
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Unclear
Microbes released soil phosphorus Cho teaches that IMO break down inorganic matter into forms plants can absorb. But a tenfold rise from one soil test, in plots that also got calcium phosphate sprays, cannot be laid on the microbes alone.
Cho, Natural Farming Agricultural Materials (Recipe), p. 8
“This treatment is high concentration of calcium just in soil.”
▶ 13:30
“Why? Because of microorganism. Microorganisms have ability of degradation, catalysation and mineralisation of all elements in the soil.”
▶ 16:43
In this talk
- 0:00Intro
- 0:30Why potato
- 1:15Making IMO1 and IMO2
- 1:53Making IMO3 and IMO4
- 3:49Making OHN
- 7:14Trial setup
- 8:00Land preparation
- 8:42The ten calcium treatments
- 9:34Feeding by growth stage
- 11:58Leaves and height
- 12:40Tuber yield and size
- 14:17Dry weight of foliage and tubers
- 15:55Soil phosphorus
- 17:09Summary
Transcript
Transcribed and checked by hand against the recording. Click any time to play from there.
0:00 Good morning everyone. My name is Baryalai Malekzada from Afghanistan. I want to share my experiment with you. The effect of calcium on potato production in natural science farming. Potato is the world's major food crop. It's produced in more than 125 countries, more than 360 million tons in 2012.
1:14 I want to introduce the cultivation and collection of IMO. In the first picture, we can see the collection of IMO. And second, the IMO1, growth on cooked rice. Then we will mix IMO1 1 to 1 ratio with brown sugar. This is the process of cultivation of IMO3. We will mix the IMO2 1 to 1000 ratio in dilution with water, and we will mix it with the rice bran,
2:10 and all the natural farming inputs, as you can see: OHN, FPJ, brown rice vinegar and mineral A. We will add them for better fermentation process. The moisture of the pile should be 65 to 70. And then we will stack it at 40 centimeters in height and cover with straw. The place should have 60% shade and 30% light. Light should be not direct.
2:59 The cultivation of IMO4. Then we mix IMO3 with the soil, 1 to 1. Then we will add all the inputs of natural farming, and the same process as IMO3, 70% moisture. We will cover with straw and we will have 70% shade and 30% sunlight.
3:49 What is oriental herbal nutrient? There are five different herbal nutrient plants. Garlic, ginger, licorice, cinnamon and angelica. We will extract all of these herbs in different processes. First of all, we will grind fresh garlic and ginger, then we will mix same ratio with brown sugar.
4:38 And licorice, cinnamon and angelica, we will use dry. But first we have to soak them in alcohol. Then we will add same amount of sugar for fermentation. This fermentation will take 4 to 5 days. After that, we will fill the jars with alcohol. Then, in the first stage, we have to cover the jars with the porous paper. And for the next stage, we will cover it with plastic.
5:26 We need to seal it, because the alcohol can evaporate. This process will take two weeks. Every day we have to stir with a wooden spoon. And also we can repeat this process four to five times. After that our OHN is ready, as you can see in the photo. Then we can keep separately these all ingredients. When we need we can mix all of them. As you can see, there we have two jars of Angelica.
6:11 It means we need two parts of Angelica and another one. And we can keep it for long time. We should keep in a cold and dry place. When we need, we can mix in this ratio and apply on our plants, or we can use it in the IMO process, and also we can use it in the drinking water of animals. What is fermented plant juice?
6:57 I am going to explain it. Ok. My experiment details. This experiment was conducted in Paju. With 10 treatments, from March to July 2016. Experimental design was CRD with 4 replications, and 3.03 seeds per square meter.
7:42 And each experimental unit area was 10.5 square meters, and 54 tuber seeds were planted per unit, and planting depth 8 cm. The preparation of land. We spread the IMO4 two weeks before planting. After that, we treated the soil with soil treatment and covered it with straw. As I mentioned, you can see in this photo.
8:30 And also, after one week, you can see the growth of IMO on the beds. This is the experiment, the treatment details. First treatment is control, without calcium. Second, I applied calcium in soil, 50 ppm, according to dilution, 1 to 338 times dilution. Third and fourth treatment is also in soil. Then I changed this one to just apply on the leaves in 5 and 6 and 7 treatments.
9:16 And in treatment 8, 9 and 10 I applied calcium in the soil and leaves. I applied the treatment type 2 during the vegetative growth of plant. And hilling and first application of calcium. As you can see, I applied 250 ml of calcium in soil per plant
10:10 and 80 ml on leaves per plant. The transition treatment was applied during the flowering stage of plants. I applied calcium the second time after flowering: 300 ml of water-soluble calcium around the plant in soil and 80 ml per plant on leaves.
10:58 I applied the same transition treatment for second time and increased soil around the plant. And the third calcium treatment was applied during the maturation stage, same in soil and leaves. I increased the calcium volume to 300 ml, or leaves 120 ml per plant.
11:57 Now we will see the results. Effect of calcium on growth of potato. Number of leaves per plant 80 days after planting, and plant height 80 days after planting, and number of stems. Treatment number 9, which is medium concentration of water-soluble calcium in soil and leaves, increased the number of leaves and plant height per plant. And calcium had not any effect on number of stems per plant. The effect of calcium on potato tuber production.
12:56 In this table you can see number of tubers per plant, tuber yield per hectare, and average weight of tubers. Number of tubers per plant was high in treatment 10. Treatment 10 is high concentration of calcium in soil and leaf, on both. And yield, ton per hectare, was high in treatment number 4. This treatment is high concentration of calcium just in soil, followed by treatment number 10 and treatment number 3. 40.7 in treatment number 4: the harvest of 40.7 tons per hectare.
13:51 And average tuber weight also increased in treatment number 4, 112.42 grams each potato, followed by treatment number 10, treatment number 9 and treatment number 3. This is the effect of calcium on dry weight of foliage and tuber. Dry weight of foliage per plant was high in treatment number 9 and 10.
14:39 This treatment is high concentration of calcium in soil and leaves. Because of leaf application, the dryness of foliage was increased. and also dry mass of foliage, concentration of dry matter in foliage was high in treatment number 10, which is high concentration of calcium. And certainly it's due to high concentration on leaves. Because of this, it increases dryness of foliage. And tuber dry weight, ton per hectare, is high in treatment number 7.
15:30 After drying, treatment number 4 has 7.6 tons dry weight of potato per hectare, followed by number 3 and 6. This table will show the effect of natural science farming on soil property. I found out one very interesting thing in this table. As you can see, the first, phosphorus, milligram per kilogram.
16:18 Before planting it was 67 milligrams per kilogram. After harvesting, we could determine in the soil, without applying any phosphorus in the soil, it increased to 642 milligram per kilogram in the soil. Why? Because of microorganism. Microorganisms have ability of degradation, catalysation and mineralisation of all elements in the soil. Because of this, the available phosphorus increased in the soil.
17:09 This is the summary of all my reports which I explained to all of you. Thank you.