As hortas da área metropolitana de Lisboa: caracterização e fertilidade dos solos

• Author(s): Howorth, António Roman Navarro Stott
• Date: 2011
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/4204
• Origin: Repositório da UTL
• Subject(s): urban agriculture; urban gardens; sustainable urban development; Lisbon urban soils; soil fertility
• Document Type: Master Thesis
• Language: Portuguese
• Advisor(s): Fangueiro, David Paulo; Vasconcelos, Ernesto Pestana

Description

Mestrado em Engenharia Agronómica - Instituto Superior de Agronomia The main goal of the present work was to characterize and assess the fertility of Lisbon urban garden´s soils. So, inquiries were made about the main features of the urban gardens and about the producers. Several soil samples were collected from four different sites of the city. After the treatment of the soil samples, the different fertility parameters were analyzed. It was found that the different soils have similar fertility. They presented: concentration values of organic matter higher than 23,58 g/kg soil; average levels of Ca2+ : Mg2+ ratio of 20,14 that can cause magnesium deficiencies in plants; concentrations of available phosphorus and potassium in soil higher than 523,38 mg/kg soil and 275,22 mg/kg respectively. The values of the potential organic nitrogen mineralization certain show a good cycling of organic nitrogen in soil. Despite this similarity in fertility some variations between the different areas were observed. These variations are the result of different cultivation methods used, the agricultural experience of each producer and the main goals that each producer has in this activity. In summary, this study allows urban gardeners to know the state of their soils fertility in order to optimize the future productions, using the best management agricultural practices.