Tillage intensity and compost application effects on organically grown camelina productivity, seed and oil quality

Abstract

The importance of Camelina sativa has lessened substantially over the last half century, however its unique oil composition and the beneficial agronomic attributes with regard to sustainable agriculture have recently reignited interest in this oilseed crop. Notwithstanding the great interest in camelina, the potential to be cultivated organically has not received prominent attention from researchers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the response of organic camelina to different tillage systems and compost types, based on differences in yield parameters, oil content, seed crude protein and fatty acid profile. The field experiments, conducted during the 2014, 2015 and 2016 growing seasons, were laid out in a split plot design with three replicates, two main plots (conventional tillage and minimum tillage) and three sub-plots (vermicompost, compost, unamended control). It is consequential from the results that the effect of the type of organic amendment was highly significant on camelina’s productivity. Particularly, compost treatment resulted in higher seed and oil yield (1132 and 446 kg ha-1, respectively) compared to the vermicompost (682 and 269 kg ha-1, respectively) and the unamended control (554 and 220 kg ha-1, respectively). Regarding the fatty acid profile, both organic amendments increased linoleic and palmitic acids, while they presented disparate effects on a-linolenic acid. Furthermore, tillage system influenced significantly only thousand seeds weight, protein content and gondoic acid, enabling the use of reduced tillage to be comparably effective on organically grown camelina performance. Further experimentation is needed to match crop needs with the appropriate cropping techniques in order to ensure an effective organic cultivation.

Introduction of alternative crops in the Mediterranean to satisfy EU Green Deal goals. A review

“…From an agronomic perspective, camelina is a low input crop that requires reduced tillage (Angelopoulou et al 2020a). The average annual water needs of camelina are estimated at 350 to 500 mm (optimal conditions include 150 mm of water during the vegetative phase and 200 mm of water during reproduction) (Moser 2010).…”

Integral Assessment of Organic Fertilization on a Camelina sativa Rotation under Mediterranean Conditions

“…Limited investigations have focused on studying the response of camelina to organic fertilization. Angelopoulou et al (2020) determined that the use of vermicompost and compost increased linoleic and palmitic acids, and compost exhibited the highest seed and oil yield [16]. In another study, camelina's seed oil concentration of linolenic and erucic acids, tocopherols, and campesterol increased when organic fertilizer (chicken manure pellets) was applied and highlighted the influence of the season and fertilization in camelina's cultivation [17].…”