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.

Soil microbial biomass and activity in organic tomato farming systems: Effects of organic inputs and straw mulching.

Abstract: Organic farming is rapidly expanding worldwide. Plant growth in organic systems greatly depends on the functions performed by soil microbes, particularly in nutrient supply. However, the linkages between soil microbes and nutrient availability in organically managed soils are not well understood. We conducted a long-term field experiment to examine microbial biomass and activity, and nutrient availability under four management regimes with different organic inputs. The experiment was initiated in 1997 by employing different practices of organic farming in a coastal sandy soil in Clinton, NC, USA. Organic practices were designed by applying organic substrates with different C and N availability, either in the presence or absence of wheat–straw mulch. The organic substrates used included composted cotton gin trash (CGT), animal manure (AM) and rye/vetch green manure (RV). A commercial synthetic fertilizer (SF) was used as a conventional control. Results obtained in both 2001 and 2002 showed that microbial biomass and microbial activity were generally higher in organically than conventionally managed soils with CGT being most effective. The CGT additions increased soil microbial biomass C and activity by 103–151% and 88–170% over a period of two years, respectively, leading to a 182–285% increase in potentially mineralizable N, compared to the SF control. Straw mulching further enhanced microbial biomass, activity, and potential N availability by 42, 64, and 30%, respectively, relative to non-mulched soils, likely via improving C and water availability for soil microbes. The findings that microbial properties and N availability for plants differed under different organic input regimes suggest the need for effective residue managements in organic tomato farming systems.

Biomass Production and Carbon/Nitrogen Ratio Influence Ecosystem Services from Cover Crop Mixtures

Abstract: 39 Ecosystem services are the benefi ts ecosystems off er to humans such as providing food and energy, regulating water quality, and supporting nutrient cycling (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). Increasing ecosystem services from agriculture is essential to meeting the needs of a growing global population while mitigating environmental degradation (Foley et al., 2011). One potential strategy to augment services from row crops is to increase plant diversity (Robertson et al., 2014). For example, diverse crop rotations can increase key services such as yield and water quality improvement (Tonitto et al., 2006; Smith et al., 2008). Although spatial diversity through intercropping also has the potential to increase services (Vandermeer, 1989), applications of this strategy for row crops may have limited feasibility due to management constraints and possible impacts on yield. Cover crops, which are grown during otherwise fallow periods of a crop rotation, may present opportunities to increase both temporal and spatial plant diversity and, consequently, increase ecosystem services in agronomic systems. In this paper, we measure ecosystem services associated with multi-species cover crop mixtures in a corn (Zea mays L.)-small grain rotation and identify cover crop characteristics that infl uence service provision. Cover crops are increasingly recognized as a critical piece of sustainable agronomic production based on their ability to enhance farm productivity while reducing environmental risks (Snapp et al., 2005; Schipanski et al., 2014). Multi-species cover crop mixtures have been proposed as a strategy to augment services from cover crops, in part due to expected increases in biomass production from mixtures (Creamer et al., 1997; Smith et al., 2014). Expectations of higher productivity are based on extensive research in natural ecosystems demonstrating that increasing plant diversity leads to greater primary production (Hooper et al., 2005; Cardinale et al., 2011). Whether this relationship holds for cover cropping systems is largely unexplored, and there are important contrasts between agronomic and natural systems that may limit the eff ects of diversity on cover crop productivity. Cover crops are annual species grown for a short time period, while the natural systems in which the diversity productivity relationship has been studied include perennial species and consider productivity over several years (Tilman et al., 2006; Marquard et al., 2009). While cover crop bicultures (Ranells and Organic Agriculture & Agroecology

Benefits of organic farming to biodiversity vary among taxa.

Abstract: Habitat and biodiversity differences between matched pairs of organic and non-organic farms containing cereal crops in lowland England were assessed by a large-scale study of plants, invertebrates, birds and bats. Habitat extent, composition and management on organic farms was likely to favour higher levels of biodiversity and indeed organic farms tended to support higher numbers of species and overall abundance across most taxa. However, the magnitude of the response varied; plants showed larger and more consistent responses than other taxa. Variation in response across taxa may be partly a consequence of the small size and isolated context of many organic farms. Extension of organic farming could contribute to the restoration of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes.