2. Garden of course
Vegetables grown organically or
conventional?
Hypothesis: Organic crops will have a
lower C:N ratio than conventional crops.
Short term- Conventional crops will have
lower C:N ratio
Long term- Organic crops will have a
lower C:N ratio
3. Processes in the Soil
Organic soil/fertilizers
Slow release/uptake of nutrients
Process involved: Decomposition
Example: cow manure
Conventional soil/fertilizer
Fast release/uptake of nutrients
Process involved: nutrients in inorganic form
These fertilizers that contain mostly N, P, K
5. Methods
3 species of plants (LAB) 5 species
(PURCHASED)
2 Treatments: Organic and Conventional
12 pots/species;6 pots/treatment;8
seeds/pot
Soil type depended upon treatment
12 hours light
All plants were watered
Conventional plants received Miracle-Gro
Costech elemental analysis system
Testing for C and N content
6. Results for Lab Grown
p=0.007
High in Carbon Low in Nitrogen (%C/%N*14/12)
*
7. Results for Purchased
*
Spinach ( p=0.011) High N
Kale (p=0.007) High C
Pepper (0.182)
Carrots (p=0.001)
Peas (p=0.060)
*
When comparing C:N ratio; High ratio=High C Low ratio=High N
*
8. Why Care
Essential growth factors when comparing conventional
versus organic and their effects of human, animal health,
and environment.
Cost of conventional
lower amounts of certain essential amino acids such as
lysine = decrease in growth (Worthington, 2011).
decrease in reproductive success and in the longevity
of animal’s life span (Williams 2002).
fertilizers can lead to leaching
Benefits of organic
Slower growth rates increase nutrient content
(Venkateswarlu, 2008).
increase in egg count, lower stillborn rate and lower
parental mortality rate (Magkos et al., 2003).
Used for organic growth detritus, dead plant, animal, or
microbial material (USDA 2012).
9. CONCLUSION
Test results
Varied upon species type and long term
and short term treatment
Where should the garden be on St.
Kate’s?
Depends on the ecosystem services
Benefit is more nutritious food for students
Better Grades!
You are what you eat!
10. REFERENCES
Magkos F, Arvaniti F & Zampelas. 2003. Organic food: nutritious food or food for
thought? A review of the evidence. International Journal of Food Sciences
and Nutrition 54(5): 367-71.
Niklas KJ & Enquist BJ. 2002. On the vegetative biomass partitioning of seed plant
leaves, stems, and roots. The American naturalist 159(5): 482-97.
Reece, JB, Campbell, NA, Cain, ML, Jackson, RB, and Minorsky, PV. 2011.
Campbell Biology, 9th
edition. San Francisco, CA: Pearson Education, Inc.,
publishing as Benjamin Cummings.
[USDA] United States Department of Agriculture. 2012. National Organic Program.
[Accessed 2013 April 18]. Available from:
http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.do?
template=TemplateC&navID=onsumerlinkNOPHomepage&rightNav1=Consu
merlinkNOPHomepage&topNav=&leftNav=&age=NOPConsumers&resultType
=&acct=nopgenino
Venkateswarlu B, Balloli SS & Ramakrishna YS. 2008. Organic farming in rainfed
agriculture: opportunities and constraints. Central Research Institute for Dry
land Agriculture 185.
Williams CM. 2002. Nutritional quality of organic food: shades of grey or shades
of green? Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 61:19-24.
Worthington V. 2001. Nutritional quality of organic versus conventional fruits,
vegetables, and grains. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary
Medicine 7(2): 161-73.
Editor's Notes
SHANNON
Interested in small scale garden for cafeteria on campus
KATE
KATE
Seeds potted in and Bachman’s potting soil (Organic) and Schultz enriched garden soil (Conventional)
pearlite was added to both treatments
KATE
VIET-ANH
Why should we care about whether or not we should use fertilizers? We care because there are consequences that may affect human health, animal health, and of course our environment. What are the consequences for growing crops conventionally? Well, the more fertilizers used, the more N available. In response to high N levels, protein production will increase as well. This results in lower amounts of lysine, which functions in growth. Low growth rates contribute to a lower quality of human and animal nutrition.
Examples of low quality human health would be a decrease in reproductive success. Examples of low quality animal’s life would be a shorter lifespan.
Environmental effects include leaching due to excess fertilizers. Leaching can contribute to many problems, but one more common would be algal bloom. If excess N gets into water stream, algae will take up as many N as possible for growth. As algal bloom occurs, organisms underneath them will not no access to oxygen and sunlight for survival. Other organisms that depend on them will die to due lack of food and the chain will continue.
However with organic crops, the slower growth rate will increase nutrient contents.
For humans, egg and sperm count will increase as well as lifespan.
Finally, organic crops can be used as detritus for a continuous decomposition cycle.
