Long-term fertilization field experiment Darmstadt (Feld E) from 1996 to 2009 - Plot information (Data collection)

Parent table of “Long-term fertilization field experiment Darmstadt (Feld E) from 1996 to 2009”. This data collection consists of 26 individual tables which are related to each other. General description: In organic farms under low yielding site conditions (e.g. sandy soils, dry climate) the size of animal husbandry is frequently restricted by the fact that the site conditions allow for a limited quantity of forage growing only. Some of those farms are even stockless farms. The positive effects of farmyard manure can poorly or not at all be used. Plant based organic fertilizer, e.g. legume biomass or pulse meal, can be an alternative, however, their effects on crop yield and quality and on soil organic matter development has to be carefully studied. This was the objective of the second long-term trial “Field E” in Darmstadt, Germany.
The experiment was set up in 1996, using a randomized block design with six replicates and 5×5 m experimental plots. A 5 m strip was left between the blocks, which was cropped identically to the experimental plot but remained unfertilized.
The experiment consisted of seven treatments: (i) inorganic fertilizers, (ii) plant based organic fertilizer, (iii) plant based organic fertilizer with addition of biodynamic preparations, (iv) cattle farmyard manure, (v) cattle farmyard manure with addition of biodynamic preparations, (vi) high level of cattle farmyard manure, and (vii) high level of cattle farmyard manure with biodynamic preparations.
Further details are given by Heinze et al. (2011).
Heinze, S., Oltmanns, M., Joergensen, R.G.. Raupp, J. (2011): Changes in microbial biomass indices after 10 years of farmyard manure and vegetal fertilizer application to a sandy soil under organic management. Plant Soil 343, 221–234 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0712-8

More information, e.g., database scheme, assorted literature overview, the detailed location plan, etc., can be found in the supplemental material.

Dataset version 1.0