scholarly journals Using Digestate and Biochar as Fertilizers to Improve Processing Tomato Production Sustainability

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Domenico Ronga ◽  
Federica Caradonia ◽  
Mario Parisi ◽  
Guido Bezzi ◽  
Bruno Parisi ◽  
...  

The principal goal of the organic farming system (OFS) is to develop enterprises that are sustainable and harmonious with the environment. Unfortunately, the OFS yields fewer products per land than the non-organic farming system in many agricultural products. The objective of our study was to assess the effects of digestate and biochar fertilizers on yield and fruit quality of processing tomato produced under the OFS. The experiment was carried out in Po Valley, during the 2017 and 2018 growing seasons. Liquid digestate (LD), LD + biochar (LD + BC) and pelleted digestate (PD) were evaluated and compared to biochar (BC) application and unfertilized control. The results showed that plants fertilized with LD + BC recorded the maximum marketable yield (72 t ha−1), followed by BC (67 t ha−1), PD (64 t ha−1) and LD (59 t ha−1); while the lowest production (47 t ha−1) was recorded in unfertilized plants. Over the two cropping seasons, LD + BC, BC, PD, and LD, increased fruit number per plant (+15%), fruit weight (+24%), Brix t ha−1 (+41%) and reduced Bostwick index (−16%), if compared to the untreated control. Considering the overall agronomic performances, digestate and biochar can be useful options for increasing yield and quality of processing tomato production in the OFS. Hence, these fertilizers can be assessed in future research both on other crops and farming systems.

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (95) ◽  
pp. 78-81
Author(s):  
L.I. Shkarivska

The changes of the soil’s humus soil within the rural areas are investigated for the organic farming system. The most significant impact of organic agriculture on humus content over 55% was observed on soddy podzolic soils (V>75%), the lowest –7,5% on typical chernozem (V≈16%). Changes in the qualitative composition of humus for the introduction of various types of organic substrates are analyzed.


Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 209
Author(s):  
Maria Raimondo ◽  
Francesco Caracciolo ◽  
Concetta Nazzaro ◽  
Giuseppe Marotta

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-132
Author(s):  
Yuriansyah Yuriansyah ◽  
Dulbari Dulbari ◽  
Hery Sutrisno ◽  
Arief Maksum

Excessive use of inorganic chemicals results in adverse impacts on land and plants. In the midst of the community, there is anxiety about the high content of pesticide residues in agricultural products. There is a need to develop alternative farming systems that are able to produce quantities and quality of healthy products in a sustainable manner. One agricultural system that supports the concept is the organic farming system. The basic principles of organic farming are: (1) Keeping the ecosystem healthy, (2) Applying the principle of efficiency to the cultivation system, (3) Conducting production activities with the concept of sustainable agriculture, (4) Producing pesticide-free products, and (6) Maintaining environmental sustainability. Food Crop Production Study Program Lampung State Polytechnic makes Organic Agriculture as one of the leading competencies for its graduates. The establishment of the Organic Agriculture Business Unit on campus will increase student competencies, foster entrepreneurship, be a place for competency internships, and as an independent source of income.


2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (No. 11) ◽  
pp. 503-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Lustigová ◽  
P. Kušková

This text aims to introduce the results of the ecological footprint (EF) calculations in the system of organic agriculture (OA). The EF is an alternative indicator of the human activity impact on the environment. It is not calculated in monetary units but in hectares as an area needed for resourcing certain production or activity. OA is an agricultural system which respects natural cycles in ecosystems. It is based on old traditions and nowadays, with regard to environmental degradation, comes again forward. The text contains as well the results of some other researches studying mainly energy consumption in agriculture, which is further converted into the EF. The results, however, need to be compared very carefully, since the procedures of calculations as well as the organic farming rules in various countries or particular farms conditions and quality of input data of the mentioned studies may significantly differ. The authors cite them mainly because of illustrative reasons.  


Author(s):  
R. Chethan ◽  
R.K. K. Patil ◽  
B. Halappa

A study was carried out to know the response of organic, integrated and conventional farming systems on the diversity of soil meso and macro arthropod populations in the cotton inter cropped with groundnut and pigeonpea at MARS, UAS, Dharwad during kharif -2015-16. The organic farming system has recorded highest meso and macro arthropod population of 21.35 per 100 g of soil and 42.00 per pitfall trap respectively. Cotton intercropped with groundnut has recorded higher population of meso and macro arthropods (15.50 /100 g of soil and 41.26/ pitfall trap, respectively). The seasonal abundance of soil arthropods was high in October (25.89/100g of soil) and least in December (5.78/ 100g of soil) months. The diversity of soil arthropod populations assessed on the Shannon’s index of below ground arthropod populations recorded was highest in organic farming (0.61) and least in conventional farming (0.51) system. Hence, the organic farming system increases abundance and diversity of soil organisms and soil fertility, and it adds large amounts of organic residue inputs, which in turn increases the biological activity in soil.


el–Hayah ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tien Tien

<p>The application of organic farming on rice farming in Indonesia is still new to  know. The farming interested if efficiency economics. The meaning efficiency economics if the technical   efficiency. This research aimed to evaluate the performance of organic rice farming systems, focusing on: (1) identifying the range of application of organic farming on rice farming, (2) analyzing the productivity and income from applying organic  farming, and (3)  analyzing  the technical   efficiency of  applying  organic  farming  and identifying factors that influence it.<br />The study was conducted in Malang Regency with take sample Sumber Ngepoh village, Lawang, Malang. This village is purposively taken because this is only a village in East Java which has obtained a certificate as a producer of organic rice from Organic Certification Agency. Furthermore, farmers did not interested application of organic farming. The sample of farmers 120  respondents selected by using non-proportionate stratified random sampling among those applying organic rice farming. The data are anal<br />The results at the study stage show that there was diversity between implementing organic and agricultural organic farming system. This diversity reached only 8,33 percent application of organic rice farming of the total land area, while the rest was still in the transitional stage of applying organic system. The application of organic rice farming must independently be able to increase production and income of the farmer. <br />Judging from the level of technical efficiency, the application of organic rice farming is generally quite high, above the value of TE (technical efficiency) 0.8, while applying an independent organic farming has higher technical efficiency than others. Determinant of technical efficiency is the practice of Sekolah Lapang  or Field School and the independence of farmers in affording resources locally.</p><p>Keywords: Technical efficiency, independence of rice farming  system, Organic  farming applications.<br /><br /></p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 306 ◽  
pp. 02014
Author(s):  
Ikhsan Fuady ◽  
Mardianah ◽  
MA Syifaa Sutarjo

The green revolution program during the New Order era has left various agricultural problems. Organic agriculture as the antithesis of agricultural development paradigm has long been echoed. However, the intention of farmers to do organic farming is still relatively limited. Many factors influence farmers’ behavior intention, one of which is the perception of agriculture towards the organic farming system. This study aims to describe farmers’ perceptions and intention in organic farming in North Maluku Province, using the UTAUT1 (Venkatest 2003) theoretical framework from venkatest. This study was designed as a quantitative study with a survey approach. The population of this study was vegetable farmers in North Maluku province. The sample of this study was 120 farmers spread across the city of Ternate and Tidore. This research data analysis used descriptive statistics. The results showed that the farmers’ perceptions about organic agricultural cultivation were generally categorized as quite good / moderate. Only 1 indicator of a high perspective, namely farmers’ perceptions of performance expectations or farmers believe that organic farming systems can improve their farming with a value of 3.38 ± 0.6. The intention or intention of farmers to do organic farming is relatively diverse. As many as 36.7 percent have a strong desire, but 33.3 percent have a low intention.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aitana Ares ◽  
Joana Costa ◽  
Carolina Joaquim ◽  
Duarte Pintado ◽  
Daniela Santos ◽  
...  

Maize is one of the most important crops worldwide and is the number one arable crop in Portugal. A transition from the conventional farming system to organic agriculture requires optimization of cultivars and management, the interaction of plant–soil rhizosphere microbiota being pivotal. The objectives of this study were to unravel the effect of population genotype and farming system on microbial communities in the rhizosphere of maize. Rhizosphere soil samples of two open-pollinated maize populations (“SinPre” and “Pigarro”) cultivated under conventional and organic farming systems were taken during flowering and analyzed by next-generation sequencing (NGS). Phenological data were collected from the replicated field trial. A total of 266 fungi and 317 bacteria genera were identified in “SinPre” and “Pigarro” populations, of which 186 (69.9%) and 277 (87.4%) were shared among them. The microbiota of “Pigarro” showed a significant higher (P &lt; 0.05) average abundance than the microbiota of “SinPre.” The farming system had a statistically significant impact (P &lt; 0.05) on the soil rhizosphere microbiota, and several fungal and bacterial taxa were found to be farming system-specific. The rhizosphere microbiota diversity in the organic farming system was higher than that in the conventional system for both varieties. The presence of arbuscular mycorrhizae (Glomeromycota) was mainly detected in the microbiota of the “SinPre” population under the organic farming systems and very rare under conventional systems. A detailed metagenome function prediction was performed. At the fungal level, pathotroph–saprotroph and pathotroph–symbiotroph lifestyles were modified by the farming system. For bacterial microbiota, the main functions altered by the farming system were membrane transport, transcription, translation, cell motility, and signal transduction. This study allowed identifying groups of microorganisms known for their role as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and with the capacity to improve crop tolerance for stress conditions, allowing to minimize the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Arbuscular mycorrhizae (phyla Glomeromycota) were among the most important functional groups in the fungal microbiota and Achromobacter, Burkholderia, Erwinia, Lysinibacillus, Paenibacillus, Pseudomonas, and Stenotrophomonas in the bacterial microbiota. In this perspective, the potential role of these microorganisms will be explored in future research.


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