Physiological responses of processing tomato in organic and conventional Mediterranean cropping systems

Journal of Cleaner Production

Gallingani

Zaccardelli

et al. 2019

Self Cite

Sustainable agriculture aims to reduce its environmental impact. The adoption of organic farming is becoming increasingly widespread for field and horticultural crops as one of the leading sustainable farming systems. In this research, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis was applied to investigate the actual environmental impact of processing tomato production, in the organic (OS) vs the conventional cropping systems (CS), in a specialized Mediterranean area in Southern Italy for three consecutive years. The study compared the global warming potential (GWP; in term of kg CO2-eq) and primary energy demand (PED; in term of MJ) of processing tomato produced in the two systems. Our results indicate that GWP recorded in OS was on average -40% compared to CS when 1 hectare was adopted as a functional unit (FU). On the other hand, GWP was on average +22% in the OS than in CS if using 1 ton of marketable fruits as FU. A similar impact, highly depending on the choice of the FU, was registered for PED as average of three years. OS showed -38% vs +28% PED than CS, using 1 ha vs. 1 t of marketable fruit. Pesticide and fungicide applications, and soil tillage had the highest impacts among management inputs on GWP and PED, in both farming systems. Hence, the environmental efficiency of these practices should be largely improved in the production of processing tomato if aiming to sustainable farming. In conclusion, the differences of sustainability observed between the two farming systems were mainly due to the far lower marketable yield recorded in the OS vs the CS. Therefore, the priority future challenge of organic tomato farming should be the reduction of the yield gap between the OS and the CS, through the development of both new genotypes and of innovative management methods, designed to reduce the gap, but not increasing the environmental impacts on the agro-ecosystem. AbstractSustainable agriculture aims to reduce its environmental impact. In this research, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis was applied to investigate the actual environmental impact of processing tomato production, in the organic (OS) vs the conventional cropping systems (CS), in a specialized Mediterranean area in Southern Italy for three consecutive years. The study compared the global warming potential (GWP; in term of kg CO2-eq) and primary energy demand (PED; in term of MJ) of processing tomato produced in the two systems. Our results indicate that GWP recorded in OS was on average -40% compared to CS when 1 hectare was adopted as a functional unit (FU). On the other hand, GWP was on average +22% in the OS than in CS if using 1 ton of marketable fruits as FU. A similar impact, highly depending on the choice of the FU, was registered for PED as average of three years. OS showed -38% vs +28% PED than CS, using 1 ha vs. 1 t of marketable fruit. Pesticide and fungicide applications, and soil tillage had the highest impacts among management inputs on GWP and PED, in both farming systems. Hence, the environmental efficiency of these practices shou...

Section: Yieldsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…The agronomical management was the same reported by Ronga et al (2015). In addition, the amount of water supply for irrigation was based on crop evapotranspiration for both environments.…”

Section: Data Of the Agricultural Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon footprint and energetic analysis of tomato production in the organic vs the conventional cropping systems in Southern Italy

Journal of Cleaner Production

Gallingani

Zaccardelli

et al. 2019

Self Cite

“…This study revealed that all nitrogen treatments led to an increase of tomato production in comparison with the no fertilization treatment (~ + 142.5 ± 30.5%) confirming that, in the tested conditions, nitrogen limits the yield potential of processing tomato crops as observed in previous studies (Ronga et al, 2015; Ronga et al, 2017). Yet, despite the same amount of nitrogen was applied in each treatment (i.e., 150 kg ha −1 ), all the treatments were statistically different from each other.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Nitrogen Fertilisers Shape the Composition and Predicted Functions of the Microbiota of Field-Grown Tomato Plants

Caradonia

Catellani

et al. 2019

Preprint

Self Cite

The microbial communities thriving at the root-soil interface have the potential to improve plant growth and sustainable crop production. Yet, how agricultural practices, such as the application of either mineral or organic nitrogen fertilisers, impact on the composition and functions of these communities remains to be fully elucidated. By deploying a two-pronged 16S rRNA gene sequencing and predictive metagenomics approach we demonstrated that the bacterial microbiota of field-grown tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants is the product of a selective process that progressively differentiates between rhizosphere and root microhabitats. This process initiates as early as plants are in a nursery stage and it is then more marked at late developmental stages, in particular at harvest. This selection acts on both the bacterial relative abundances and phylogenetic assignments, with a bias for the enrichment of members of the phylum Actinobacteria in the root compartment. Digestate-based and mineral-based nitrogen fertilisers trigger a distinct bacterial enrichment in both rhizosphere and root microhabitats. This compositional diversification mirrors a predicted functional diversification of the root-inhabiting communities, manifested predominantly by the differential enrichment of genes associated to ABC transporters and the two-component system. Together, our data suggest that the microbiota thriving at the tomato root-soil interface is modulated by and in responses to the type of nitrogen fertiliser applied to the field.

“…In addition, when crop production depends only on green manure crops, the crop yield might be further reduced [12]. Among vegetables processing tomato when cultivated in the OFS showed marketable yield reduction of~50% compared to conventional systems [13][14][15][16][17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Digestate and Biochar as Fertilizers to Improve Processing Tomato Production Sustainability

Caradonia

Parisi³

et al. 2020

Agronomy

Self Cite

The principal goal of the organic farming system (OFS) is to develop enterprises that are sustainable and harmonious with the environment. Unfortunately, the OFS yields fewer products per land than the non-organic farming system in many agricultural products. The objective of our study was to assess the effects of digestate and biochar fertilizers on yield and fruit quality of processing tomato produced under the OFS. The experiment was carried out in Po Valley, during the 2017 and 2018 growing seasons. Liquid digestate (LD), LD + biochar (LD + BC) and pelleted digestate (PD) were evaluated and compared to biochar (BC) application and unfertilized control. The results showed that plants fertilized with LD + BC recorded the maximum marketable yield (72 t ha−1), followed by BC (67 t ha−1), PD (64 t ha−1) and LD (59 t ha−1); while the lowest production (47 t ha−1) was recorded in unfertilized plants. Over the two cropping seasons, LD + BC, BC, PD, and LD, increased fruit number per plant (+15%), fruit weight (+24%), Brix t ha−1 (+41%) and reduced Bostwick index (−16%), if compared to the untreated control. Considering the overall agronomic performances, digestate and biochar can be useful options for increasing yield and quality of processing tomato production in the OFS. Hence, these fertilizers can be assessed in future research both on other crops and farming systems.