• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.41-48
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• 2021

This study aimed to develop an alternative organic fertilizer to castor oil cake-based fertilizers. To assess the nutrient effect of the developed fermented mixed organic fertilizers, the yield of lettuce and soil characteristics after growth were analyzed and compared to those of a trial using a mixed expeller cake fertilizer. Two fermented mixed organic fertilizers, FA and FB, each containing 5.0% nitrogen, 2.6% phosphate, and 1.4% potassium, were produced by mixing different ratios of rice bran, dried distillers grains, sesame oil meal, and fish meal. This study was conducted with six trials: untreated, mixed expeller cake fertilizer, and the fermented mixed organic fertilizers FA and FB. Based on the amount of nitrogen fertilization (70 kg ha^-1) on the lettuce, the fermented mixed organic fertilizers FA and FB were applied at 100% and 150%, respectively, and the mixed oil cake was applied at 100%. As the amount of treatment increased, there was no significant difference except the number of leaves in FA treatment. The yields from the FA100 and FB100 treatments were 38.2 and 40.8 Mg ha^-1, respectively, which was not significantly different from that of the mixed expeller cake fertilizer treatment at 38.3 Mg ha^-1. In addition, the nitrogen uptake and utilization efficiency of the lettuce were not significantly different between mixed expeller cake fertilizer and fermented mixed organic fertilizer treatments. Analysis of the chemical properties of the soil after the trial showed that he mixed expeller cake fertilizer treatment showed the lowest pH. There were no significant differences in electrical conductivity, content of soil organic matter, available phosphate, and exchangeable cation among the fertilizer treatments. However, the bacterial and actinomyces density was higher in the soil from the fertilizer trials than in the non-fertilizer trials. These results indicated that the two tested fermented mixed organic fertilizers had nourishing effects and soil characteristics that were similar to those of the mixed expeller cake fertilizer. Thus, farmers can use these fermented mixed organic fertilizers as alternatives to castor oil cakes for the cultivation of organic lettuce.