• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.77-86
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• 2019

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of legume cover crop culture on earthworm fauna in organic farmland. We compared sod culture with two kinds of legume crops of hairy vetch and crimson clover on organic citrus orchard to natural sod culture and conventional orchards in Jeju Island. We analyzed the soil characteristics and investigated the density of earthworms from the orchards. Organic matter content did not show much difference in soil analysis between organic and conventional orchard. But the biomass of earthworms in organic orchards is 3.8 times to 7.0 times higher than that in conventional cultivated orchards, and individuals of earthworms on organic orchards were 2.3~18 times higher than conventional orchards. The biomass of earthworms on hairy vetch and crimson clover cultivation was 44.8 g, 47.2 g in 2016, and 78.7 g, 31.8 g in 2017, respectively, which were higher than 32.8 g and 9.5 g of those on natural sod cultivation. Through this study, we found that hairy vetch and crimson clover cultivation improve the earthworm occurrence density in the soil on organic citrus orchard.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.623-640
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• 2013

Soil organic carbon (SOC) of soil series is necessary to calculate soil C sequestration due to IPCC default categorized by climate regions and by soil types. The 3,400 thousand data were downloaded from agricultural soil information system and analyzed to get averages of soil order, soil series, and textual family for the three different soil management practices in Korea. The SOC content was $13.3{\pm}5.38g\;kg^{-1}$ in paddy field, $13.7{\pm}7.19g\;kg^{-1}$ in upland field, and $15.2{\pm}8.22g\;kg^{-1}$ in orchard soil, respectively. As SOC in orchard was 10% greater than that in upland, orchard must be managed with applying compost. The SOCs of inceptisols, which was largely distributed in Korea, were $13.6{\pm}5.48g\;kg^{-1}$ in paddy field, $14.1{\pm}7.38g\;kg^{-1}$ in upland field, and $15.3{\pm}8.20g\;kg^{-1}$ in orchard soil, respectively. The SOCs of alfisols were $13.6{\pm}4.96g\;kg^{-1}$ in paddy field, $13.7{\pm}6.99g\;kg^{-1}$ in upland field, and $15.6{\pm}8.59g\;kg^{-1}$ in orchard soil, respectively. The SOCs of entisols were $11.7{\pm}5.16g\;kg^{-1}$ in paddy field, $12.8{\pm}7.05g\;kg^{-1}$ in upland field, and $13.7{\pm}7.81g\;kg^{-1}$ in orchard soil, respectively. The SOCs of ultisols were $12.7{\pm}4.79g\;kg^{-1}$ in paddy field, $12.7{\pm}6.22g\;kg^{-1}$ in upland field, and $16.3{\pm}8.49g\;kg^{-1}$ in orchard soil, respectively. The fact that soils containing greater clay content in textual family had also more SOC content revealed that SOC could be also dependent on some soil properties as well as soil order. Because SOC differences among soil series representing same textual family were greater than those among textual family, SOC differences should be mainly affected by management practices such as compost application.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.34-39
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• 1999

In search of a method to achieve sustainable agricultural practices, a trickling filter was employed for the piggery wastewater treatment, where rice straw was the support medium in place of more commonly used materials. The filtrate from the trickling filter were applied to a soil, on which orchard grass (Dactylic glomerata L.) was grown followed by amendment of the treated straw medium. Orchard grass was cut twice, and growth parameters and yields were measured. Soil chemical properties before and after harvesting orchard grass were analyzed. Development of the forage crop was greatly enhanced by the application of the filtrate in terms of fresh weight, dry weight, and the absorption of nutrients. Better growth and higher nutrient uptake were found in the second cutting of the orchard grass. Organic matter content, ionic intensity, exchangeable cations, and phosphate of the soil increased with the application of the filtrate. The relative high concentrations of salts in the piggery trickling filtrate, expressed in electrical conductivity and content of sodium, exerted no detrimental effect on the crop and soil.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.16-23
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• 2011

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to investigate the effects of different organic treatments and a chemical fertilizer on the soil chemical, physical, and microbial properties in an organic pear orchard. METHODS AND RESULTS: Control was referred as a NPK chemical fertilizer (15N-9P-10K) and organic treatments included compost containing with oil cake, compost containing with humic acid, and compost containing with chitin substance. All treatments applied at rates equivalent to 200 g N per tree per year under the tree canopy in March 30 of 2008 and 2009. Soil bulk density, solid phase, liquid phase, and penetration resistance were not significantly different among the treatments. Organic treatment plots had greater organic matter, total nitrogen, potassium, and magnesium concentrations compared to control, and the nutrient concentrations were not consistently affected by the organic treatments. Microbial biomass nitrogen and carbon, dehydrogenase, acid-phosphatase, and chitinase activities overall increased from March to August. Organic treatments, especially compost containing with oil cake or chitin aicd, increased the microbial variables compared to control. CONCLUSION(s): All the organic treatments consistently stimulated soil biological activity. The consistent treatment effect, however, did not occur on the soil mineral nutrition as the trees actively taken up the nutrients during a growing season, which would have diminished treatment effects. Long-term study required for evaluating soil physical properties in a pear orchard.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.463-477
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• 2019

This study was conducted to compare the community structure and biodiversity of epigeic spiders between pear fields cultivated by integrated pest management (IPM) and organic methods. This is the first study of this kind to be conducted in Korea. Eighty-four spider species from 22 families were identified among the collected 2,489 arthropods, with 754 individuals being sampled from IPM fields and 1,735 individuals from organic fields. Generally, Theridiidae, Linyphiidae, Lycosidae, Agelenidae, Gnaphosidae, and Salticidae were the dominant spider families in the pear orchard regardless of the farming methods, and species richness and abundance were higher in organic fields than in IPM fields. The dominant species were the wolf spiders (Lycosidae) and stone spiders (Gnaphosidae), and their cumulative abundance was 70.7% in IPM fields and 72.7% in organic fields. The community structure between organic and IPM fields was heterogeneous, with a 45% similarity level. Biodiversity, species richness, abundance, and species diversity index were higher in organic fields than in IPM fields, and significantly different between the farming methods. Seasonal fluctuations in biodiversity were similar in both IPM and organic fields. The species richness and species diversity index increased and the abundance decreased in the second half of the cultivation period. This study on the community structure and biodiversity of epigeic spiders, which form one of the most important predator groups, will provide principal ecological and faunistic information required to maintain the biodiversity of useful arthropods in agricultural ecosystems and help implement sustainable agriculture based on the active use of natural enemies.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.567-575
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• 2009

Organic pear (Pyrus pyriforia) fruits have remarkably increased in Korea since year 2000 due to increase consumer's demand for the fruit, and the farmers are keep trying to change their cultivation system that is replaced from conventional farming to organic-base farming for the fruit. However, there is little information for the soil properties, tree nutrition, and tree growth at organic orchards in Korea. Therefore, this study was established to investigate for the chemical properties of soils and leaf and bud characteristics of a conventional and organic pear trees in experimental orchards for two years. Commercial (Sanwool, YoungHwa Co., Korea) compost was applied to the orchard soils with conventional farming systems for two years for pear trees (10 to 15 year old trees) in KyungSan, Korea. The compost application increased pH, organic matter content, cation exchange capacity (CEC), and, microbial biomass in the soil. The compost treatment also increased specific leaf weight and foliar $P_2O_5$ concentration as well as leaf and floral bud sizes.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.641-647
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• 2015

This study was conducted to select native ground cover plants for sod culture in an organic apple orchard by estimating the effect of three native ground cover plants, Glechoma hederacea, Thymus magnus, and Ixeris stolonifera, on the soil coverage, time-periodic weed occurrence, fruit characteristics, and soil chemical properties. The plant height of G. hederace, T. magnus and I. stolonifera were 15.0 ㎝, 13.4 ㎝ and 7.2 ㎝, respectively. The dry weight of G. hederace, T. magnus and I. stolonifera were 463 ㎏/10a, 247 ㎏/10a, and 255 ㎏/10a, respectively. The plant height and dry weight of G. hederacea were higher than in the other species. T. magnus and I. stolonifera having relatively lower soil cover rate during their life cycle produced a lot of weeds in the orchard as compared with the control. In contrast, G. hederacea showed 100 percentage of ground cover in the first year, and maintained high percentage of ground cover in the growing season of ‘Tsugaru’ apple for another 2 years. When the soil was covered with G. hederacea in the orchard for 3 years, the amount of weed was only 114 ㎏/10a and number of weeding was also reduced about 33% compared with control as well as the other species. There were no differences in the tree growth and fruit characteristics between the native ground cover plants and the control; however, positive effects of native ground cover plants on soil chemical properties were found. In G. hederacea, available P₂O₄content in soils remarkably increased and was a significant difference among native species. In addition, cation (Ca, Mg and K) content in soils increased by 39% in Ca, 6% in Mg, and 11% in K at G. hederacea compared with control. These results suggest that G. hederacea could be advantageous in terms of reducing the amount of herbicide applied and the labor required for weed control, and controlling soil chemical properties; therefore, it is a good candidate for sod culture in an organic apple orchard.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.530-535
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• 2013

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of slurry composting and biofiltration (SCB) liquid manure application on shoot growth, fruit qualities and soil chemical properties in peach orchard. SCB liquid manure was fertigated ten times from April to October in SCB plot, whereas chemical fertilizer was treated two times as basal and additional fertilizers in control plot. The shoot growth, leaf nitrogen and potassium content, soil exchangeable K, fruit weight and yield were higher in SCB plot than in control. Soluble solid content and acidity, soil organic matter, soil available phosphate and soil exchangeable Mg showed no significant difference between treatments, and the leaf calcium and magnesium content were lower in SCB plot than in control. In conclusion, fertigating SCB liquid manure in peach orchard has positive effects on fruit weight and yield, and it is suggested that periodical soil testing is needed because of the possibility of K accumulation in SCB liquid manure treated soil when the orchard is fertigated based on the soil nitrogen content.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.91-101
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• 2003

This study was tried to examine the efficacy of apples that had grown with agro-chemical alternatives in an apple orchard. The chlorophyll content of apple leaves was a little higher in the plot of Charcoal powder, Chitosan, and Peat moss treatment among the other agro-chemical alternatives. On the contrary, the sugar content of apple fruits was higher in the plot of Amino acids, and Green ion calcium treatment, but there was quite a difference among them. Vitamin C content of apple fruits was high at the cell division period. It became lower at the hypertrophic period and then got higher again at the harvest. Vitamin C content was the highest in the chemical fertilizer plot as well. In an apple orchard where agro-chemical alternatives were used only, the commercial grade of ripened apples had declined by 25％, compared to those in customary cultivation. The commercial grade of ripened apples with agricultural chemicals using fertilizers and pesticides was over 90％ with over 250g of its weight in the plot of Charcoal powder, Amino acids, and Vitamin C treatment. Therefore. we guessed the environment-friendly method of cultivation in an apple orchard shall be established by reducing the usage of agricultural chemicals gradually and increasing the agro-chemical alternatives at the same time.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.567-575
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• 2018

The soil physical quality is a core factor in achieving two of sustainable agriculture's goals: productivity and environment. The purpose of this study was to assess changes in soil physical properties for nearly a decade through periodic monitoring of three cultivation types: upland, orchard, and paddy. Field surveys and lab analysis were conducted to determine the soils physical properties after every 4 years; upland (2009, 2013, and 2017), orchard (2010 and 2014), and paddy (2011 and 2015). In each year soil samples from 162-338 sites were collected. The bulk density of upland subsoil decreased from $1.53Mg\;m^{-3}$ to $1.50Mg\;m^{-3}$ while the plowing depth and subsoil organic matter increased from 13.7 cm to 19.5 cm and from $12.6g\;kg^{-1}$ to $18.3g\;kg^{-1}$ respectively during the period 2009-2017. Plowing depth for orchard increased from 16.7 cm to 18.9 cm. However, organic matter content decreased from $15.9g\;kg^{-1}$ to $15.4g\;kg^{-1}$ during the 2010-2014 period. For paddy, plowing depth and subsoil organic matter decreased from 17.5 cm to 16.7 cm and from $17.5g\;kg^{-1}$ to $15.8g\;kg^{-1}$ respectively. The subsoil bulk density increased from $1.47Mg\;m^{-3}$ to $1.52Mg\;m^{-3}$ from 2011-2015. Excess ratio for soil physical standards increased from 16% to 22% in orchard, 56% to 62% in paddy, and decreased from 41% to 29% in upland. The overall soil physical quality had been ameliorated for upland, but degraded for paddy. Improved tillage practices and application of appropriate organic matter is necessary to enhance the quality of soils, especially in the paddy field.