Topic
Organic farming
About: Organic farming is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 7254 publications have been published within this topic receiving 138030 citations. The topic is also known as: pertanian organik & organic farming.
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TL;DR: Most of the environmental impacts of organic farming were related to N fluxes within agroecosystems, which is a call for the better management of N fertilizer in regions or countries with low levels of N-use efficiency.
67 citations
TL;DR: It is concluded that much current research does not provide evidence that predatory arthropods suppress target lepidopteran pest populations and, consequently, that it has little relevance to pest management.
Abstract: Most people agree that arthropod natural enemies are good for insect pest management in agriculture. However, the population suppressive effects of predators, which consume their prey and often leave no direct evidence of their activity, are more difficult to study than the effects of parasitoids, which can be sampled from host populations relatively easily. We critically reviewed field studies which investigated the relationship between lepidopteran pests and their associated predatory fauna, published in 11 leading entomology and applied ecology journals between 2003 and 2008. Each study was appraised to determine whether or not it demonstrated that predators had an impact on prey (pest) populations and, if so, whether it was conducted at an ecological scale relevant to pest management. Less than half (43%) of the 54 field studies adopted methodologies that allowed the impact of predators on target pest populations to be measured. Furthermore, 76% of the studies were conducted at the scale of experimental plots rather than at the ecological scale which determines pest and predator population dynamics or at which pest-management decisions are made. In almost one-third of the studies, predator abundance and/or diversity was measured, but this metric was not linked with pest suppression or mortality. We conclude that much current research does not provide evidence that predatory arthropods suppress target lepidopteran pest populations and, consequently, that it has little relevance to pest management. Well-designed ecological experiments combined with recent advances in molecular techniques to identify predator diets and the emergence of organic agriculture provide both the mechanisms and a platform upon which many predator-prey interactions can be investigated at a scale relevant to pest management. However, benefits will only be reaped from this opportunity if current approaches to research are changed and relevant ecological data are collected at appropriate ecological scales.
67 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors assesses farmer understanding of soil fertility enhancement processes that organic coffee producers use as a basis for decision-making and experimentation, such as knowledge of leaf litter decomposition, composting, soil biology, and biological nitrogen fixation.
67 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the impact of organic certification on the adoption of agro-ecological practices such as organic fertilizers, organic pest and weed control, crop rotation, and soil and water conservation is examined.
67 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, environmental hotspots of organic soybeans produced in China and imported to Denmark were identified in a case study using a life cycle assessment approach, and environmental impacts of organic and conventional soybeans at farm gate were compared in the case study.
67 citations