Preindustrial agriculture versus organic agriculture

Casado, Gloria I. Guzmán; Molina, Manuel González de

doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2008.07.004

Cited by 84 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Type of farming system may also affect the chemical composition of foodstuffs, especially on those that originate from the use of chemical fertilizer and pesticides (Dangour et al, 2009). Organic farming represents a production system, looking for harmony between the environment and the agriculture production (Casado and de Molina, 2009;Bavec et al, 2010). It excludes the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, plant growth regulators and genetically modified organisms (Singh et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antioxidant activity in selected Slovenian organic and conventional crops

Knap

Ogrinc

Potočnik

et al. 2015

AAS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The demand for organically produced food is increasing. There is widespread belief that organic food is substantially healthier and safer than conventional food. According to literature organic food is free of phytopharmaceutical residues, contain less nitrates and more antioxidants. The aim of the present study was to verify if there are any differences in the antioxidant activity between selected Slovenian organic and conventional crops. Method of DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryhydrazyl) was used to determine the antioxidant activity of 16 samples from organic and conventional farms. The same varieties of crops were analysed. DPPH method was employed to measure the antioxidant activity of polar antioxidants (AA p ) and antioxidant activity of fraction in ethyl acetate soluble antioxidants (EA AA). Descriptive statistics and variance analysis were used to describe differences between farming systems. Estimated differences between interactions for the same crop and different farming practice were mostly not statistically significant except for the AA p for basil and beetroot. Higher statistically significant values were estimated for conventional crops. For the EA AA in broccoli, cucumber, rocket and cherry statistically significant higher values were estimated for organic production.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antioxidant activity in selected Slovenian organic and conventional crops

Knap

Ogrinc

Potočnik

et al. 2015

AAS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This loss of functionality allows us not only to break the balance between the different uses of biomass within a given space, e.g., cropland, but also to interrupt or reduce the biomass and nutrient flows between territories with different synchronic or diachronic uses, e.g., pastureland to cropland or between legumes and nonlegumes. The transfer of nutrients from pastureland and dry farming areas devoted to animal feed to more productive areas of cropland was not uncommon in traditional Mediterranean agriculture (Cussó et al 2006, Guzmán Casado andGonzález de Molina 2009). The process of intensification not only interrupted this dynamic, but also converted pastureland into the net recipient of nutrients throughout the importation of animal feed (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

The agrarian metabolism as a tool for assessing agrarian sustainability, and its application to Spanish agriculture (1960-2008)

Guzmán¹,

Aguilera²,

García‐Ruiz³

et al. 2018

E&S

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

-Fernández, J. Infante-Amate, and M. González de Molina. 2018. The agrarian metabolism as a tool for assessing agrarian sustainability, and its application to Spanish agriculture ABSTRACT. Agrarian metabolism applies the social metabolism framework to agriculture. It focuses on the study of the exchange of material and energy flows between a society and its environment for producing useful biomass. These flows must maintain the fund elements of the agroecosystem in sufficient quantity and of sufficient quality for them to continue providing ecosystem services. This methodology was applied to Spanish agriculture between 1960 and 2008, a period characterized by a deep process of intensification based on external inputs (EIs). We specifically focused on nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), carbon (C), and energy flows, and on the three fund elements that they sustain such as soil, biodiversity, and woodland. The results show that the growing incorporation of EIs has broken the equilibrium between land and biomass uses required by traditional farming, lowering the density of internal energy loops. On cropland, the relative fall in unharvested biomass had a negative effect on both biodiversity and the soil, which reduced the replenishment of organic C between 1960 and 1990. The sharp increase in internal and external flows of biomass for animal feed hardly contributed to increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) between 1990 and 2008 because of the fact that these flows had increasingly lower C:N ratios. The massive importation of N in feed and mineral fertilizers (553 and 1150 Gg in 2000, respectively) increased the surplus and the losses of N, which in turn could have a negative impact on biodiversity, water, and the atmosphere. The scenario constructed without imported animal feed would allow a reduction in the environmental impacts related to the excess of N, with hardly any negative effect on SOC replenishment, and improving energy return rates in the form of total, unharvested, and accumulated phytomass.

show abstract

“…To that extent, each specific arrangement of the agroecosystem is reflected in a specific organization of the landscape, imposing its particular footprint on the territory [34,35]. For example, in organic or agrarian metabolic regimes [36,37], agroecosystems function in an integrated manner in such a way that the internal loops clearly extend beyond the cultivated land and cover wide stretches of the territory.…”

Section: Sustainability and Its Land Costmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agroecology and Ecological Intensification. A Discussion from a Metabolic Point of View

Molina

Casado

2017

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper documents the origin and conceptual ambiguity of the terms Sustainable, Ecological and Agroecological Intensification. It defines the concept of Ecological Intensification from an agroecological perspective, and examines in energy terms whether it may be sustainable. To illustrate the theory, we apply Land Cost of Sustainable Agriculture (LACAS) methodology to Spanish agriculture, which is representative of Mediterranean agroclimatic conditions. As a result, we demonstrate the impossibility of generalizing an extensive Organic Farming (OF) scenario under the techniques currently used by organic farmers. This is due to the fact that it would bring about a reduction of 13% in agricultural production. Which necessarily means that OF has to be intensified under agroecological criteria. This option is also explored in two scenarios. As a result, we show that it is possible to compensate the yield gap between OF and conventional agriculture by implementing low-entropy internal loop strategies which reduce the land cost of generating the necessary nitrogen flows. However, these cannot exceed the limits established by the structure of Spanish territory. That is, agroecological intensification cannot be prolonged indefinitely over time since it is limited by the land available.

show abstract

Preindustrial agriculture versus organic agriculture

Cited by 84 publications

References 12 publications

Antioxidant activity in selected Slovenian organic and conventional crops

Antioxidant activity in selected Slovenian organic and conventional crops

The agrarian metabolism as a tool for assessing agrarian sustainability, and its application to Spanish agriculture (1960-2008)

Agroecology and Ecological Intensification. A Discussion from a Metabolic Point of View

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About