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Organic Pepper Production Systems Using Compost and Cover Crops

ABSTRACT In a national survey and through statewide focus groups, organic farmers identified pest management and soil fertility as their most critical vegetable research needs. In response, a long- term experiment was established to compare pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) growth, productivity, insect populations, harvest cullage and postharvest weight loss under conventional and organic management. Treatments from the first 3 years (1998 to 2000) consisted of combinations of two synthetic fertilizer and three compost-based certified organic soil amendments. In addition to the compost treatments, effects of a cover crop of hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) and rye (Secale cereale L.) were evaluated in the organic system from 1999 onward. Pepper growth, harvest weight and marketable fruit numbers were similar in conventional and organic production systems from 1998 to 2000 when 112 kg ha−1 N was applied through synthetic fertilizer or compost. Zone-tillage or incorporation of cover crops prior to planting resulted in pepper weights equivalent to compost treatments in 1999, but in zone-tilled plots in 2000, pepper growth was significantly reduced. Corn borer [Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner)] larval populations were similar in both systems, with beneficial insect populations greater in the organic system in 1999 only. The number of culled peppers due to insect or disease damage was similar in conventional and organic systems in 1998 and 1999, but greater in the synthetic fertilizer plots in 2000. Postharvest weight loss was similar in the compost (112 kg ha−1 N) and synthetic fertilizer treatments in 1999 and 2000 after three to nine weeks in 10°C storage.