Nitrate Contents in Vegetables Cultivated by Organic Farming in Korea

우리나라 유기농 채소내 질산염 함량의 경시적 추이

After the release of facts that the high nitrate contents in vegetables by Korean organic farming, organic farmers were recommended by Korean Organic Farmer Association to apply 20t/ha compost while they applied before as much as they could, sometimes even more than 100t/ha. This study was aimed to check the safety of Korean organic product in terms of nitrate content. Current nitrate content in leaf and root vegetables by 3 different farming systems(organic farming, conventional farming, greenhouse farming) were monitored and furthermore it was compared with previously published another data in Korea to find out any changes among the monitored years(1993-1999). Current nitrate content in chinese cabbage, lettuce and kale became less compare to those of the beginning of monitoring, and especially those cultivated organic farming got the lowest value while previous organic vegetables at beginning of 90's showed the higher value than those cultivated in greenhouse. This decrease in organic vegetables was affected by less application rate of organic fertilizer than before at 20t/ha. But the nitrate level by organic farming was still higher compare to those cultivated by conventional farming in open field, since currently monitored organic vegetables were cultivated basically in greenhouse condition. It shows the organic farmer the necessity of transfer their farming site and condition from greenhouse to open field in order to decrease of its high level of nitrate caused long-term application and slow release characteristics of organic fertilizer. It was concluded the adoption of soil nitrate test to recommend a organic farmer the exact application rate for need of crop growth. Additionally the mechanism of lower nitrate accumulation in rice and fruit vegetables were also discussed in the paper.