Agriculture, Pêche et Aquaculture
 
Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries
New Brunswick's Provincial Flower:  The  Violet  (Viola  cucullata) New Brunswick's Provincial Bird:  The  Chickadee  (Parus  atricapillus)
  Wild Blueberry Response to Nitrogen Fertilizer




Charles Karemangingo1, Michel Melanson2 and Gaëtan Chiasson3

Partner: New Brunswick Wild Blueberry Growers Association

Abstract: This study intends to determine the Blueberry response to nitrogen fertilizer in New Brunswick. The following nitrogen levels were tested: 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100kg N ha-1 in the sprout year (2000) and 0 or 25 kg N ha-1 in the crop year (2001) in mowed or burnt fields located in the southeast and southwest regions of New Brunswick, respectively. A split-plot design and four replicates were used. The N treatments of the sprout year were applied in the main plots while the treatments of the crop year were applied in the sub-plots. A third site located in the northeast region was included in 2001 with the same treatments. In the crop year, blueberries did not significantly respond to nitrogen fertilizer with regards to the yields even if within the same cycle, leaf nitrogen contents, number of shoots and buds were all a function of nitrogen fertilizer rates. Averaged yields of 4,121 and 2,030 kg ha-1 of berries were harvested over all the treatments in the mowed and burnt fields, respectively. The flower set was not influenced by nitrogen fertilizer rates. In the beginning of the crop year, the levels of some micronutrients, like boron and manganese, appeared to have had an important effect on the flower set and blueberry yields.




1Land Development Branch, New Brunswick Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Aquaculture, P.O. Box 6000 Fredericton, NB, E3B 5H1
2Agriculture Development Branch, New Brunswick Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Aquaculture, P.O. Box 6000 Fredericton, NB, E3B 5H1
3Agriculture Development Branch, New Brunswick Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Aquaculture, P.O. Box 3058 Tracadie, NB E1X 1G5

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