Disease and pest management in organic farming: a case for applied agroecology

Finckh, Maria R.; Junge, Stephan; Schmidt, Jan Henrik; Weedon, Odette

doi:10.19103/as.2017.0029.11

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Interestingly, potato yields correlated positively with the numbers of free-living nematodes determined in 2019 [6]. In addition to greater soil fertility in the top layer, mulching is an important measure to conserve water further leading to yield increases, a phenomenon we have consistently observed with mulched potatoes in the years 2015 and 2016 [38] and also in 2018 and 2019 (Junge, Finckh, et al, unpublished data). The improvement in soil fertility was similar or even greater compared to a long-term organic study from Frick, Switzerland, where phosphorus and potassium were 72% and 40% higher in the top 10 cm soil following six years of reduced tillage (15 cm deep two-layer ploughing) compared to 30 cm deep ploughing [39].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Bacterivorous Nematodes Correlate with Soil Fertility and Improved Crop Production in an Organic Minimum Tillage System

Schmidt¹,

Hallmann²,

Finckh³

2020

Preprint

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Reduced nutrient mineralization rates under minimum tillage are usually compensated by mineral fertilizer application. These cannot be applied in organic farming systems, however. We hypothesized that organic minimum tillage based on frequent cover cropping and application of dead mulch will improve soil fertility and can compensate for the potential negative effects of minimum tillage. Two long-term field experiments were set up in 2010 and 2011 comparing plough versus minimum tillage including application of transferred mulch. As second factor, the application of compost versus mineral potassium and phosphorus was compared. In 2019, soils were analyzed for soil pH, organic carbon, macro-, micronutrients, microbial biomass, microbial activity and total nematode abundance. In addition, performance of pea in the same soils was determined under greenhouse conditions. Across both experiments, macronutrients (+52%), micronutrients (+11%), microbial biomass (+51%), microbial activity (+86%), and bacterivorous nematodes (+112%) increased in minimum tillage compared with the plough-based system. In the greenhouse, pea biomass was 45% higher in the soil that had been subjected to minimum tillage compared to the plough. In conclusion, soil fertility can be improved in organic minimum tillage systems by intensive cover cropping and application of dead mulch to levels higher than in a plough-based system.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Bacterivorous Nematodes Correlate with Soil Fertility and Improved Crop Production in an Organic Minimum Tillage System

Schmidt¹,

Hallmann²,

Finckh³

2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Interestingly, potato yields correlated positively with the numbers of free-living nematodes determined in 2019 [6]. In addition to greater soil fertility in the top layer, mulching is an important measure to conserve water, leading to further yield increases, a phenomenon consistently observed with mulched potatoes in the years 2015 and 2016 [38] and also in 2018 and 2019 (Junge, Finckh, et al, unpublished data). The improvement in soil fertility reported here was similar or even greater compared to a long-term organic study from Frick, Switzerland, where phosphorus and potassium were 72% and 40% higher in the top 10 cm of soil following six years of reduced tillage (15-cm-deep two-layer plowing) compared to 30-cm-deep plowing [39].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Bacterivorous Nematodes Correlate with Soil Fertility and Improved Crop Production in an Organic Minimum Tillage System

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Reduced nutrient mineralization rates under minimum tillage are usually compensated by mineral fertilizer application. These, however, cannot be applied in organic farming systems. We hypothesized that an organic minimum tillage system based on frequent cover cropping and application of dead mulch would improve soil fertility and compensate for the potential negative effects of minimum tillage. Two long-term field experiments were set up in 2010 and 2011 to compare plowing versus minimum tillage including the application of transferred mulch. A second factor, the application of compost versus mineral potassium and phosphorus, was also compared. In 2019, soils were analyzed for soil pH, organic carbon, macro- and micronutrients, microbial biomass, microbial activity, and total nematode abundance. In addition, performance of pea in the same soils was determined under greenhouse conditions. Across both experiments, macronutrients (+52%), micronutrients (+11%), microbial biomass (+51%), microbial activity (+86%), and bacterivorous nematodes (+112%) increased in minimum tillage compared to the plow-based system. In the greenhouse, pea biomass was 45% higher in the soil that had been subjected to minimum tillage compared to the plow. In conclusion, soil fertility can be improved in organic minimum tillage systems, which include intensive cover cropping and the application of dead mulch, over plow-based systems.

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“…Through the advantage of genetic diversity for adaptation and the combination of different genotypes, the CCPs appear to be better able to use the available space and resources than homogeneous stands of single lines. Possible benefits are higher wheat biomass and consequently yield, improved organic matter supply to the soil (Simon et al 2019), as well as improved weed suppression (Finckh et al 2018).…”

Section: Comparison Among Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Under organic conditions, yields and baking quality of the CCPs corresponded to or exceeded that of the crossing parents even in advanced generations (Döring et al 2015;Brumlop et al 2017). The derived from the intercross of eight high yielding with twelve baking quality parents has been shown to be highly weed suppressive (Finckh et al 2018) and quite adaptable to ecological intensification (Baltazar and Boutsen 2019). Preliminary data on the CCYQ suggests that when broadcast-sown under organic conditions and managed without further mechanical weed control, it may be pre-adapted to minimum tillage conditions (Schmidt et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance and evolutionary adaptation of heterogeneous wheat populations

et al. 2022

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The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of heterogeneous composite cross populations (CCPs) to increase sustainability and resilience of wheat cropping systems, a so far largely neglected approach. For this purpose, 10 CCPs originating from one CCP created in 2001 and having evolved under different environmental conditions since the F5, were compared in the F15 and F16 with 10 recently released cultivars and 10 inbred lines extracted randomly from the populations. Field trials were performed over 2 years at 2 organic and 2 conventional locations. Under organic conditions, yields of the CCPs were similar to those of recent commercial cultivars with comparable protein content, and considerably higher than that of the inbred lines. Under conventional conditions, conventionally-bred cultivars outyielded the other experimental entries. The organically-bred cultivars had the highest protein contents in both farming systems followed by the CCPs and the conventionally-bred cultivars. The yield stability and foliar disease resistances of CCPs was on average higher than that of the commercial cultivars and considerably higher than that of the inbred lines, indicating that the higher stability of the CCPs was due to their high genetic diversity, not to their genetic background. CCPs that had evolved in different environments differed in some morphological and phenological traits, indicating that adaptation to environmental conditions had taken place through natural selection. Greater tillering capacity and increased soil cover of CCPs in the juvenile stage compared to the inbred lines indicates niche complementarity in the CCPs, that may contribute to improved resource use and to an overall ecological intensification. We conclude, that the cultivation of CCPs or similar heterogeneous populations represents an important opportunity to increase the resilience of wheat cultivation, which should be given greater consideration in future research and breeding.

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Disease and pest management in organic farming: a case for applied agroecology

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Bacterivorous Nematodes Correlate with Soil Fertility and Improved Crop Production in an Organic Minimum Tillage System

Bacterivorous Nematodes Correlate with Soil Fertility and Improved Crop Production in an Organic Minimum Tillage System

Bacterivorous Nematodes Correlate with Soil Fertility and Improved Crop Production in an Organic Minimum Tillage System

Performance and evolutionary adaptation of heterogeneous wheat populations

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