Evaluation of sustainability of organic, integrated and conventional farming systems: a farm and field-scale analysis

Pacini, Cesare; Wossink, Ada; Giesen, G.W.J.; Vazzana, Concetta; Huirne, R.B.M.

doi:10.1016/s0167-8809(02)00091-9

Cited by 266 publications

(136 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…In the plot-scale MCSE the yields in Bio were 19% lower than Conv, the difference consistent in size with the published plot-scale literature results (6)(7)(8)25). For example, an average yield loss across six corn, soybean, and/or wheat North American experiments (19,(24)(25)(26)(27), where organic management relied on the use of cover crops and not on animal manure inputs, was 19% [from a review by Seufert et al (7)]. Posner et al (19) reported that for the majority of times the organic yields were about 10-15% lower than the conventional, whereas 20-30% yield losses in organic management occurred only in one third of the studied site-years.…”

Section: Effect Of Environmental Factors On Management Performance Insupporting

confidence: 88%

Field-scale experiments reveal persistent yield gaps in low-input and organic cropping systems

Kravchenko

Snapp

Robertson

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Knowledge of production-system performance is largely based on observations at the experimental plot scale. Although yield gaps between plot-scale and field-scale research are widely acknowledged, their extent and persistence have not been experimentally examined in a systematic manner. At a site in southwest Michigan, we conducted a 6-y experiment to test the accuracy with which plot-scale crop-yield results can inform field-scale conclusions. We compared conventional versus alternative, that is, reduced-input and biologically based-organic, management practices for a cornsoybean-wheat rotation in a randomized complete block-design experiment, using 27 commercial-size agricultural fields. Nearby plot-scale experiments (0.02-ha to 1.0-ha plots) provided a comparison of plot versus field performance. We found that plot-scale yields well matched field-scale yields for conventional management but not for alternative systems. For all three crops, at the plot scale, reduced-input and conventional managements produced similar yields; at the field scale, reduced-input yields were lower than conventional. For soybeans at the plot scale, biological and conventional managements produced similar yields; at the field scale, biological yielded less than conventional. For corn, biological management produced lower yields than conventional in both plot-and field-scale experiments. Wheat yields appeared to be less affected by the experimental scale than corn and soybean. Conventional management was more resilient to field-scale challenges than alternative practices, which were more dependent on timely management interventions; in particular, mechanical weed control. Results underscore the need for much wider adoption of field-scale experimentation when assessing new technologies and production-system performance, especially as related to closing yield gaps in organic farming and in low-resourced systems typical of much of the developing world.field experiments | scaling | corn soybean wheat rotation | weed control | organic agriculture

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Section: Effect Of Environmental Factors On Management Performance Insupporting

confidence: 88%

Field-scale experiments reveal persistent yield gaps in low-input and organic cropping systems

Kravchenko

Snapp

Robertson

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…In some cases, conventional farming is being replaced by organic farming, which does not use chemical fertilizers, pesticides and considers as "a holistic view of agriculture that aims to reflect the profound interrelationship that exists between farm biota, its production and the overall environment" [2]. This farming practice is based on rotating crops and using green manure to maintain the productivity of soil without damaging the environment, producing food free of any chemical residue [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of Fresh and Commercial Pomegranate Juices from Mollar de Elche Cultivar Grown under Conventional or Organic Farming Practices

et al. 2015

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Abstract:Pomegranate juice has gained a high reputation for its health properties and consequently is now a highly demanded product. However, there is an interest in knowing if there are differences between conventional and organic agricultural practices. For that reason, total phenolic content, antioxidant capacity, punicalagin isomers and sensory analysis of pomegranate juices from Mollar de Elche cultivar were studied. A comparison between fresh and commercial pomegranate juice obtained by conventional and organic agricultural practices was conducted. The total phenolic content values ranged from 2285 to 2457 mg GAE L −1 ; however, there was no significant difference among conventional and organic juices. The antioxidant capacity evaluated by DPPH and ABTS methods showed significant differences (p < 0.05) among conventional and organic juices.

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“…In field experiments testing new designed cropping systems, agronomist assessed biodiversity by some measured indicators like plant diversity (Vereijken, 1997;Pacini et al, 2003). Among invertebrates, indicator based on the diversity of carabid beetle were proposed by many authors because they are relatively easy to assess by simple pitfall although they were criticized as indicator of biodiversity (Duelli, 1997 Figure 1.…”

Section: Measured (Direct) Indicatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing biodiversity in arable farmland by means of indicators: an overview

Bockstaller

Lasserre-Joulin

Slezack‐Deschaumes

et al. 2011

OCL

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Evaluation of sustainability of organic, integrated and conventional farming systems: a farm and field-scale analysis

Cited by 266 publications

References 14 publications

Field-scale experiments reveal persistent yield gaps in low-input and organic cropping systems

Field-scale experiments reveal persistent yield gaps in low-input and organic cropping systems

Comparison of Fresh and Commercial Pomegranate Juices from Mollar de Elche Cultivar Grown under Conventional or Organic Farming Practices

Assessing biodiversity in arable farmland by means of indicators: an overview

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