scholarly journals Effect of organic farming on insect diversity

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 96-101
Author(s):  
T. Grabovska ◽  
V. Lavrov ◽  
O. Rozputnii

The paper focuses on the insect community as a "link" between ecosystem producers, secondary consumers and decomposers and the mobile and informative indicator of structure, biological stability and productivity. Consortium and other subsystems of agricultural ecosystems are mainly destroyed annually as a result of technological measures - chemical, mechanical, biological. External ecological factors, including the structure of the agrolandscape, in particular field protective forest shelter belts and ecotones between them, also have a certain influence. The research was conducted in organic agrolandscape (Kyiv region, Ukraine), comparing it with the conventional one. Insects were collected in winter wheat fields, ecotones and adjacent forest shelterbelts. The number of orders, families and individuals is greater under organic farming. The highest number of families and individuals was recorded in the forest shelterbelts adjacent to the organic landscape (26.3 and 111.7, respectively). The number of individuals in organic winter wheat fields was twice as large as in conventional fields and amounted to 85.3 individuals on average; the number of families was by 1.8 times larger. Biodiversity indices (Shannon, Menhinick, Margalef, Berger-Parker, and Pielou) confirm the greater diversity of insects in the organic fields of winter wheat. The Sørensen similarity coefficient was higher in the organic fields and forest shelterbelts near the conventional fields (Cs=0.7), which is explained by the largest number of phytophages in these ecosystems. The share of predators and parasites that control pests in the agricultural system was highest in organic ecotones and forest shelterbelts - 26.21% and 33.12% (against 10.24 and 18.16% in conventional, respectively).

2021 ◽  
pp. 188-197
Author(s):  
T. Grabovska ◽  
M. Jelínek ◽  
V. Shevchenko

Coccinellidae perform the function of biological control of pests in nature, they eat aphids and other insects, which is important in organic agriculture. The aim of the work was to establish the distribution and species composition of the family Coccinellidae in the organic agro-landscape. The research was conducted at the Skvyra research station of organic production (Kyiv region, Ukraine). Insects were collected by entomological mowing with a net in four stages of plant development. The organic agro-landscape included crops of buckwheat, oats, soybeans and winter wheat. Data from neighbor conventional soybean and winter wheat ecosystems were used for comparison. The agroecosystems of these crops, which included felds, ecotones ”feld – feld protective forest shelter belt”, feld protective forest shelter belts, were studied. The study identifed 10 species of the family Coccinellidae, the number of species ranged from 1 to 89/100 waves, the largest in the ecosystem of organic winter wheat. H. axiridis belonged to the recedents and was found in fve agroecosystems in the amount of 1-7 individuals / 100 waves. The most common species were C. septempunctata, T. sedecimpunctata and larvae of Coccinellidae, which were eudominant in the organic agro-landscape. Species Vibidia sp. was found only in organic agroecosystems of buckwheat and oats. The variety of ladybugs in organic winter wheat was higher than in conventional. Organic soybeans, in contrast, had less variety of Coccinellidae than conventional soybeans, as confrmed by cluster analysis. Species richness in crop ecosystems ranged from 3 to 8 in different study periods. High correlations of insect numbers were found between felds, ecotones and forest shelter belts, as well as between neighbor ecotones and neighbor forest belts, which indicates the migration of insects between these areas. Thus, the diversity and prevalence of Coccinellidae in the organic agro-landscape, compared to the traditional one, has been established. Key words: ladybugs, organic farming, agrolandscape, agroecosystem, crops, species.


2021 ◽  
Vol 273 ◽  
pp. 08110
Author(s):  
Maria Rodina

Today forestry in Russia is going through one of the most difficult periods in its history, which has resulted in decades of extensive wasteful land use. So, change of climate can bring desertification of some territories and various forms of degradation (desertification) cover about 60 percent of the land in the Rostov region, and the rest is potentially dangerous in this regard. The reasons are anthropogenic impact, drought, erosion, deflation. Despite the fact that in recent years Russia has been developing forestry legislation and has taken a course towards the development of sustainable growth and "green" one, the regions are taking measures aimed at protecting lands from degradation and preserving soil fertility, soil-destructive processes and desertification are increasing many times over. An inventory of forest resources in Russia was carried out in 2019 and it showed that the forest cover in Russia tends to decrease, and on the territory of the Rostov region, forest inventory was carried out in 2006, only 40% of all forests were taken into account - about 240 thousand hectares of protective forest plantations, from of them 125.8 thousand hectares are shelter belts. It’s imperative to enact urgent measures for reforestation and landscaping of territories and annually reconstruct forest belts and create new ones to improve environmental conditions in regions with low forest cover, otherwise in 10-15 years their mass natural death may occur.


2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-64
Author(s):  
Vitaliy Lavrov ◽  
Nataliia Miroshnyk ◽  
Tatiana Grabovska ◽  
Tatiana Shupova

Abstract The aim of this article is to assess the structure of biodiversity of field protective forest shelter belts to determine the directions of increasing their reclamation and conservation potential in the organic agricultural landscape. Methods of comparative ecology (synecological approach, assessment of α-diversity), forestry, geobotany, ornithology and statistical analysis are used. Changes in species diversity of plants and birds in forest shelter belts around organic fields are characterized. It is established that plantations with developed undergrowth and under-storey are transformed due to the loss of up to 43.5% of trees, liquefaction of the edificatory tier. Transformer species with a wide phytocenotic range predominate in the tree stands. The grass tier is dominated by ruderants (36.5%) and adventive species (24.5%). The share (60%) of species with a mixed life strategy indicates changes in moisture conditions and soil trophism. A 2.4% of shade-loving plants and the presence of 14.7% nitrophils indicate an imbalance in the structure of forest shelter belts. Depletion of species composition, ecological and trophic structure of bird groups testify to the decrease in the capacity of forest shelter belts and their statio diversity, reduction of protective, environment-creating functions and other ecosystem services. In the three-tiered dense forest shelter belts with developed undergrowth and understorey, 10–27 species of birds nest. In general, avifauna is represented by 2 ecological groups (93.1% dendrophiles, 6.9% sclerophiles), divided into 5 types of nesting strategy (with a predominance of hollow-nests 37.0–53.3%), and 5 types of feeding (with a predominance of entomophagous 70.4–90.0%). Twenty-nine species have been identified on nesting, 27 of which are subject to protection at the level of international agreements. There are no adventive species, the index of synanthropization of avifauna is high – 0.85–1.0. For organic technologies to increase the potential of biological protection of fields from entomological pests by attracting insectivorous birds is relevant.


2021 ◽  
Vol 227 ◽  
pp. 02004
Author(s):  
Maftuna Begimova

Forest shelter belts are one of the effective approaches in the fight against wind erosion, improving the microclimate of fields, protecting roads and reservoirs. The problem of assessing forest plantations and prospects for their creation is relevant for many countries of the world, due to the problem of desertification, water and wind erosion, as well as the global food crisis. The carried out analysis of scientific literature has shown that the existing assessments of forest shelter belts with insufficient degree are being taken into account the modern methods of remote sensing.Therefore, the problem of assessing forest shelterbelts from satellite imagery is relevant.The main part and research results. During the summer period of 2019, in the territory of the protective forest plantations of Fergana Valley of the Republic of Uzbekistan there were laid 170 testing plots. Then 20 test sites, which were used as reference for thematic mapping, there were laid with the collection of additional information: location coordinates and bookmark location.The purpose of the study is to assess the area of forest shelter belts zones of the Republic of Uzbekistan using remote sensing.The object of the study is forest shelter belts of Fergana Valley of the Republic of Uzbekistan.


Author(s):  
Tomasz Góral ◽  
Aleksander Łukanowski ◽  
Elzbieta Maluszynska ◽  
Kinga Stuper-Szablewska ◽  
Maciej Buśko ◽  
...  

Growing acreage and changing consumer preferences cause increasing interest in the cereal products originating from organic farming. Lack of results of objective test, however, does not allow drawing conclusions about the effects of cultivation in the organic system and comparison to currently preferred conventional system. Field experiment was conducted in organic and conventional fields. Thirty modern cultivars of winter wheat were sown. They were characterized for disease infection including Fusarium head blight, seed sowing value, the amount of DNA of the six species of Fusarium fungi as well as concentration of ergosterol and trichothecenes in grain. The intensity Fusarium head blight was at a similar level in both systems. However, Fusarium colonization of kernels expressed as ergosterol level or DNA concentration was higher for the organic system. It did not reflect in an increased accumulation of trichothecenes in grain, which was similar in both systems, but sowing value of organically produced seeds was lower. Significant differences between analyzed cropping systems and experimental variants were found. The selection of the individual cultivars for organic growing in terms of resistance to diseases and contamination of grain with Fusarium toxins was possible. Effects of organic growing differ significantly from the conventional and grain obtained such way can be recommended to consumers. There are indications for use of particular cultivars bred for conventional agriculture in the case of organic farming, and the growing organic decreases plant stress resulting from intense fertilization and chemical plant protection.


2021 ◽  
pp. 36-42
Author(s):  
О.А. Оленин ◽  
С.Н. Зудилин

Развитие органического земледелия, в первую очередь, зависит от наличия органических удобрений и биопрепаратов. Цель исследований – на основе утилизации органических отходов и сырья разработать полифункциональные биопрепараты из компонентов животного и растительного происхождения и изучить их влияние на показатели агрофитоценозов и урожайность полевых и садовых культур. В работе использованы результаты исследований по разработке полифункциональных биопрепаратов, а также их эффективности на опытном поле Самарского ГАУ в 2017-2019 гг. В результате была разработана ассортиментная линейка биопрепаратов «АгроТоник» с функциями удобрения и биостимулятора роста: «Цветовод», «Садовод», «Овощевод», «Полевод», «Лесовод» и «Универсальный». «АгроТоник», в отличие от многих органических и минеральных удобрений, содержит все необходимые для растений компоненты: макро-, мезо- и микроэлементы в легкодоступной форме, микроорганизмы, стимуляторы роста – биоактивные фитогормоны, аминокислоты растительного происхождения, витамины, комплекс целлюлозолитических ферментов, почвенные антибиотики, гуминовые вещества, биоприлипатель. Многокомпонентный биопрепарат с функциями удобрения, фунгицида и бактерицида снижал пораженность растений озимой пшеницы на 16,7-27,1 %, по отношению к контролю, и на 17,4-22,6 %, по сравнению с минеральными удобрениями. Биопрепарат повышал урожайность озимой пшеницы на 7,7-25,4 % по сравнению с контролем, тогда как применение пестицида только на 5,3-11,5 %, при стоимости однократно внесенного гербицида в среднем 500,00 руб./га, а биопрепарата – 300,00 руб./га при двукратной обработке. The development of organic farming primarily depends on the availability of organic fertilizers and biological products. The goal of the research is to develop multifunctional biological products from components of animal and plant origin based on the utilization of organic waste and raw materials and to study their impact on the indicators of agrophytocenoses and the yield of field and horticultural crops. The work uses the results of research on the development of multifunctional biological products, as well as their effectiveness in the experimental field of the Samara State Agrarian University in 2017-2019. As a result, the line of "AgroTonik" biological products with the functions of fertilizer and the growth biostimulator was developed: «Tsvetovod», «Sadovod», «Ovoshchevod», «Polevod», «Lesovod» and «Universal'niy». "AgroTonik", unlike many organic and mineral fertilizers, contains all the components necessary for plants: macro -, meso- and microelements in an easily available form, microorganisms, growth stimulators – bioactive phytohormones, amino acids of plant origin, vitamins, a complex of cellulosolytic enzymes, soil antibiotics, humic substances, bio-sticking agent. The multicomponent biological product with the functions of fertilizer, fungicide and bactericide reduced the affection of winter wheat plants by 16.7-27.1 % concerning the control, and by 17.4-22.6 %, in comparison with mineral fertilizers. The biological product increased the yield of winter wheat by 7.7-25.4% compared to the control, while the use of a pesticide only by 5.3-11.5 %, with the cost of a single herbicide on average 500 rubles/ha, and a biological product – 300 rubles/ha with double treatment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Libère Nkurunziza ◽  
Christine A. Watson ◽  
Ingrid Öborn ◽  
Henrik G. Smith ◽  
Göran Bergkvist ◽  
...  

AbstractAgricultural production systems are affected by complex interactions between social and ecological factors, which are often hard to integrate in a common analytical framework. We evaluated differences in crop production among farms by integrating components of several related research disciplines in a single socio-ecological analysis. Specifically, we evaluated spring barley (Hordeum vulgare, L.) performance on 34 farms (organic and conventional) in two agro-ecological zones to unravel the importance of ecological, crop and management factors in the performance of a standard crop. We used Projections to Latent Structures (PLS), a simple but robust analytical tool widely utilized in research disciplines dealing with complex systems (e.g. social sciences and chemometrics), but infrequently in agricultural sciences. We show that barley performance on organic farms was affected by previous management, landscape structure, and soil quality, in contrast to conventional farms where external inputs were the main factors affecting biomass and grain yield. This indicates that more complex management strategies are required in organic than in conventional farming systems. We conclude that the PLS method combining socio-ecological and biophysical factors provides improved understanding of the various interacting factors determining crop performance and can help identify where improvements in the agricultural system are most likely to be effective.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Kleemann

<p>The development of the agricultural sector and the improvement of the food security situation are seen as essential components to sustainable development in Sub-Sahara Africa. However, continuing population growth, impacts of climate change and environmental degradation add to an unprecedented combination of pressures that threaten existing efforts and solutions. This article discusses the relation between the challenges of making agriculture more sustainable and meeting food security needs. Several solutions proposals are discussed and organic farming as one of them is used to develop decision criteria. Due to its involvement of all three dimensions of sustainable development, economic, social and environmental organic farming could be one possible approach to create a more sustainable agricultural system.</p>


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