Organic Agriculture 3.0 is innovation with research Tập 7 Số 3 - Trang 169-197 - 2017
Gerold Rahmann, Mohammad Reza Ardakani, Paolo Bàrberi, Herwart Boehm, Stefano Canali, Mahesh Chander, Wahyudi David, Lucas Dengel, J. W. Erisman, Ana C. Galvis-Martinez, Ulrich Hamm, Johannes Kahl, Ulrich Köpke, Stefan Kühne, S. B. Lee, Anne-Kristin Løes, Jan Hendrik Moos, Daniel Neuhof, Jaakko Nuutila, Victor Olowe, Rainer Oppermann, Ewa Rembiałkowska, Jim Riddle, Ilse A. Rasmussen, Jessica Shade, Sang Mok Sohn, Mekuria Tadesse, Sonam Tashi, Alan Thatcher, Nazim Uddin, Peter von Fragstein und Niemsdorff, Atle Wibe, Maria Wivstad, Wenliang Wu, Raffaele Zanoli
Managing nutrient in organic farming system: reliance on livestock production for nutrient management of arable farmland Tập 3 - Trang 183-199 - 2014
Damien Foissy, Jean-François Vian, Christophe David
Organic agriculture is a production system which relies on ecosystem management and ecological processes rather than on the external flow of agricultural inputs. The development of the organic sector has induced a spatial decoupling of livestock and crop production. This has increased the flow of nutrients that occurs between farms compared to what happens within individual farms. Organic systems have replaced synthetic inputs with site-specific management practices to balance input and output nutrients to ensure short-term productivity and long-term sustainability. This paper addresses the nutrient management of mixed and specialized farming systems, with a special emphasis on the reliance on livestock production for the nutrient management of arable farmland. We assessed the nutrient budgets of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) of 28 organic farms selected according to livestock density from three French counties. The farms were classified as stockless, mixed, and cattle farming systems. A soil surface nutrient budget was calculated for each farm based on inputs (N fixation, excreta, and manure) and outputs (grazing offtake, harvests) on annual crops and grasslands. Inputs due to N atmospheric deposition and seeds and losses due to leaching and volatilization were not considered in this study. Nutrient budgets of the 28 farms revealed N, P, and K deficits, although disparities between farming systems and their geographical location were also observed. Stockless farms presented high N deficit whereas mixed and livestock farming systems presented lower deficits (close to equilibrium) or even surpluses in a county with a high density of livestock farms. Differences between farming systems in terms of P and K budgets followed the same trend, but regional specificities appeared significant in stockless and livestock systems (related to the size of farms and the stocking rate). None of the farms purchased off-farm organic fertilizers when exchanges of manures and straw were observed at the regional scale. When livestock is present on the farm, the nutrient resources came mainly from recycling internal resources (manures, excreta, and N fixation), whereas stockless farming systems purchased organic manure from neighboring farms (14 to 58 % of total N inputs, 10 to 100 % of total P and K inputs). The sustainability of stockless organic farming systems is questioned, noticeably those that were located in regions where resources of organic matter are scarce. Only farming systems producing large quantities of manure or which purchased feed showed balanced nutrient budgets.
To what extent does organic farming promote species richness and abundance in temperate climates? A review - 2021
Karin Stein-Bachinger, Frank Gottwald, Almut Haub, Elisabeth Schmidt
AbstractThe loss of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes has been dramatic over the past few decades with negative trends persisting. Organic farming has received widespread recognition in the scientific and politic fields for its environmental benefits, although the proportion of land cultivated organically is still small and the extent to which organic farming contributes to the promotion of biodiversity is viewed controversially. We present a critical, quantitative review of 98 mainly peer-reviewed papers selected from 801 studies in temperate climate zones published over the period 1990–2017. We quantified differences in the species richness and abundance of selected flora and fauna groups. In total, 474 pairwise comparisons that compared organic and conventional farming systems were considered. Overall, organic farming showed higher species richness or abundance in 58% of the pairs. No differences were found for 38%, 4% indicated negative effects from organic farming. The average (median) species numbers of flora on arable land were 95% higher under organic management as well as 61% higher for seedbank and 21% higher for field margin vegetation. For field birds, the species richness was 35%, and the abundance was 24% higher in organic farming; for insects, the corresponding values are 22% and 36% and for spiders 15% and 55%. Our study underlines that organic farming can play an effective role in acting against the loss of biodiversity. Future research should focus on the combined effects of landscape structures and organic farming, the effect of large-scale organic farming, as well as on the correlation of species diversity and production parameters. To meet the systems’ representativeness, even more strict selection criteria need to be applied in further analysis.
