No abstract

Agricultural intensification over the last 40 years has increased cereal yields, but there is very limited information on the effects of intensification practices (e.g., nondiverse rotations, mineral NPK fertilizer, and pesticides) on crop health and quality. Results from the study reported here suggest that the use of mineral NPK fertilizers reduces phenolic acid and flavonoid concentrations in leaves and increases the susceptibility of wheat to lodging and powdery mildew, when compared to composted FYM inputs. In contrast, the use of herbicides, fungicides, and growth regulators reduces lodging and foliar disease severity but had no effect on phenolic acid and flavonoid concentrations. The use of composted FYM inputs also resulted in a significant grain yield reduction and not substantially reduced the severity of opportunistic pathogens such as Septoria, which remain a major yield limiting factor unless fungicides are used and/or more Septoria resistant varieties become available.

The effects of organic versus conventional crop management practices (crop rotation, crop protection, and fertility management strategies) on wheat yields and grain metal (Al, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) concentrations were investigated in a long-term field trial. The interactions between crop management practices and the season that the crop was grown were investigated using univariate and redundancy analysis approaches. Grain yields were highest where conventional fertility management and crop protection practices were used, but growing wheat after a previous crop of grass/clover was shown to partially compensate for yield reductions due to the use of organic fertility management. All metals except for Pb were significantly affected by crop management practices and the year that the wheat was grown. Grain Cd and Cu levels were higher on average when conventional fertility management practices were used. Al and Cu were higher on average when conventional crop protection practices were used. The results demonstrate that there is potential to manage metal concentrations in the diet by adopting specific crop management practices shown to affect crop uptake of metals.

No abstract

The effect of different