scholarly journals PROBLEMS AND PERSPECTIVES IN ORGANIC CULTIVATION OF CEREALS – OVERVIEW

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (2/2021) ◽  
pp. 66-75
Author(s):  
Milen Chanev
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Organic Farming ◽  
Crop Rotation ◽  
Soil Structure ◽  
Genetically Modified Organisms ◽  
Plant Production ◽  
Organic Farms ◽  
Conventional Agriculture ◽  
Important Place ◽  
Biological Management

In this study, an overview is made and a comparative analysis of articles, reports and materials dealing with organic farming of LWC, in the period 1970 to 2021 is performed. After analysing the literature, the following conclusions are made: Cereals occupy a particularly important place in organic farming, the main advantages of their cultivation are easy farming techniques, relatively easy mechanical weed control, disease control through rational crop rotation, opportunities for biological control of major pests. The soils in organic farming are better structured than those in conventional agriculture. Organic farming practices are related to improving soil properties, including the addition of organic matter to the soil, increasing the population of earthworms, biodiversity, soil fertility and more. Biological management provides a more stable soil structure. The larger pores observed in biological management have a beneficial effect on the physical properties of the soil, such as water flow and water capacity. The greater porosity of the soil provides a good habitat for soil microorganisms. Organic farming contributes to creating a better soil structure. Organic farming systems have traditionally been based on crop rotation. The aim of organic farming is to achieve a balance between crops that reduce soil fertility and crops that restore fertility. Crop rotation is the main tool that integrates the maintenance and development of soil fertility with various aspects of plant production in biological systems. Specialised selection programmes for creating varieties suitable for organic farming are too few due to the small number of users and high costs. The most common practise includes testing the suitability of conventional varieties in biological conditions, propagation and distribution of the best in the biological sector. Sowing norms directly control the sowing density, as well as the nutrient area of each plant. Changing sowing rates is also an excellent method for controlling weeding in biological fields. Concerning yields from organic and conventional agriculture, organic farms are less productive than conventional ones and their productivity is lower. But if environmental variables are taken into account, organic farms show the same or higher efficiency. A major problem facing organic farming in the future is the protection of fields from pollution by genetically modified organisms. An option for protecting biological fields is to maintain a buffer zone between the farm and the neighbouring conventional fields to prevent accidental contamination with GMOs.

scholarly journals Financial health of agricultural enterprises in the organic farming sector

2011 ◽  
Vol 59 (7) ◽  
pp. 91-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivana Brožová
Keyword(s):  
Organic Farming ◽  
Financial Indicators ◽  
Financial Health ◽  
Organic Farms ◽  
Conventional Agriculture ◽  
Agricultural Enterprises ◽  
Average Value ◽  
Organic Farm ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Legal Entities

The present research was aimed at evaluating the economic performance of organic farm enterprises (legal entities) in the Czech Republic on the basis of their production base and financial health. The evaluation was carried out by means of specific financial indicators. The results recorded in the organic farming sector were confronted with those of the conventional agriculture. It stemmed from the analysis that conventionally farming legal entities, as opposed to the organically farming ones, tend to have higher average assets per hectare of farmland. Secondly, as for the structure of assets, fixed assets prevail substantially over current assets. Organic farms, on the contrary, have a significantly higher average value of external financial resources per hectare of farmland. In order to evaluate the financial health of organic farms, their economic results were used; firstly in absolute value (including per hectare calculation) and then within the individual ratios. The analysis showed that 84.4 % farms of the sample were profitable as long as subsidies were included in the yields. While excluding subsidies from the calculations, an overwhelming majority of enterprises (95.3 %) recorded a loss. Comparing the per hectare economic results, higher average profit rates were recorded for organic farms. Furthermore, financial health of the enterprises was analyzed by means of selected indicator ratios. Concrete results, including the respective commentaries, can be found in the present paper too.

scholarly journals Effect of contrasting crop rotation systems on soil chemical, biochemical properties and plant root growth in organic farming: first results

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elga Monaci ◽  
Serena Polverigiani ◽  
Davide Neri ◽  
Michele Bianchelli ◽  
Rodolfo Santilocchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Root System ◽  
Organic Farming ◽  
Crop Rotation ◽  
Plant Root ◽  
Biochemical Properties ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Plant Root System

Organic farming is claimed to improve soil fertility. Nonetheless, among organic practices, net C-inputs may largely vary in amount and composition and produce different soil conditions for microbial activity and plant-root system adaptation and development. In this study, we hypothesised that, in the regime of organic agriculture, soil chemical and biochemical properties can substantially differ under contrasting crop rotation systems and produce conditions of soil fertility to which the plant responds through diverse growth and production. The impact of 13 years of Alfalfa-Crop rotation (P-C) and Annual Crop rotation (A-C) was evaluated on the build up of soil organic carbon (SOC), active (light fraction organic matter, LFOM; water soluble organic carbon, WSOC) and humic fraction (fulvic acids carbon, FAC; humic acids carbon, HAC), soil biochemical properties (microbial biomass carbon, MBC; basal respiration, dBR; alkaline phosphatase AmP; arylsulfatase ArS; orto-diphenoloxidase, o-DPO) and the amount of available macro-nutrients (N, P, and S) at two different soil depths (0-10 cm and 10-30 cm) before and after cultivation of wheat. We also studied the response of root morphology, physiology and yield of the plant-root system of wheat. Results showed that the level of soil fertility and plant-root system behaviour substantially differed under the two crop rotation systems investigated here. We observed high efficiency of the P-C soil in the build up of soil organic carbon, as it was 2.9 times higher than that measured in the A-C soil. With the exception of o-DPO, P-C soil always showed a higher level of AmP and ArS activity and an initial lower amount of available P and S. The P-C soil showed higher rootability and promoted thinner roots and higher root density. In the P-C soil conditions, the photosynthesis and yield of durum wheat were also favoured. Finally, cultivation of wheat caused an overall depletion of the accrued fertility of soil, mainly evident in the P-C soil, which maintained a residual higher level of all the chemical and biochemical properties tested.

scholarly journals Organic vs. organic – soil arthropods as bioindicators of ecological sustainability in greenhouse system experiment under Mediterranean conditions

2017 ◽  
Vol 108 (5) ◽  
pp. 625-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzana Madzaric ◽  
F.G. Ceglie ◽  
L. Depalo ◽  
L. Al Bitar ◽  
G. Mimiola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Organic Farming ◽  
Crop Rotation ◽  
Cover Crops ◽  
Organic Liquid ◽  
Organic Production ◽  
Ecological Sustainability ◽  
Soil Arthropods ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Soil Arthropod

AbstractOrganic greenhouse (OGH) production is characterized by different systems and agricultural practices with diverse environmental impact. Soil arthropods are widely used as bioindicators of ecological sustainability in open field studies, while there is a lack of research on organic production for protected systems. This study assessed the soil arthropod abundance and diversity over a 2-year crop rotation in three systems of OGH production in the Mediterranean. The systems under assessment differed in soil fertility management: SUBST – a simplified system of organic production, based on an input substitution approach (use of guano and organic liquid fertilizers), AGROCOM – soil fertility mainly based on compost application and agroecological services crops (ASC) cultivation (tailored use of cover crops) as part of crop rotation, and AGROMAN – animal manure and ASC cultivation as part of crop rotation. Monitoring of soil fauna was performed by using pitfall traps and seven taxa were considered: Carabidae, Staphylinidae, Araneae, Opiliones, Isopoda, Myriapoda, and Collembola. Results demonstrated high potential of ASC cultivation as a technique for beneficial soil arthropod conservation in OGH conditions. SUBST system was dominated by Collembola in all crops, while AGROMAN and AGROCOM had more balanced relative abundance of Isopoda, Staphylinidae, and Aranea. Opiliones and Myriapoda were more affected by season, while Carabidae were poorly represented in the whole monitoring period. Despite the fact that all three production systems are in accordance with the European Union regulation on organic farming, findings of this study displayed significant differences among them and confirmed the suitability of soil arthropods as bioindicators in protected systems of organic farming.

scholarly journals Technical efficiency and its determinants for Czech livestock farms

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (No. 4) ◽  
pp. 175-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimír Kostlivý ◽  
Zuzana Fuksová
Keyword(s):  
Organic Farming ◽  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Analysis ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Organic Farms ◽  
Conventional Agriculture ◽  
Frontier Analysis ◽  
Conventional Farms ◽  
Farm Accountancy Data Network

Organic farming has become an important part of Czech agriculture. The aim of this study is an evaluation of the technical efficiency of Czech organic farms and determining the main factors, including subsidies, which affect the technical efficiency of both conventional and organic farms. The Farm Accountancy Data Network Czech Republic (FADN CR) database provides sufficient panel data for this kind of research focusing on types of farming with livestock production. The methodological tool used to achieve the aim of this paper is the parametric stochastic frontier analysis, “True” Random Effects model, supposing farms heterogeneity and time variant determinants of inefficiency. The results of the research verified differences in the technical efficiency of organic and conventional agriculture related both to the different farming methods and to the production conditions. The type of farming and the economic size of farms influence the farms’ profitability, economic performance and comparability with conventional farms. The technical efficiency of organic farming is growing over the long term. Farms with growing technical efficiency show a decline in the proportion of operating subsidies to production, irrespective of their classification in quartiles by the technical efficiency estimate.

scholarly journals Selected Properties of Soils for Long-Term Use in Organic Farming

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 2509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin Niemiec ◽  
Maciej Chowaniak ◽  
Jakub Sikora ◽  
Anna Szeląg-Sikora ◽  
Zofia Gródek-Szostak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Organic Farming ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Animal Production ◽  
Mineral Nitrogen ◽  
Plant Production ◽  
Available Phosphorus ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Organic Farms

The goal of organic farming with respect to plant production is to create high-quality products while minimizing human impacts. The aim of this paper was to assess soil properties in selected organic farms in terms of the achievement of general and specific objectives of organic farming. Fifty five (55) organic farms were selected for the research; twenty five (25) of those farms additionally had conventional animal production with cattle breeding. Soil samples were collected from each farm and, the following parameters, deciding about the suitability for agriculture were determined: pH, content of organic carbon, available phosphorus and potassium, mineral nitrogen, and Total nitrogen content. The content of available phosphorus and mineral nitrogen was very low or low in most of the studied soils, which can lead to disturbance of homeostasis of agroecosystems. Potassium content in these soils was high. The properties of the studied soils indicate a high risk of chemical and biological degradation. Without implementing actions that control the pH and increase the content of nitrogen and phosphorus elements, the degradation will increase. Soil properties in the group of farms with animal production were more beneficial from the point of view of crop production, compared with farms that do not breed animals.

APPLICATION OF THE INTENSIVE CROP GROWING TECHNOLOGIES IN CROP ROTATION IS THE STABILITY CONDITION OF THE HUMUS CONTENT OF SOIL

1970 ◽  
pp. 52-56
Author(s):  
V. А. Shchedrin
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Crop Rotation ◽  
Humus Content ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Investment Project ◽  
Crop Rotations ◽  
High Productivity ◽  
Labile Phosphorus

In OOO “Dubovitskoe” which was organized in 2006 as investment project of the AO “Shchelkovo Agrokhim” for 2010 – 2012 three advanced crop rotations have been developed. Before their introduction the grain crops fraction in the cropping system was 62%, then it fell to 49%. At the same time the portion of raw crops increased from 15 to 20%, legumes from 6 to 8%, others (buckwheat, grain maize, etc.) - up to 23%. As of 2017, the crops of leguminous crops have increased noteworthily. There are two predominant soil types here heavy clay loam podzolized chernozem (6615 ha) and grey forest soil (856 ha). Weighted average indicators (as of 2017): humus content in the soils of arable land is 5, 34%; acidity pH is 4.92; labile phosphorus - 111.8 mg / kg soil; exchange potassium - 144 mg / kg soil. The coefficient of the soil fertility in the enterprise (weighted average) is 0.66. This means that maintaining and increasing the soil fertility for arable land of the enterprise is critical task. As a result of the research, it has been established that the technologies introduced in the crop vegetation management (CVS) in the crop rotation conditions ensure high productivity of cultivated crops and stability of humus content in soils as an energy basis and a guarantor of increasing fertility. The indicators of the labile phosphorus Р205 and exchange potassium К20 in the soils depending on the crop rotation vary from a certain decrease to expressed steady growth. Therefore it is necessary to specify seeding rates based on actual data. Sustainable soil acidification in the crop rotations under crop cultivation in OOO “Dubovitskoe” it is the result of the acid feterlizers high rates application, during studying period did not carried out required agromelioration with calcium contenting elements.

FERTILIZATION SYSTEM AS A WAY OF SOIL FERTILITY AND STABILIZATION OF FIELD CROP ROTATION PRODUCTIVENESS

1970 ◽  
pp. 38-41
Author(s):  
V. T. Sinegovskaya ◽  
E. T. Naumchenko
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Crop Rotation ◽  
C:N Ratio ◽  
Mineral Fertilizer ◽  
Organic Fertilizers ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Rotation System ◽  
Mobile Phosphorus ◽  
Crop Rotation System ◽  
Fertilizer System

The article presents the results of comparative evaluation of the efficiency of the long-term application of mineral and organic fertilizers in the crop rotation system. It was found that the application of the mineral fertilizer system increased the value of hydrolytic acidity of the soil from 4,30 to 5,29 mg-eq per 100 g of soil, the indicator of metabolic acidity decreased from 5,2 to 4,9 pH units. By the end of the 11th rotation for both fertilizer systems, the content of mobile phosphorus increased by more than 4 times relative to the initial value, its mobility indicator – by 2,2-3,2 times compared with the control. The use of the organo-mineral system was accompanied by an increase in the content of humus by 0,35 % and a decrease in the C:N ratio from 11,2 to 8,9. The increased productivity of wheat was revealed when applying nitrogen and nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizers against the background of prolonged use of the mineral and organo-mineral fertilizer system. The change in wheat productivity by 56 % depended on the content of mineral nitrogen, mobile phosphorus, humus in the topsoil, and on the phosphate ion mobility. Soybean productivity depended on soil fertility indicators only by 24 %: the relationship between soybean productivity and the mineral forms of nitrogen and phosphorus is weak and direct, between productivity and P2O5 mobility - weak and inverse, with humus - moderate and direct.

Formation of crop rotation as a means of preventing degradation аnd improving soil fertility of the Carpathian region

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (95) ◽  
pp. 20-25
Author(s):  
O.J. Kachmar ◽  
O.V. Vavrynovych ◽  
O.L. Dubytsky ◽  
A.O. Dubytska ◽  
M.M. Shcherba
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Crop Rotation ◽  
Crop Rotations ◽  
Agricultural Crops ◽  
Carpathian Region ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
Rotational Crop

Scientific and methodological approaches to the formation of zonal ecologically safe crop rotations as a basic subsystem of farming in the formation of high, stable productivity of agricultural crops are substantiated, while ensuring the reproduction of soil fertility, increasing the efficiency of fertilizer systems and environmental protection. Various rotational crop rotations for introduction in the conditions of the Carpathian region in farms of different specialization and intensity of production are proposed.

Perspective of using fusariosis resistant varieties of lupines in organic farming

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (94) ◽  
pp. 45-50
Author(s):  
M.S. Korniychuk ◽  
N.V. Tkachenko
Keyword(s):  
Organic Farming ◽  
Crop Rotation ◽  
Crude Protein ◽  
Organic Production ◽  
High Protein ◽  
Mineral Fertilizers ◽  
Resistant Varieties ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
Digestible Protein ◽  
Protein Feed

The expediency of fusarium resistant lupines usage in organic farming for improving soil fertility and producing high protein feed for livestock is justified in this article. Organic production excludes the use of mineral fertilizers and pesticides. In these circumstances, increases the value of cultures that positively affect the fertility of soils and their phytosanitary status. These crops include annual fodder lupine (yellow, white and angustifolia), especially varieties that are resistant to disease. Having the highest nitrogen-fixing ability among annual legume crops, lupins, depending on the type and conditions of cultivation, can accumulate from 80 to 300 kg/ha of environmentally pure symbiotic nitrogen in biomass. Plowing the green mass (30-45 t/ha) is equivalent to the corresponding amount of manure or introduction of 5-7 t/ha of ammonium nitrate. 30 kg/ha of phosphorus and 50 kg/ha of potassium are entering the soil with plant remains. Therefore, lupine provides itself with nutrients and still leaves up to 150 kg/ha of nitrogen in the soil after harvesting for subsequent crops in crop rotation. In organic production, fusariosis resistant varieties of lupines are also interesting as a source of high protein feeds for livestock. They are building up to 60 t/ha of biomass, which contains more than one ton of digestible protein. In grain of the fodder varieties contains 40-52% of crude protein, 5.5-6.0% of fat, 10-12% of sugar. The characteristic of fusarium resistant varieties of lupins (yellow, white and angustifolia), created in the NSC "Institute of Agriculture NAAS" and included in the Register of Plant Varieties of Ukraine is presented in this article. These varieties are practically not affected by fusariosis under the production conditions and do not require the use of fungicides during the growing season. They can be grown in crop rotation with a return period of 2-3 years, whereas for unstable it took 6-7 years. Because of the inability to use in organic farming fungicide to prevent crop losses from anthracnose, it is necessary to use predominantly angustifolia lupine varieties, which are now more tolerant to this disease, prevent sowing of infected seeds and adhere to crop rotation. Fusarium-resistant varieties of lupins are suitable for cultivation in poucous and sown crops, and in mixtures with other crops.

scholarly journals Organic Farming Increases the Technical Efficiency of Olive Farms in Italy

Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 209
Author(s):  
Maria Raimondo ◽  
Francesco Caracciolo ◽  
Concetta Nazzaro ◽  
Giuseppe Marotta
Keyword(s):  
Organic Farming ◽  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Farming System ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Conventional Agriculture ◽  
Direct Sales ◽  
Organic Farming System ◽  
The Impact

While there is growing recognition of the positive role played by organic farming in the reduction of the negative externalities due to conventional agriculture, there is uncertainty about the effect of the latter on the economic performance of the farms. In this scenario, the present paper aims at investigating the effect of organic farming on technical efficiency in Italian olive farms. A cross-section dataset was analyzed through the stochastic frontier function, where the adoption of organic farming was explicitly modeled. Then, to obtain an unbiased estimate of the impact of organic farming on technical efficiency, a propensity score matching method was implemented. The findings reveal that organic farming increases technical efficiency in Italian olive farms by approximately 10%. The highest impact of organic farming is observed in small farms. As for the propensity to become organic, we found that the production and the direct sales of a higher quality of gross marketable output, as well as the intensity of labor and machines, increase the probability to adopt organic farming. Conversely, farm localization, the availability of family labor, and financial capital discourage conversion to the organic farming system.

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