Organic cattle products: Authenticating production origin by analysis of serum mineral content.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez-Bermúdez, Ruth; Herrero-Latorre, Carlos; López-Alonso, Marta; Losada, David E; Iglesias, Roberto; Miranda, Marta

2018-10-30

An authentication procedure for differentiating between organic and non-organic cattle production on the basis of analysis of serum samples has been developed. For this purpose, the concentrations of fourteen mineral elements (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, I, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se and Zn) in 522 serum samples from cows (341 from organic farms and 181 from non-organic farms), determined by inductively coupled plasma spectrometry, were used. The chemical information provided by serum analysis was employed to construct different pattern recognition classification models that predict the origin of each sample: organic or non-organic class. Among all classification procedures considered, the best results were obtained with the decision tree C5.0, Random Forest and AdaBoost neural networks, with hit levels close to 90% for both production types. The proposed method, involving analysis of serum samples, provided rapid, accurate in vivo classification of cattle according to organic and non-organic production type. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Yesterday and Today of Organic Farming in KOP Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Havva Eda Üstüntaş

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Organic farming aims not to use chemical inputs, to increase quality not the yield, control and certify every steps of the production and is a human and environmental friendly production system. In recent years, use of organic food has increased parallel with the increasing interest in the environmental protection and safe foods in the developed countries. Turkey has a great potential for organic farming due to its wide diversity of climatic and soil conditions. KOP (Konya Plain Project Region, includes the provinces as Aksaray, Karaman, Konya, Niğde, has a wide agricultural fields where not used chemical fertilizer and not contaminated with pesticides. Therefore this region is very important for organic agriculture. In 2013 year, planting area is 769.014 hectares and organic production is 1.620.466 tons in Turkey. KOP Region has a 0.47% planting area and 3.4% organic production in Turkey. Niğde which had the first rank in terms of organic production, constituted about 61% organic production amount. KOP Region could present significant opportunities and benefits to potential investors in terms of organic farming. In KOP Region, organic farming practices should be cared and supported.

Energy balance in olive oil farms: comparison of organic and conventional farming systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Moreno, Marta M.; Meco, Ramón; Moreno, Carmen

2013-04-01

The viability of an agricultural production system not only depends on the crop yields, but especially on the efficient use of available resources. However, the current agricultural systems depend heavily on non-renewable energy consumption in the form of fertilizers, fossil fuels, pesticides and machinery. In developed countries, the economic profitability of different productive systems is dependent on the granting of subsidies of diverse origin that affect both production factors (or inputs) and the final product (or output). Leaving such external aids, energy balance analysis reveals the real and most efficient form of management for each agroclimatic region, and is also directly related to the economic activity and the environmental state. In this work we compare the energy balance resulting from organic and conventional olive oil farms under the semi-arid conditions of Central Spain. The results indicate that the mean energy supplied to the organic farms was sensitively lower (about 30%) in comparison with the conventional management, and these differences were more pronounced for the biggest farms (> 15 ha). Mean energy outputs were about 20% lower in the organic system, although organic small farms (ratio scarcely reached 25%. Human labor item only represented a very small amount of the total energy input in both cases (less than 1%). As conclusions, both management systems were efficient from an energy point of view. The value of the organic production should be focused on the environmental benefits it provides, which are not usually considered in the conventional management on not valuing the damage it produces to the environment. Organic farming would improve the energy efficiency in these environmental conditions, offering a sustainable production with minimal inputs.

Values in Organic Farming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjærgård, Bente; Pedersen, Kirsten Bransholm; Land, Birgit

The study focuses on the recent debate about what is, or what constitutes, organic farming and what is the right path for organic farming in the future. The study is based on a critical discourse analysis of the controversy about suspending the private standard for organic farming adopted by the ...

EVALUATION OF FARMERS APPRECIATION IN REDUCING PESTICIDE BY ORGANIC FARMING PRACTICE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Indraningsih Indraningsih

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Vegetables and dairy milk are important commodities in Pangalengan and Lembang, West Java. However, agrochemicals are used intensively and excessively in production system. Therefore, pesticide residues and contamination commonly occurred in agricultural products and environments. The study aimed to assess farmers’ attitudes on pesticide toxicity and reducing pesticide residues in animal and food crops products, and investigate the attitude changes of farmers on pesticide use. It was an on-farm research and farmers were directly involved in the study. The attitude change was analyzed on questionnaire and interview base for over 99 respondents in Pangalengan and Lembang between 2001 and 2003. Samples of soils, weeds, cabbages and milk were collected for pesticide residue analysis. Results showed that farmers did not aware on toxicity effects of pesticides in both animal and human health. There was misinterpretation among the farmers where pesticides were regarded as drugs rather than toxic compound to increase productivity. The organochlorines/OCs (lindane and heptachlor were common pesticide contaminants found in soils of 7.9- 11.4 ppb, but no organophospates (OPs were detected. Both OCs and OPs were also detected in soils of Lembang at a range of 11.53-65.63 ppb and 0.6-2.6 ppb, respectively. There were pesticide residues detected in weeds collected from Pangalengan (8.93 ppb lindane, 2.05 ppb heptachlor, and 33.27 ppb chlorpyriphos methyl/CPM and Lembang (6.45 ppb lindane, 2.65 ppb endosulfan, 6.85 ppb diazinon, and 0.5 ppb CPM. Only endosulfan with least residue level (0.1 ppb was detected in organic cabbages, whereas lindane was detected much higher (3.7 ppb in non-organic cabbages. Pesticide residues were not detected in milk of dairy cattle fed on by-products of organic cabbages, but lindane was still present in milk of dairy cattle fed on non-organic cabbages for 7 days subsequently. The present study indicates that the organic farming

Biomass energy in organic farming - the potential role of short rotation coppice

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joergensen, Uffe; Dalgaard, Tommy [Danish Inst. of Agricultural Sciences (DIAS), Dept. of Agroecology, Research Centre Foulum, Tjele (Denmark); Kristensen, Erik Steen [Danish Research Centre for Organic Farming (DARCOF), Research Centre Foulum, Tjele (Denmark)

2005-02-01

One of the aims of organic farming is to 'reduce the use of non-renewable resources (e.g. fossil fuels) to a minimum'. So far, however, only very little progress has been made to introduce renewable energy in organic farming. This paper presents energy balances of Danish organic farming compared with energy balances of conventional farming. In general, the conversion to organic farming leads to a lower energy use (approximately 10% per unit of product). But the production of energy in organic farming is very low compared with the extensive utilisation of straw from conventional farming in Denmark (energy content of straw used for energy production was equivalent to 18% of total energy input in Danish agriculture in 1996). Biomass is a key energy carrier with a good potential for on-farm development. Apart from utilising farm manure and crop residues for biogas production, the production of nutrient efficient short rotation coppice (SRC) is an option in organic farming. Alder (Alnus spp.) is an interesting crop due to its symbiosis with the actinomycete Frankia, which has the ability to fix up to 185 kg/ha nitrogen (N{sub 2}) from the air. Yields obtained at different European sites are presented and the R and D needed to implement energy cropping in organic farming is discussed. Possible win-win solutions for SRC production in organic farming that may facilitate its implementation are; the protection of ground water quality in intensively farmed areas, utilisation of wastewater for irrigation, or combination with outdoor animal husbandry such as pigs or poultry. (Author)

A Simulation Model of Combined Biogas, Bioethanol and Protein Fodder Co-Production in Organic Farming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Oleskowicz-Popiel, Piotr; Thomsen, Mette Hedegaard; Thomsen, Anne Belinda

2009-01-01

In order to evaluate new strategies for the production of renewable energy within sustainable organic agriculture, a process-simulation model for a 100 ha organic farm was developed. Data used for the model was obtained from laboratory trials, literature data, consultancy with experts, and results...... ha organic farm with ethanol or biogas, respectively. This calculation was based on the assumption that the electrical efficiency of CHP (combined heat and power) unit was 38%. A variety of different scenarios can be simulated to mirror the farmer's needs....

Organic Farming, Gender, and the Labor Process

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Alan; Mogyorody, Veronika

2007-01-01

This paper seeks to explain variations in gender participation in farm production and decision-making through an analysis of organic farm types, sizes, and orientations. Based on both survey and case study data, the analysis shows that female farmers on vegetable farms and mixed livestock/cash crop farms are more likely to be involved in farm…

Organic food and farming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kledal, Paul Rye

The paper is based on research conducted for DARCOF II (Danish Research Centre for Organic Farming, www.darcof.dk). The aim of the research project is to analyze the future development of the Danish organic food sector through focusing on two agro-commodities: vegetables and pork. Emphasis...... is placed on identification of economic forces within the supply chains. The main conclusions of the paper – being the results from the organic vegetable chain – are that the rules and regulations, and the development of alternative transaction processes in organic food and farming have so far been founded...... conventional farmers – declining prices, concentration of production and shift in bargaining power to the retailers. Logically, this situation will lead eventually to increasing conflicts between organic values and their subordination to free market forces, i.e. conventionalization. In the same time retailers...

Comparing risk in conventional and organic dairy farming in the Netherlands: an empirical analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Berentsen, P B M; Kovacs, K; van Asseldonk, M A P M

2012-07-01

This study was undertaken to contribute to the understanding of why most dairy farmers do not convert to organic farming. Therefore, the objective of this research was to assess and compare risks for conventional and organic farming in the Netherlands with respect to gross margin and the underlying price and production variables. To investigate the risk factors a farm accountancy database was used containing panel data from both conventional and organic representative Dutch dairy farms (2001-2007). Variables with regard to price and production risk were identified using a gross margin analysis scheme. Price risk variables were milk price and concentrate price. The main production risk variables were milk yield per cow, roughage yield per hectare, and veterinary costs per cow. To assess risk, an error component implicit detrending method was applied and the resulting detrended standard deviations were compared between conventional and organic farms. Results indicate that the risk included in the gross margin per cow is significantly higher in organic farming. This is caused by both higher price and production risks. Price risks are significantly higher in organic farming for both milk price and concentrate price. With regard to production risk, only milk yield per cow poses a significantly higher risk in organic farming. Copyright © 2012 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review of History and Recent Development of Organic Farming Worldwide

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2006-01-01

The history of the organic farming worldwide was reviewed in this paper. The development of the organic farming worldwide had gone through three stages, emergence, expansion, and growth. The contributors and their thoughts during the different development stages of the organic farming were briefly introduced. And the development status of the organic farming worldwide was reviewed from the aspects of land area under organic management, land area under organic management in percentage of total agricultural area, and world markets for organic products. Besides, the main existing problems for the further development of the world's organic farming, as well as the development status, problems and strategies of the Chinese organic farming were discussed.

Sustainable Organic Farming For Environmental Health A Social Development Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ijun Rijwan Susanto

2015-05-01

consider the loss that may be experienced by others as the principles for profit has become very prominent. As a result the development of organic agriculture simply stuck into a commercial activity which would be a criticism of the founders One of the factors that led to the involvement of the government regulated organic farming is because of the bickering about what is called organic agricultural products and because many nonorganic products sold as organic products Organic farmers have difficulty in finding locally based seed for organic farming certification of organic farming has changed it is not just the assurance processes into a tradable commodity 3 The Benefits of Organic Farming in Support for Environmental Health organic farming gives a positive impact on public health because it does not cause environmental pollution water air soil by the residues of chemical fertilizers and synthetic chemical pesticides. Besides organic farming also healthy communities through the provision of agricultural products that are free of pesticides and chemical fertilizer residues 4 The Social Development Model of Sustainable Organic Farming Sustainable agriculture organic farming seeks acre balance of three long-term goals namely a Social-cultural to create quality of life to satisfy personal and community needs for health food safety and happines b Environment to Enhance utilization of soil water air and other resourches limited c Economics to be profitable market forces. These objectives can be achieved if supported by organizational-oriented good governance principles of sustainable agriculture. Sustainable agriculture is the implementation of the principles of sustainable development. Sustainable development will be achieved if conducted prior social development within the broad scope of stakeholders 5 The Policy Recomendation for Organic Farming a National Strategic Agenda The Program Go Organic must be forwarded with the 2010 program Go Organic 2020 where the formulation of

TRENDS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIC FARMING IN BULGARIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valentina AGAPIEVA

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to follow trends in the development of organic farming in Bulgaria, and to identify the factors’ strength and direction of their impact on organic production of agricultural products. The study covers the period from 2003 to 2013 and is based on information from official statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, and the author's own research. There are distinct rates of increase in both areas and organic agricultural production in Bulgaria. While in 2003 the areas under organic management are 8,364 ha by 2013 they numbered 56, 287 ha. Bulgaria has a high potential for production and export of organic agricultural products fresh and processed, but significantly lags behind other European countries. However, there is increasing momentum in organic farming, driven by a group of economic, market, social and legislative initiatives. The main reason for this growth is consumer demand of organic products in Bulgaria. In general, the motivations of Bulgarian consumers of organic products are related to the benefits for health and the environment, to the improvement of food quality and to the support of local small farmers, communities and markets.

Farm Management in Organic and Conventional Dairy Production Systems Based on Pasture in Southern Brazil and Its Consequences on Production and Milk Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Kuhnen, Shirley; Stibuski, Rudinei Butka; Honorato, Luciana Aparecida; Pinheiro Machado Filho, Luiz Carlos

2015-01-01

Simple Summary This study provides the characteristics of the conventional high input (C-HI), conventional low input (C-LI), and organic low input (O-LI) pasture-based production systems used in Southern Brazil, and its consequences on production and milk quality. C-HI farms had larger farms and herds, annual pasture with higher inputs and milk yield, whereas O-LI had smaller farms and herds, perennial pastures with lowest input and milk yields; C-LI was in between. O-LI farms may contribute to eco-system services, but low milk yield is a major concern. Hygienic and microbiological milk quality was poor for all farms and needs to be improved. Abstract Pasture-based dairy production is used widely on family dairy farms in Southern Brazil. This study investigates conventional high input (C-HI), conventional low input (C-LI), and organic low input (O-LI) pasture-based systems and their effects on quantity and quality of the milk produced. We conducted technical site visits and interviews monthly over one year on 24 family farms (n = 8 per type). C-HI farms had the greatest total area (28.9 ha), greatest percentage of area with annual pasture (38.7%), largest number of lactating animals (26.2) and greatest milk yield per cow (22.8 kg·day−1). O-LI farms had the largest perennial pasture area (52.3%), with the greatest botanical richness during all seasons. Area of perennial pasture was positively correlated with number of species consumed by the animals (R2 = 0.74). Milk from O-LI farms had higher levels of fat and total solids only during the winter. Hygienic and microbiological quality of the milk was poor for all farms and need to be improved. C-HI farms had high milk yield related to high input, C-LI had intermediate characteristics and O-LI utilized a year round perennial pasture as a strategy to diminish the use of supplements in animal diets, which is an important aspect in ensuring production sustainability. PMID:26479369

Impact on food productivity by fossil fuel independence - A case study of a Swedish small-scale integrated organic farm

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johansson, Sheshti [Dept. of Energy and Technology, Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala (Sweden); Belfrage, Kristina [Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala (Sweden); Olsson, Mats [Dept. of Soil and Environment, Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala (Sweden)

2013-02-15

The large-scale industrial agriculture that provides the majority of food at present is dependent upon fossil fuels in the form of tractor fuel, mineral fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation. Yet, the age of cheap and abundant fossil fuels will likely come to an end within the coming decades. In this case study, the productivity of a small-scale farm (8 ha arable land, 5.5 ha meadow, 3.5 ha pasture and 18 ha forest) independent on fossil fuels by using organic methods and draught horse power was investigated. The aim was to quantify its productivity when the animal composition and possible alternatives to tractive power were varied. After an analysis of possible solutions, three scenarios for tractive power were selected: draught horse power, diesel tractor, and combination of draught horse power and rapeseed oil fueled tractor. A model that calculates the amount of food available at the farm in terms of meat, milk egg, and crops, converts it into energy units and calculates how many people can be supplied from the farm was developed. The most reasonable of the scenarios studied was when draught horse power was combined with tractor (and combine harvester) driven on locally produced rapeseed oil. Then the farm will have access to all advantages with the tractor and harvester, e.g., timeliness in harvest and lifting heavy loads, and the renewability and efficiency of draught horse power on smaller fields, and lighter operations. This system was able to support between 66 and 82 persons depending on crop yields, milk yields, meat production, fuel demand for the tractor, and availability of forest grazing. Most likely the production capacity lands on ability to support approximately 68 - 70 persons, and the farm may require fossil fuels to support more than 80 persons. If all farmland globally was to be operated with the same productivity, this would be enough for supplying the global population with food at present.

Organic farming at the farm level

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, Brian H.; Madsen, Niels; Ørum, Jens Erik

as part of a larger project entitled “Economic analyses of the future development of organic farming – effects at the field, farm, sector and macroeconomic level”. The project links effects at the field-level with analyses at the farm level. These effects are then used in sector and macroeconomic analyses......, which are described in other reports from Food and Resource Economic Institute (Jacobsen, 2005 and Andersen et al., 2005). This gives coherent results from the field to the macroeconomic level regarding changes in technology and legislation.......The purpose of this report is to present possible impacts of new technology and changes in legislation on the profitability of different types of organic farms. The aim is also to look at both the current and future trends in the organic area in Denmark. The farm level analyses are carried out...

The effect of feed demand on greenhouse gas emissions and farm profitability for organic and conventional dairy farms.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiefer, Lukas; Menzel, Friederike; Bahrs, Enno

2014-12-01

The reduction of product-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in milk production appears to be necessary. The reduction of emissions on an individual farm might be highly accepted by farm owners if it were accompanied by an increase in profitability. Using life cycle assessments to determine the product carbon footprints (PCF) and farm-level evaluations to record profitability, we explored opportunities for optimization based on analysis of 81 organic and conventional pasture-based dairy farms in southern Germany. The objective of the present study was to detect common determining factors for low PCF and high management incomes (MI) to achieve GHG reductions at the lowest possible operational cost. In our sample, organic farms, which performed economically better than conventional farms, produced PCF that were significantly higher than those produced by conventional farms [1.61 ± 0.29 vs. 1.45 ± 0.28 kg of CO₂ equivalents (CO₂eq) per kg of milk; means ± SD)]. A multiple linear regression analysis of the sample demonstrated that low feed demand per kilogram of milk, high grassland yield, and low forage area requirements per cow are the main factors that decrease PCF. These factors are also useful for improving a farm's profitability in principle. For organic farms, a reduction of feed demand of 100 g/kg of milk resulted in a PCF reduction of 105 g of CO₂eq/kg of milk and an increase in MI of approximately 2.1 euro cents (c)/kg of milk. For conventional farms, a decrease of feed demand of 100 g/kg of milk corresponded to a reduction in PCF of 117 g of CO₂eq/kg of milk and an increase in MI of approximately 3.1 c/kg of milk. Accordingly, farmers could achieve higher profits while reducing GHG emissions. Improved education and training of farmers and consultants regarding GHG mitigation and farm profitability appear to be the best methods of improving efficiency under traditional and organic farming practices.

Effects of stored feed cropping systems and farm size on the profitability of Maine organic dairy farm simulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoshide, A K; Halloran, J M; Kersbergen, R J; Griffin, T S; DeFauw, S L; LaGasse, B J; Jain, S

2011-11-01

United States organic dairy production has increased to meet the growing demand for organic milk. Despite higher prices received for milk, organic dairy farmers have come under increasing financial stress due to increases in concentrated feed prices over the past few years, which can make up one-third of variable costs. Market demand for milk has also leveled in the last year, resulting in some downward pressure on prices paid to dairy farmers. Organic dairy farmers in the Northeast United States have experimented with growing different forage and grain crops to maximize on-farm production of protein and energy to improve profitability. Three representative organic feed systems were simulated using the integrated farm system model for farms with 30, 120, and 220 milk cows. Increasing intensity of equipment use was represented by organic dairy farms growing only perennial sod (low) to those with corn-based forage systems, which purchase supplemental grain (medium) or which produce and feed soybeans (high). The relative profitability of these 3 organic feed systems was strongly dependent on dairy farm size. From results, we suggest smaller organic dairy farms can be more profitable with perennial sod-based rather than corn-based forage systems due to lower fixed costs from using only equipment associated with perennial forage harvest and storage. The largest farm size was more profitable using a corn-based system due to greater economies of scale for growing soybeans, corn grain, winter cereals, and corn silages. At an intermediate farm size of 120 cows, corn-based forage systems were more profitable if perennial sod was not harvested at optimum quality, corn was grown on better soils, or if milk yield was 10% higher. Delayed harvest decreased the protein and energy content of perennial sod crops, requiring more purchased grain to balance the ration and resulting in lower profits. Corn-based systems were less affected by lower perennial forage quality, as corn silage

Technologies in organic farming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lassen, Jesper

2015-01-01

the nutrient gap by recycling sewage sludge, and in particular the criteria applied when these technologies are assessed, are analysed. This part of the analysis shows how organic consumers base their assessment of alternative strategies and technologies primarily on concerns about environmental risks...... to phase out their use of conventional manure before 2021. This, however, raises a number of questions about consumers’ acceptance of the alternative technologies that have been proposed to close the nutrient gap. Drawing on qualitative interviews with Danish organic consumers, this paper first discusses...... what, from a consumers perspective, characterizes the technologies consumers associate with organic production. This part of the analysis shows that by and large consumers regard organic technologies as the opposite of conventional farming. Second, consumers’ perceptions of solutions suggested to close...

Differences in the Financial Management of Conventional, Organic, and Biodynamic Farms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vlašicová Eliška

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The financial management of conventional, organic, and biodynamic farms was evaluated and compared. It is a highly specific issue filling in the gap namely in the area of economic research of biodynamic agriculture. Biodynamic agriculture is a less widespread concept of agriculture, the management of which meets the requirements of organic agriculture. Organic agriculture has still been gaining in importance in the Czech Republic, the number of organic farms has been growing, and availability of organic products has increased, too. Of the Czech farms receiving subsidies from the EU or state subsidies in 2007-2012, a total of 389 were selected for analysis (273 of which were conventional farms, 112 organic farms, and 4 farms were engaged in biodynamic agriculture. Subsidies, Total Costs, Operating Revenue, Profit and Gross Value Added indicators were selected for evaluation. The individual indicators within groups of companies were compared by means of a t-test. The analysis revealed significant differences in the economic indicators of individual types of farms. It was observed that organic enterprises have better economic results than conventional and biodynamic businesses. Subsidies help all types of farms achieve better results. We may hence assume dependence of these farms on subsidies.

Soil management practices under organic farming

Science.gov (United States)

Aly, Adel; Chami Ziad, Al; Hamdy, Atef

2015-04-01

Organic farming methods combine scientific knowledge of ecology and modern technology with traditional farming practices based on naturally occurring biological processes. Soil building practices such as crop rotations, intercropping, symbiotic associations, cover crops, organic fertilizers and minimum tillage are central to organic practices. Those practices encourage soil formation and structure and creating more stable systems. In farm nutrient and energy cycling is increased and the retentive abilities of the soil for nutrients and water are enhanced. Such management techniques also play an important role in soil erosion control. The length of time that the soil is exposed to erosive forces is decreased, soil biodiversity is increased, and nutrient losses are reduced, helping to maintain and enhance soil productivity. Organic farming as systematized and certifiable approach for agriculture, there is no surprise that it faces some challenges among both farmers and public sector. This can be clearly demonstrated particularly in the absence of the essential conditions needed to implement successfully the soil management practices like green manure and composting to improve soil fertility including crop rotation, cover cropping and reduced tillage. Those issues beside others will be fully discussed highlighting their beneficial impact on the environmental soil characteristics. Keywords: soil fertility, organic matter, plant nutrition

Plant cultivation aspects of biogas production in organic farming; Pflanzenbauliche Aspekte der Biogasproduktion im oekologischen Landbau

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schwab, Bernhard [Amt fuer Ernaehrung Landwirtschaft und Forsten, Bamberg (Germany); Miller, Hubert [Biolandhof Miller (Germany)

2012-11-01

The authors of the contribution under consideration report on plant cultivation aspects of biogas production in organic farming. The power generation, the economic aspects of this operating sector, the potential impact on the performance of crop production as well as soil fertility are considered.

Niche farm fresh products: organic and biodynamic

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Annette Nygaard; Baggesen, Dorte Lau

2013-01-01

There has been a general increase in demand for ‘organic’ or ‘biodynamic’ produce. As mineral nitrogen fertilizers are prohibited in organic farming, livestock manure often becomes the central fertilizer. Livestock manure is a known potential source of human pathogens, so it can be speculated...... that the observed increase in vegetable-associated foodborne outbreaks of pathogens is linked to its use. Legislation and guidelines vary regarding minimization of contamination risk in relation to use of livestock manure. An assessment of the effect of differences in management between organic and conventional...

Nitrogen Turnover on Organic and Conventional Mixed Farms

OpenAIRE

Halberg, Niels; Kristensen, Erik Steen; Kristensen, Ib Sillebak

1995-01-01

Separate focus on crop fertilization or feeding practices inadequately describes nitrogen (N) loss from mixed dairy farms because of (1) interaction between animal and crop production and between the production system and the manager, and (2) uncertainties of herd N production and crop N utilization. Therefore a systems approach was used to study N turnover and N efficiency on 16 conventional and 14 organic private Danish farms with mixed animal (dairy) and crop production. There were signifi...

Grazing management for Nordic organic dairy farming

OpenAIRE

Kuusela, Eeva

2005-01-01

The aims of this study were to identify limiting factors and to develop adjusted grazing management for Nordic organic dairy farming conditions. The focus was to combine the aspects of plant, animal and organic production, as they are all involved in organic dairy pastures.

Consumer perception and communication on welfare in organic laying hen farming

OpenAIRE

Heerkens, Jasper; Tuyttens, Frank

2012-01-01

A major reason for increased societal popularity of organic production systems is the growing general discontent with intensive farming practices. However, urbanization leads to limited knowledge of farming and farm animal welfare. Consumers believe organic farming leads to better animal welfare, although most health and welfare issues seen in conventional systems are also found in organic poultry systems. The majority of consumers do not translate attitude and good intention into action, the...

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL MODELS IN ORGANIC FARMING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandra MUSCĂNESCU

2013-10-01

Full Text Available As regards to organic farming, organic farms have a lot of shortcomings in ensuring smooth organization of production due to climatic factors or crop sensitivity and action of pests and diseases, but especially to the high cost of inputs, reduced subsidies and difficulties in obtaining fair prices on the market. Understanding how the organizational structure of the business can compete to ensure efficiency at farm level is an important means to resolve these deficiencies. In this context, this paper aims to identify the characteristics of the organization of organic crop farms starting from an interview-based analysis of two large crop specialised farms in Tulcea and Calaraşi Counties. The information obtained through this method of investigation has been translated into a SWOT analysis and represented the basis for comparison with information gathered from other interviews from two organic farms in Scotland. The main conclusions we reached highlight two types of organization systems, one without integration and another with supply chain integration, very similar to the Scottish ones, but also showing a very obvious difference in the mentality of the farm owners; Romanians focusing on meeting the conditions for certification and maintenance of crops in organic, and the Scots at finding new markets.

Ecological principles underlying the increase of productivity achieved by cereal-grain legume intercrops in organic farming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bedoussac, Laurent; Journet, Etienne-Pascal; Hauggaard-Nielsen, Henrik

2015-01-01

fertilizers use and associated fossil energy consumption. Organic farming, which does not allow the use of chemical, is also regarded as one prototype to enhance the sustainability of modern agriculture while decreasing environmental impacts. Here, we review the potential advantages of eco......-functional intensification in organic farming by intercropping cereal and grain legume species sown and harvested together. Our review is based on a literature analysis reinforced with integration of an original dataset of 58 field experiments conducted since 2001 in contrasted pedo-climatic European conditions in order...... mechanistic understanding is required to propose generic crop management procedures. Also, development of this practice must be achieved with the collaboration of value chain actors such as breeders to select cultivars suited to intercropping...

POLISH ORGANIC FARMING ON THE BACKGROUND OF THE EUROPEAN UNION IN LIGHT OF NEW REGULATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bartosz Mickiewicz

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The theme of the development of organic farming in the EU and in Poland was taken up in the study, pointing out that organic production is an element of the EU agricultural product quality schemes. In this sense, organic production pursues the same objectives under the Common Agricultural Policy which are an integral part of all the EU systems of quality agricultural production. Within the EU, the number of organic farms increased from 124.8 thousand in 2004 to 186.2 thousand in 2010 (49.2%, while the level of organic crops increased respectively from 5.9 million hectares to 9.2 million hectares (55.9%. In Poland in 2013, there were 19,900 certified organic farms adding 6.7 thousand ones which were to undertake organic production during the so-called transition (adaptation period. The average area of an organic farm was twice larger than that of the average size in the country. These farms occupied 1.4% of the total area of agricultural land including farms which are in the stage of transition. This area accounted for 2.0% of arable land in the country. An important part of the functioning of such farms was their certification, which implied products with logos and mandatory labelling. Financial support for organic farming was carried out within the framework of agri-environmental programmes with participation of farmers in the food quality scheme of the RDP. Between 2014–2020, additional actions related to organic farming were undertaken.

Current situation, potentials and prospects for the development of organic farming in Šumadija

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brković Duško

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Šumadija is rich in natural potentials which provide a good basis for the future development of organic farming, given the fact that natural resources are limited. The composition and structure of natural resources are highly suitable for organic production. The region's relatively unpolluted land, favourable climate, abundant water resources and preserved biodiversity are some of the main organic farming requirements satisfied. Organic production is not possible without ensuring at least a minimum level of preservation of natural resources in areas where organic farming is practised; on the other hand, organic production itself has a positive effect on the preservation and improvement of environmental quality in these areas. Small plots of land can be advantageous for this production, particularly in upland areas, and used specifically for organic production as the conversion period is short. They can be used for vegetable farming because the soil is uncontaminated owing to distance from roads. Positive experience indicates that potatoes, rye, oats and root vegetables can be successfully grown in these areas. Another advantage is the wealth of indigenous cultivars of apples, pears and plums which are highly resistant to pathogenic pests and environmental conditions, and hence suitable for cultivation without the use of mineral fertilisers and chemical agents. Major issues currently facing organic farming are a small-scale organic market and low prices of organic products, a low level of consumer awareness of the advantages of organic farming, suspicion and ignorance, low purchasing power, low availability of organic products through sales channels, etc.

Measuring the environmental effects of organic farming: A meta-analysis of structural variables in empirical research.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Ki Song; Choe, Young Chan; Park, Sung Hee

2015-10-01

This study examined the structural variables affecting the environmental effects of organic farming compared to those of conventional farming. A meta-analysis based on 107 studies and 360 observations published from 1977 to 2012 compared energy efficiency (EE) and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) for organic and conventional farming. The meta-analysis systematically analyzed the results of earlier comparative studies and used logistic regression to identify the structural variables that contributed to differences in the effects of organic and conventional farming on the environment. The statistical evidence identified characteristics that differentiated the environmental effects of organic and conventional farming, which is controversial. The results indicated that data sources, sample size and product type significantly affected EE, whereas product type, cropping pattern and measurement unit significantly affected the GHGE of organic farming compared to conventional farming. Superior effects of organic farming on the environment were more likely to appear for larger samples, primary data rather than secondary data, monocropping rather than multicropping, and crops other than fruits and vegetables. The environmental effects of organic farming were not affected by the study period, geographic location, farm size, cropping pattern, or measurement method. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Feeding strategies on certified organic dairy farms in Wisconsin and their effect on milk production and income over feed costs.

Science.gov (United States)

Hardie, C A; Wattiaux, M; Dutreuil, M; Gildersleeve, R; Keuler, N S; Cabrera, V E

2014-07-01

The purposes of this study were (1) to analyze and categorize certified organic Wisconsin dairy farms based on general farm characteristics and feeding strategies during the course of 2010, and (2) to evaluate herd milk production and income over feed costs (IOFC). An on-site survey containing sections on farm demographics, feeding, grazing, and economics was conducted on 69 farms (12.6% survey response rate). A nonhierarchical clustering method using 9 variables related to general farm characteristics, feed supplementation, and grazing was applied to partition the farms into clusters. A scree plot was used to determine the most appropriate number of clusters. Dry matter intake was approximated based on farmer-reported total amounts of feed consumed (feed offered less refusals). Milk production was evaluated using reported milk rolling herd averages (RHA). Income over feed costs was calculated as milk sales minus feed expenses. The farms in clusters 1 (n=8) and 3 (n=32), the large and small high-input farms, respectively, included more feed ingredients in their lactating cow diets and relied more heavily on concentrates than farms in other clusters. Cows on these farms were predominantly Holstein. Clusters 1 and 3 had the highest RHA (6,878 and 7,457 kg/cow per year, respectively) and IOFC ($10.17 and $8.59/lactating cow per day, respectively). The farms in cluster 2 (n=5) were completely seasonal, extremely low-input farms that relied much more heavily on pasture as a source of feed, with 4 out of the 5 farms having all of their operated land in pasture. Farms in cluster 2 relied on fewer feeds during both the grazing and nongrazing seasons compared with farms in the other clusters. These farms had the lowest RHA and IOFC at 3,632 kg/cow per year and $5.76/lactating cow per day, respectively. Cluster 4 (n=24), the partly seasonal, moderate-input, pasture-based cluster, ranked third for RHA and IOFC (5,417 kg/cow per year and $5.92/lactating cow per day

Implementation of bioherbicides and seed treatment in organic farming

OpenAIRE

Kuehne, Stefan; Verschwele, Arnd; von Hoersten, Dieter; Jahn, Marga

2005-01-01

The paper gives an overview over the prospects and risks of the application of bioherbicides in Organic Farming and wants to support the general acceptance by the EEC Council Regulation on Organic Production of Agricultural Products. Another problem of current importance is the maintenance of seed health. Several methods of seed treatments and their practical use are described (hot water, hot air, microwave steam, radio-frequency, low energy electrons, micro-organisms and natural substances).

Contribution of organic farming to public goods in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jespersen, Lizzie Melby; Baggesen, Dorte Lau; Fog, Erik

2017-01-01

€”in particular in relation to the public goods Energy and Climate, which at present are not addressed in the EU Organic Regulation. Moreover, some organic farming requirements and practices cause dilemmas; e.g. more space per animal and outdoor access improves Animal Health and Welfare but at the same time has......The potential contribution of organic farming to the public goods, ‘Nature and Biodiversity’, ‘Environment’, ‘Energy and Climate’, ‘Human Health and Welfare’ and ‘Animal Health and Welfare’ in Denmark is guided and partly secured by the principles and specific requirements...... of the EU Organic Regulation. However, other factors, such as the production type, farm size, geographical location and—not the least—the management of the farm, also influence the contribution. Using the ban on synthetic pesticides and restricted use of antibiotics, including the requirements...

ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS OF ORGANIC CROP AND ANIMAL FARMS IN ROMANIA. COMPARATIVE EVOLUTIONS

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Alexandra MUSCĂNESCU

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The organic sector in our country, although as shown in continuous development, faces a multitude of problems: the climatic conditions of our country, characterized by periods of drought in many parts of the country, high input prices, the majority of which are imported; difficulties in identifying markets for products, reduced subsidies, standardized conditions difficult to meet, etc. The problems the sector is facing reflect in the organization of the production activity and hence the economic performance of farm production. Accordingly, the aim of this paper was to analyze on the basis of annual financial and accounting information collected in the two vegetable farms and the two animal breeding farms, their efficiency / inefficiency, and the results were compared to identify the causes of the differences obtained in the efficiency at a farm level. The results obtained reveal a higher level of return on integrated vegetable farm in a joint recovery and a high efficiency for chain integrated animal farms.

Measures to support the development of organic farming in the EU and Serbia

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Roljević-Nikolić Svetlana

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Aim of this paper work is analyzing the situation in the sector of organic agriculture, as well as system of support that this production provides in the European Union and Serbia. Organic farming shows a dynamic process of growth and development, especially in economically developed countries. In the past ten years, the area under organic production in the EU increased by 70%, the number of certified producers increased by 60%, while the total market value doubled. On the other hand, the growth and development of organic agriculture in Serbia is very slow. Currently, the area under organic production accounted for only 0.4% of total utilized agricultural area, while in this mode of food production certified 0.3% of the total number of farms. Intensive growth of organic farming in the EU provides a stable support both in terms of rate and financial resources, while in Serbia has been changed not only amount of support from year to year but also types of support. On this basis, it can be concluded that a stable government support is crucial for boosting growth and improving the sector of organic agriculture.

Systems of organic farming in spring vetch I: Biological response of sucking insect pests

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Ivelina Nikolova

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Four systems of organic farming and a conventional farming system were studied over the period 2012-2014. The organic system trial variants included: I – an organic farming system without any biological products used (growth under natural soil fertility – Control; II – an organic farming system involving the use of a biological foliar fertilizer and a biological plant growth regulator (Polyversum+Biofa; III – an organic farming system in which a biological insecticide (NeemAzal T/S was used; IV – an organic farming system including a combination of three organic products: the foliar fertilizer, the plant growth regulator and the bioinsecticide (Polyversum+Biofa+NeemAzal T/S. Variant V represented a conventional farming system in which synthetic products were used in combination (foliar fertilizer, plant growth regulator and insecticide: Masterblend+Flordimex 420+Nurelle D. Treatment of vetch plants with the biological insecticide NeemAzal in combination with Biofa and Polyversum resulted in the lowest density of sucking pests, compared to all other organic farming methods tested (i.e. without NeemAzal, with NeemAzal alone, and its combination with Biofa and Polyversum. The greatest reduction in pest numbers during the vegetation period in that variant was observed in species of the order Thysanoptera (36.0-41.4%, followed by Hemiptera, and the families Aphididae (31.6-40.3% and Cicadellidae (27.3-28.6%. This combination showed an efficient synergistic interaction and an increase in biological efficacy as compared to individual application of NeemAzal. The highest toxic impact was found against Thrips tabaci, followed by Acyrthosiphon pisum. An analysis of variance regarding the efficacy against the species A. pisum, E. pteridis and T. tabaci showed that type of treatment had the most dominant influence and statistically significant impact.

Long-term organic farming fosters below and aboveground biota: Implications for soil quality, biological control and productivity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Birkhofer, K.; Bezemer, TM; Bloem, J

2008-01-01

 Organic farming may contribute substantially to future agricultural production worldwide by improving soil quality and pest control, thereby reducing environmental impacts of conventional farming. We investigated in a comprehensive way soil chemical, as well as below and aboveground biological...... with (CONFYM) or without manure (CONMIN) and herbicide application within a long-term agricultural experiment (DOK trial, Switzerland). Soil carbon content was significantly higher in systems receiving farmyard manure and concomitantly microbial biomass (fungi and bacteria) was increased. Microbial activity...... parameters, such as microbial basal respiration and nitrogen mineralization, showed an opposite pattern, suggesting that soil carbon in the conventional system (CONFYM) was more easily accessible to microorganisms than in organic systems. Bacterivorous nematodes and earthworms were most abundant in systems...

CERTIFICATION OF ORGANIC AGRICULTURE FOR RICE PRODUCTION IN INDONESIA

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Dedik Budianta

2016-11-01

Full Text Available To make better the life, it is required safety foods for health. The health foods can be satisfied by organic farming. Organic farming is farming system based on biomass recycling or eliminating the use of materials as a synthetic agrochemical inputs. To determine whether the result of rice called as an organic product needs to be certified by the Organic Certification Board (OCB. According to the Indonesian National Standard (INS 6729: 2013, organic farming systems (OFS are not only limited to not use material agrochemical synthetic, but must meet the requirements of OFS in rice production ranging from cultivating, handling, storage, processing, transportation, labeling, marketing, production facilities and other materials that are allowed start on farm to off farm should be separated from conventional agriculture. The farm is just a negate the use of synthetic agrochemicals without regard to the cultivation process and the system of post-harvest organic results are said to be premium food which is not as organic food, because organic food is food produced from OFS by applying processing practices to preserve the ecosystem of sustainable, control of weeds, pests, diseases, selection and crop rotation, water management, land preparation and planting and the use of biological materials. Thus the system of organic agriculture is a holistic management system to improve and develop the agro-ecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. The first step that must be done is the conversion of land for food crops from anorganic to organic farming for 2 years did not get the requisite amount of agrochemical applied to the soil for annual crop and 3 years for perennial crops. If agriculture in paddy soil can control the conventional farms into OFS, then the resulting rice is as an organic product.

Agro-environmental evaluation of vineyard management using organic farming and integrated plant production systems

OpenAIRE

FORGET, D.; LACOMBE, J.; DURAND, A.

2009-01-01

Organic farming is often considered to be the most environmentally-friendly crop management system, even if integrated production also aims at decreasing the impact of agriculture on the natural environment. In order to establish references for the agro-environmental evaluation of these two production systems in relation to grape growing, INRA carried out an initial study from 2001 to 2004 at the plot scale. This study focused on two grape varieties (Merlot N and Cabernet Sauvignon) in its Co...

Applying the principles of welfare and quality of production in the organic farm of the laying hens

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Jana Zdechovanová

2013-07-01

Full Text Available European Union  banned with Council Directive No. 74/1999/EC use of the conventional battery cages for laying hens in European Union with effect from January 1, 2012. By this time much attention was paid to the assessment of laying hens welfare in the modified breeding system,namely from aspect of behavior and expression fyziological stress. At present are used the enriched cages,   which device is defined by the Code of laying hens living conditions. Quantification of intensity and sequence of the events in different behaviour and a time regime can contribute to knowledge of time spending of the laying hens  in the breeding area and to determining of prioritizing their behavior.The aim of our research was assessment an application of principles laying hens welfare in the farm, their production and egg quality. An object of investigation was ecological farm of laying hens. In the experiment were observed thehousing conditions and nutrition of laying hens in farm, egg production, egg weight at laying hens old 42 weeks and selected indicators of chemical formation of the eggs. In the farm were reared laying hens ISA Brown, which are high-productive and the most   the most widely used in EU. The informations and data on farm, laying hen hall, breeding facility, breeding conditions, the behavior of the laying hens, nutrition, feeding and egg production were obtained by personal visit an organic farm and informations which  the farmer records and stores. The informations about the behavior of laying hens were obtained by observing and comparing with the knowledge and data of the Slovak Government regulation on December 11, 2002, which   minimum standards determine for the protection of laying hens.The informations on feed were obtained  directly from an organic farm and   feed company that followed by accordance  the minimum content of nutrients and energy in accordance with the needs of the laying hens. Egg production was

The Production of Goat Milk under Organic Requests

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Roger Stan

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Organic farming has turned into a very important subject who consists in a food production label and it has become very popular. That is because, especially in the EU the majority of the dairy goat farms want or have already applied the organic farming in order to benefit not only from the good price of milk but also from the given positive image. The main issue of this study is the high production of goat milk using organic farming under specific regulations. Therefore, the organic farming is based on a safe environment, 100% organic feedstuffs, healthy animals (by prevention of diseases, natural mating, reduced stress in animal rearing, modern stables and milking equipment. A few feeding rations were established to improve the quantity and quality of goat milk.

Sustainability of organic food production: challenges and innovations.

Science.gov (United States)

Niggli, Urs

2015-02-01

The greatest challenge for agriculture is to reduce the trade-offs between productivity and long-term sustainability. Therefore, it is interesting to analyse organic agriculture which is a given set of farm practices that emphasise ecological sustainability. Organic agriculture can be characterised as being less driven by off-farm inputs and being better embedded in ecosystem functions. The literature on public goods and non-commodity outputs of organic farms is overwhelming. Most publications address the positive effects of organic farming on soil fertility, biodiversity maintenance and protection of the natural resources of soil, water and air. As a consequence of focusing on public goods, organic agriculture is less productive. Meta-analyses show that organic agriculture yields range between 0·75 and 0·8 of conventional agriculture. Best practice examples from disadvantaged sites and climate conditions show equal or, in the case of subsistence farming in Sub-Saharan Africa, higher productivity of organic agriculture. Hence, organic agriculture is likely to be a good model for productive and sustainable food production. Underfunding in R&D addressing specific bottlenecks of organic agriculture are the main cause for both crop and livestock yield gaps. Therefore, the potential for improving the performance of organic agriculture through agricultural research is huge. Although organic farming is a niche in most countries, it is at the verge of becoming mainstream in leading European countries. Consumer demand has grown over the past two decades and does not seem to be a limiting factor for the future development of organic agriculture.

ORGANIC PRODUCTS, CONSUMER BEHAVIOR ON MARKET AND EUROPEAN ORGANIC PRODUCT MARKET SITUATION

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Marcela Chreneková

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Normal 0 21 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 The market of organic products around the world increased its volume in Central and Eastern Europe with organic food market has a number of shared features, which include the relatively low demand for organic food, low share of regular customers, the problems of producers marketing, the lack of enterprises which process organic products. Consumer behavior purchasing organic foods is influenced by several factors, among which is dominated consumer personality, income, finances and lifestyle, as well as psychological factors such as perception, motivation, learning, cognition and attitudes. Cultural and social factors in consumer behavior exhibit a lesser degree. Organic fruit and organic vegetables quality is generally higher for content of biologically active substances such as vitamins, polyphenols and flavonoids. The content of pesticide residues in organic food is significantly lower than conventional production. Regular monitoring of chemical and microbiological safety of organic products already in the primary production occurring in the raw state and after working in various sectors of food, an intensification of awareness raising and targeted increased support for organic agriculture. Multifunctional sector and increased support for family farms oriented for sectors with higher added value than the home sale, production processing on the farm and so on. By support of the sale of high quality domestic production by the state will be possible to persuade more people to personal health status and greater consumption of organic food  affects the health and prevent the occurrence of various diseases.doi:10.5219/96  

Differences in sheep and goats milk fatty acid profile between conventional and organic farming systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsiplakou, Eleni; Kotrotsios, Vaios; Hadjigeorgiou, Ioannis; Zervas, George

2010-08-01

The objective of this study was to investigate whether there is a difference in chemical composition and particularly in fatty acid (FA) profile, with emphasis on cis-9, trans-11 CLA, of milk obtained from conventional and organic dairy sheep and goats farms under the farming conditions practiced in Greece. Four dairy sheep and four dairy goat farms, representing common conventional production systems and another four dairy sheep and four dairy goat farms, organically certified, representing organic production and feeding systems were selected from all over Greece. One hundred and sixty two individual milk samples were collected from those farms in January-February 2009, about three months after parturition. The milk samples were analyzed for their main chemical constituents and their FA profile. The results showed that the production system affected milk chemical composition: in particular fat content was lower in the organic sheep and goats milk compared with the corresponding conventional. Milk from organic sheep had higher content in MUFA, PUFA, alpha-LNA, cis-9, trans-11 CLA, and omega-3 FA, whereas in milk from organic goats alpha-LNA and omega-3 FA content was higher than that in conventional one. These differences are, mainly, attributed to different feeding practices used by the two production systems. The results of this study show that the organic milk produced under the farming conditions practiced in Greece has higher nutritional value, due to its FA profile, compared with the respective conventional milk.

Agriculture: Organic Farming

Science.gov (United States)

Organic Farming - Organically grown food is food grown and processed using no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. Pesticides derived from natural sources (such as biological pesticides) may be used in producing organically grown food.

A method for assessing work productivity and flexibility in livestock farms.

Science.gov (United States)

Hostiou, N; Dedieu, B

2012-05-01

Changes affecting livestock farming systems have made farm work a central concern for both the sector and for farmers themselves. Increased pressure on farms to be competitive and productive together with farmers' demand for greater autonomy, holidays or time to spend on private activities and the family converge to underline the two key dimensions of work - productivity and flexibility - required for the assessment of work organization. This paper proposes a method called the QuaeWork (QUAlification and Evaluation of Work in livestock farms) to assess work productivity and flexibility on a farm, and its use to identify how livestock management can contribute to work organization on dairy farms. The QuaeWork method was set up through an iterative process combining surveys conducted with farmers in two regions of France, discussions with different experts and literature review. The QuaeWork was applied on a sample of seven dairy farms in the southern Massif Central in France to identify patterns of how livestock management contributes to work organization. The QuaeWork was used to analyse work organization over the year through a systemic approach to the farm, integrating interactions between herd and land management, workforce composition, equipment facilities and combinations of activities through a characterization of 'who does what, when and for how long'. The criteria for assessing work productivity were work duration (routine work, seasonal work) and work efficiency (per livestock unit or hectare of utilized agricultural area). The criteria for assessing work flexibility were room for manoeuvre and adjustments to internal and external events. The three main patterns of livestock management practices to work organization were identified. In pattern-1, farmers used indoor stable feeding practices with delegated work, with moderate room for manoeuvre and efficiency. In pattern-3, farmers used simplified milking, reproduction and breeding practices to seasonalize

Level of the farm intensity organisation as the index of environmental sustainable agricultural production

OpenAIRE

Józef Sawa

2009-01-01

Intensity of the farm production organisation in relation to soil organic matter balance in different degree of mechanization process of work for 42 farms situated in different regions of Poland was analysed. Coefficients agricultural production process in ecological, economic and social aspects were presented also. It was shown that indexes; intensity farm production organisation and soil organic matter balance are correlated.

Prospects of Organic Farming in Bhutan: A SWOT Analysis

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Sonam Tashi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available A study was conducted to investigate the prospects of organic agriculture (OA in Bhutan from the experts’ perspective, particularly the SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat aspect. Thirty-five Bhutanese experts were interviewed. The strengths of OA were (i good alignment of the principles of OA with Bhutan’s development philosophy, (ii strong policy and political support, (iii pristine environment, (iv OA practices similar to traditional farming, and (v compatibility of OA with the local farming knowledge. The major weaknesses were (i a lack of awareness of the benefits of OA, (ii lack of incentives, (iii shortage of farm labor, (iv small and irregular supply of organic product, (v lack of clarity in policy, (vi limited plant protection materials, and (vii a lack of coordination between agencies. Opportunities were (i a huge regional and global organic market, (ii promoting healthy lifestyle, (iii sustainable use of resources, (iv lowering dependence on food and input imports, (v development of local organic manure suppliers, (vi creating seed sovereignty, (vii conserving local crops, (viii building soil fertility, (ix introducing premium price for organic products, and (x addressing unemployment. Threats included (i increasing incidences of pests and diseases, (ii decline in sources of organic manure, and (iii limited sources of organic manures and fertilizers.

Promotion of Leguminous Plants and Organic Inputs for Improving Soil Productivity in smallholder Farms of Central Highlands of Kenya

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mugwe, J.

2002-01-01

Declining soil and productivity is a major problem facing smallholder farmers in the central highlands of Kenya.This decline is caused by continuous cultivation of soils without adequate addition of external inputs in form of manure and fertilizers. Use of inorganic fertilisers is low due to high costs that are beyond the reach of majority of smallholder farmers. A multidisciplinary on-farm participatory was therefore initiated in the main maize growing areas of the central highlands of Kenya in 2000 with the main objective of addressing this problem. Results after four cropping seasons indicate that organic residues such as leguminous shrubs (Leucaena trichandra and calliandra calothrysus), herbaceous legumes (Crotalaria ochroleuca and Mucuna pruriens), Tithonia diversifolia, farm yard manure alone or with combination of 30 kg N ha -1 from inorganic sources can be used effectively to improve maize performance in the region.Over the four seasons under study, these organic residues gave an average mean maize grain yield in the range of 3.4 to 4.0 t ha -1 which is more than 1.0 t ha -1 that farmers in the area get from their farms. when the farmers were asked to select technologies that they wanted to test, majority selected tithonia, calliandra, leucaena and farm yard manure. This was attributed to availability of these organic resources at the farm level as tithonia could be cut along the roadsides and more than 80% of the farmers' own livestock. These results through preliminary, indicate that organic resources being tested in this trial are effective in improving maize yields and farmers are willing to try these on their farms

Organic farming benefits local plant diversity in vineyard farms located in intensive agricultural landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Nascimbene, Juri; Marini, Lorenzo; Paoletti, Maurizio G

2012-05-01

The majority of research on organic farming has considered arable and grassland farming systems in Central and Northern Europe, whilst only a few studies have been carried out in Mediterranean agro-systems, such as vineyards, despite their economic importance. The main aim of the study was to test whether organic farming enhances local plant species richness in both crop and non-crop areas of vineyard farms located in intensive conventional landscapes. Nine conventional and nine organic farms were selected in an intensively cultivated region (i.e. no gradient in landscape composition) in northern Italy. In each farm, vascular plants were sampled in one vineyard and in two non-crop linear habitats, grass strips and hedgerows, adjacent to vineyards and therefore potentially influenced by farming. We used linear mixed models to test the effect of farming, and species longevity (annual vs. perennial) separately for the three habitat types. In our intensive agricultural landscapes organic farming promoted local plant species richness in vineyard fields, and grassland strips while we found no effect for linear hedgerows. Differences in species richness were not associated to differences in species composition, indicating that similar plant communities were hosted in vineyard farms independently of the management type. This negative effect of conventional farming was probably due to the use of herbicides, while mechanical operations and mowing regime did not differ between organic and conventional farms. In grassland strips, and only marginally in vineyards, we found that the positive effect of organic farming was more pronounced for perennial than annual species.

Level of the farm intensity organisation as the index of environmental sustainable agricultural production

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Józef Sawa

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Intensity of the farm production organisation in relation to soil organic matter balance in different degree of mechanization process of work for 42 farms situated in different regions of Poland was analysed. Coefficients agricultural production process in ecological, economic and social aspects were presented also. It was shown that indexes; intensity farm production organisation and soil organic matter balance are correlated.

Impacts of Alternative Implementations of the Single Farm Payment on Organi-cally and Conventionally Producing Farms in Austria

OpenAIRE

Schmid, Erwin; Sinabell, Franz

2007-01-01

In 2003, the Common Agricultural Policy underwent a substantial reform. Direct pay-ments that were linked to the production of certain crops and livestock were abolished. Alternatively, the Single Farm Payment was introduced in EU-15 Member States. We investigate the distributional consequences of alternative implementation choices for organic farms in Austria. Results show that net-returns of farms and the distribution of farm revenues depend on the particular implementation of the reform.

Sustainability evaluation of automatic and conventional milking systems on organic dairy farms in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Oudshoorn, Frank W; Kristensen, Troels; van der Zijpp, A J

2012-01-01

Organic dairy farmers in Denmark currently are implementing automatic milking systems (AMS) to save labour costs. As organic agriculture aims at sustainable production, the introduction of a new technology such as AMS should be evaluated regarding its economic viability, environmental impact...... conventional milking systems (CMS). Sustainability indicators were quantified for economic performance of the farm, on-farm eutrophication, on-farm biodiversity, animal welfare (including health), grazing time, milk composition and labour time. Milk yield per cow per year was higher for AMS farms (9021 kg...... was not due to the use of AMS but was caused by a higher export of manure by the CMS farms. The number of veterinary treatments per cow per year was unaffected by AMS use, but culling rate was higher for the AMS farms (38%) than for the CMS farms (32%). There was no difference between the AMS and CMS farms...

Restricted use of antibiotics in organic pig farming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aabo, Søren; Jensen, Annette Nygaard

2013-01-01

Can the restricted use of antibiotics in organic pig farming be documented to provide a safer, high quality meat product with less antibiotic resistant bacteria? The project SafeOrganic aims to document that the restricted use of antimicrobials in organic pig production leads to lower levels...... of antibiotic resistant bacteria compared with the level in conventional pigs. However, the project will also address the risk of losing this quality parameter, due to a widespread practice of slaughtering organic pigs together with conventional pigs, implying a risk of cross-contamination....

Reducing pesticide use while preserving crop productivity and profitability on arable farms.

Science.gov (United States)

Lechenet, Martin; Dessaint, Fabrice; Py, Guillaume; Makowski, David; Munier-Jolain, Nicolas

2017-03-01

Achieving sustainable crop production while feeding an increasing world population is one of the most ambitious challenges of this century 1 . Meeting this challenge will necessarily imply a drastic reduction of adverse environmental effects arising from agricultural activities 2 . The reduction of pesticide use is one of the critical drivers to preserve the environment and human health. Pesticide use could be reduced through the adoption of new production strategies 3-5 ; however, whether substantial reductions of pesticide use are possible without impacting crop productivity and profitability is debatable 6-17 . Here, we demonstrated that low pesticide use rarely decreases productivity and profitability in arable farms. We analysed the potential conflicts between pesticide use and productivity or profitability with data from 946 non-organic arable commercial farms showing contrasting levels of pesticide use and covering a wide range of production situations in France. We failed to detect any conflict between low pesticide use and both high productivity and high profitability in 77% of the farms. We estimated that total pesticide use could be reduced by 42% without any negative effects on both productivity and profitability in 59% of farms from our national network. This corresponded to an average reduction of 37, 47 and 60% of herbicide, fungicide and insecticide use, respectively. The potential for reducing pesticide use appeared higher in farms with currently high pesticide use than in farms with low pesticide use. Our results demonstrate that pesticide reduction is already accessible to farmers in most production situations. This would imply profound changes in market organization and trade balance.

Environmental impacts of organic and conventional agricultural products--are the differences captured by life cycle assessment?

Science.gov (United States)

Meier, Matthias S; Stoessel, Franziska; Jungbluth, Niels; Juraske, Ronnie; Schader, Christian; Stolze, Matthias

2015-02-01

deviances for organic systems between the amount of N calculated by emission models and the actual amount of N available for emissions. Improvements are needed regarding a more precise differentiation between farming systems and regarding the development of N emission models that better represent actual N-fluxes within different systems. We recommend adjusting N- and C-emissions during farmyard manure management and farmyard manure fertilization in plant production to the feed ration provided in the animal production of the respective farming system leading to different N- and C-compositions within the excrement. In the future, more representative background data on organic farming systems (e.g. N content of farmyard manure) should be generated and compiled so as to be available for use within LCA inventories. Finally, we recommend conducting consequential LCA - if possible - when using LCA for policy-making or strategic environmental planning to account for different functions of the analyzed farming systems. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Wind farm production estimates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Torben J.; Larsen, Gunner Chr.; Aagaard Madsen, Helge

2012-01-01

In this paper, the Dynamic Wake Meandering (DWM) model is applied for simulation of wind farm production. In addition to the numerical simulations, measured data have been analyzed in order to provide the basis for a full-scale verification of the model performance. The basic idea behind the DWMm......In this paper, the Dynamic Wake Meandering (DWM) model is applied for simulation of wind farm production. In addition to the numerical simulations, measured data have been analyzed in order to provide the basis for a full-scale verification of the model performance. The basic idea behind...... the DWMmodel is to model the in- stationary wind farm flow characteristics by considering wind turbine wakes as passive tracers continuously emitted from the wind farm turbines each with a downstream transport pro- cess dictated by large scale turbulent eddies (lateral and ver- tical transportation; i.......e. meandering) and Taylor advection. For the present purpose, the DWM model has been im- plemented in the aeroelastic code HAWC2 [1], and the per- formance of the resulting model complex is mainly verified by comparing simulated and measured loads for the Dutch off-shore Egmond aan Zee wind farm [2]. This farm...

Organic livestock production in Uganda: potentials, challenges and prospects.

Science.gov (United States)

Nalubwama, Sylvia Muwanga; Mugisha, Anthony; Vaarst, Mette

2011-04-01

Development in organic farming has been stimulated by farmers and consumers becoming interested in healthy food products and sustainable environment. Organic agriculture is a holistic production management system which is based on the principles of health, ecology, care, and fairness. Organic development in Uganda has focused more on the crop sector than livestock sector and has primarily involved the private sector, like organic products export companies and non-governmental organizations. Agriculture in Uganda and many African countries is predominantly traditional, less mechanized, and is usually associated with minimum use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and drugs. This low external input agriculture also referred to as "organic by default" can create basis for organic farming where agroecological methods are introduced and present an alternative in terms of intensification to the current low-input/low-output systems. Traditional farming should not be confused with organic farming because in some cases, the existing traditional practices have consequences like overstocking and less attention to soil improvement as well as to animal health and welfare, which is contrary to organic principles of ecology, fairness, health, and care. Challenges of implementing sustainable organic practices in the Ugandan livestock sector threaten its future development, such as vectors and vector-borne diseases, organic feed insufficiency, limited education, research, and support to organic livestock production. The prospects of organic livestock development in Uganda can be enhanced with more scientific research in organic livestock production under local conditions and strengthening institutional support.

The Impact of Values Concerning Nature on Practice and Knowledge in Organic Farming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaltoft, Pernille

1997-01-01

that the view of nature influence practise: The focus of the organic farmers on environmental concerns, product quality concerns, earth-fertility concerns, utilitarian ethics or bioethics means different practical choices. Four paradigms of knowledge related to organic farming has further more been identified...... impact on the development of the organic farming and on the conceptualising of environmental issues in society and thereby the initiatives taken: Priority is given to the more conventional ways of understanding: obtaining sustainability by not using poison, treating manure as a question of optimising...... nitrogen and the other nutrients. On the other hand learning processes take place in and around the organic farms extending the farmers concepts of sustainability....

Organic farming at the heart of the rural development policy. The example of Austria

OpenAIRE

Darnhofer, Ika

2006-01-01

With about 10% of all Austrian farms being certified organic, Austria has one of the highest rates of organic farms in the European Union. Organic farms receive payments within the agri-environmental programme (AEP). With about 78% of farms participating in the AEP, Austria is also leading the field in the EU. The high participation rates can be seen as a result of a successful Austrian agricultural policy which aims to reconcile agricultural production, environmental protection, social cohes...

A Review of Organic Farming for Sustainable Agriculture in Northern India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. K. Yadav

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In the post independence period, the most important challenge in India has been to produce enough food for the growing population. Hence, high-yielding varieties are being used with infusion of irrigation water, fertilizers, or pesticides. This combination of high-yielding production technology has helped the country develop a food surplus as well as contributing to concerns of soil health, environmental pollution, pesticide toxicity, and sustainability of agricultural production. Scientists and policy planners are, therefore, reassessing agricultural practices which relied more on biological inputs rather than heavy usage of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Organic farming can provide quality food without adversely affecting the soil’s health and the environment; however, a concern is whether large-scale organic farming will produce enough food for India’s large population. Certified organic products including all varieties of food products including basmati rice, pulses, honey, tea, spices, coffee, oilseeds, fruits, cereals, herbal medicines, and their value-added products are produced in India. Non edible organic products include cotton, garments, cosmetics, functional food products, body care products, and similar products. The production of these organic crops and products is reviewed with regard to sustainable agriculture in northern India.

Effect of Localities and organic Fertilizers on Yield in Conditions of Organic Farming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiri Antosovsky

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Nitrogen fertilization cannot be used by actual needs of plants during vegetation in organic farming. The proper crop rotation and harmonic nutrition are necessary for good and quality products. The methods of treatment are mainly realized by cultivation of green manure crop and fertilizing by organic fertilizers. The aim of the long-term experiment was to evaluate the effect of different localities and different organic fertilizers on crop yield in organic farming. Variants of fertilization included in the experiment are: 1. Unfertilized control, 2. Green manure, 3. Green manure + renewable external sources, 4. Green manure + renewable external sources + auxiliary substances, 5. Green manure + farm fertilizers, 6. Green manure + farm fertilizers + auxiliary substances. The experiment started by sowing of winter wheat so green manure crop was not grown in the first experimental year. The highest yield of winter wheat grain coming from the first year of the experiment was observed on the variant with renewable external sources (digestate. Average grain yield on this variant was about 7.12 t/ha (up to 0.74 t/ha increased than the unfertilized control. Average yield of potatoes from the second year of the experiment was the highest after combination with green manure + renewable external sources (compost + digestate + auxiliary substances. This variant achieved yield about 34.08 t/ha, which is increased by 9.35 t/ha compared to the control variant. Results from this two-year experiment showed that the most suitable combination of fertilization with or without green manure crop is compost + digestate. These results were probably caused by higher content of nitrogen in organic fertilizers (compost + digestate used in this variant compared to other variants. Statistical difference of achieved yields was observed between each experimental station in both experimental years.

Organic production in a dynamic CGE model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, Lars Bo

2004-01-01

for conventional production into land for organic production, a period of two years must pass before the land being transformed can be used for organic production. During that time, the land is counted as land of the organic industry, but it can only produce the conventional product. To handle this rule, we make......Concerns about the impact of modern agriculture on the environment have in recent years led to an interest in supporting the development of organic farming. In addition to environmental benefits, the aim is to encourage the provision of other “multifunctional” properties of organic farming...... such as rural amenities and rural development that are spillover benefit additional to the supply of food. In this paper we further develop an existing dynamic general equilibrium model of the Danish economy to specifically incorporate organic farming. In the model and input-output data each primary...

Relations between views of nature and practices in Danish organic farming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaltoft, Pernille

1996-01-01

research in organic farming: The organic farming in practice represents a variety of views of nature. So does scientific work, but especially the natural scientifical and agrotechnical sciences has no tradition for reflecting that kind of matters. If the scientific approaches do not try to make......The paper presents and discusses empirical results from my ph.d. study concerning environmental ethics as a concept of practice. The theoretical approach to the study of environmental ethics is not purely philosophical. It questions what guides professionals in action with nature (farmers....... These findings are related to the actual manuring strategies, diversity in crops and products and ways of treating the herd at the same farms. The empirical study is methodologically based on qualitative methods inspired by phenomenology, ethnography and narrativity.The outcome is four distinct groups of organic...

Identifying sources of metal exposure in organic and conventional dairy farming.

Science.gov (United States)

López-Alonso, M; Rey-Crespo, F; Herrero-Latorre, C; Miranda, M

2017-10-01

In humans the main route of exposure to toxic metals is through the diet, and there is therefore a clear need for this source of contamination to be minimized, particularly in food of animal origin. For this purpose, the various sources of toxic metals in livestock farming (which vary depending on the production system) must be taken into account. The objectives of the present study were to establish the profile of metal exposure in dairy cattle in Spain and to determine, by chemometric (multivariate statistical) analysis, any differences between organic and conventional systems. Blood samples from 522 cows (341 from organic farms and 181 from conventional farms) were analysed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to determine the concentrations of 14 elements: As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, I, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se and Zn. In conventional systems the generally high and balanced trace element concentrations in the mineral-supplemented concentrate feed strongly determined the metal status of the cattle. However, in organic systems, soil ingestion was an important contributing factor. Our results demonstrate that general information about the effects of mineral supplementation in conventional farming cannot be directly extrapolated to organic farming and special attention should be given to the contribution of ingestion of soil during grazing and/or ingestion of soil contaminated forage. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Holstein-Friesian milk performance in organic farming in North Spain: Comparison with other systems and breeds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruth Rodríguez-Bermúdez

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Organic systems are highly dependent on the environment and require animals well adapted to local conditions. In Spain, organic dairy farmers are not satisfied with the productive performance of their herds and ask for technical advice to obtain suitable animals for organic systems. The milk productive performance (milk yield, nutritional composition, and somatic cell count of Holstein-Friesian cows in organic farming in North Spain compared with conventional farms has been analysed. When breed diversity was present in the same organic farm, Holstein-Friesian milk performance was compared with other breeds and/or crosses. Holstein-Friesian cows in organic farming produce slightly less milk than grazing conventional cows, but milk was similar in composition and somatic cell count across systems. The limited data from organic farms where breed diversity exists indicate that Holstein-Friesian cows produce numerically more milk than other breeds and crosses but with statistically lower protein content. Considering that in Spain organic milk production is mostly used for liquid milk consumption and that the payment system is based only on milk volume, Holstein-Friesian cows would better fit the farmer interests than other breeds or crosses. However, in addition to productive performance, reproductive efficiency, animal health and consumer’s preferences should be fully considered when selecting a breed for organic production. If Holstein-Friesian was the selected breed, efforts should be made to identify cows within the breed that are best adapted to organic conditions. New productive, reproductive, nutritional and economic studies would be needed to develop a genetic merit index for organic systems.

Orchid bees as bio-indicators for organic coffee farms in Costa Rica: does farm size affect their abundance?

Science.gov (United States)

Hedström, Ingemar; Denzel, Andrew; Owens, Gareth

2006-09-01

The potential of Euglossini bees, especially Euglossa, as biological indicators of organic vs nonorganic coffee farms was studied in Atenas and San Isidro, Alajuela, Costa Rica using 1.8-cineole as lure. Observations were made for three days at each of four farms and complemented with data from a year of observations. Orchid bees were in greater abundance in the organic farms (t-Student test). However, lower abundances suggest that an organic farm may be negatively affected by the proximity of non-organic farms, depending on its size and distance. Orchid bees may be indicators of organic coffee farms.

Comparing organic farming and land sparing: optimizing yield and butterfly populations at a landscape scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Hodgson, Jenny A; Kunin, William E; Thomas, Chris D; Benton, Tim G; Gabriel, Doreen

2010-11-01

Organic farming aims to be wildlife-friendly, but it may not benefit wildlife overall if much greater areas are needed to produce a given quantity of food. We measured the density and species richness of butterflies on organic farms, conventional farms and grassland nature reserves in 16 landscapes. Organic farms supported a higher density of butterflies than conventional farms, but a lower density than reserves. Using our data, we predict the optimal land-use strategy to maintain yield whilst maximizing butterfly abundance under different scenarios. Farming conventionally and sparing land as nature reserves is better for butterflies when the organic yield per hectare falls below 87% of conventional yield. However, if the spared land is simply extra field margins, organic farming is optimal whenever organic yields are over 35% of conventional yields. The optimal balance of land sparing and wildlife-friendly farming to maintain production and biodiversity will differ between landscapes. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

Some criteria for landscape quality applied on an organic goat farm in Gelderland, the Netherlands.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hendriks, K.; Stobbelaar, D.J.; Mansvelt, van J.D.

1997-01-01

Within the framework of the concerted action 'The landscape and nature production capacity of organic/sustainable types of agriculture', the authors visited the organic goat farm Caprica to test some criteria on farm level

The Economics of Smallholder Organic Contract Farming in Tropical Africa

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bolwig, Simon; Gibbon, Peter; Jones, Edward Samuel

2009-01-01

The paper examines the revenue effects of certified organic contract farming for smallholders and of adoption of organic agricultural farming methods in a tropical African context. The comparison in both cases is with farming systems that are "organic by default." Survey data from a large organic...... coffee contract farming scheme in Uganda are reported and analyzed using a standard OLS regression and a full information maximum likelihood (FIML) estimate of the Heckman selection model. The analysis finds that, controlling for a range of factors, there are positive revenue effects both from...... participation in the scheme and, more modestly, from applying organic farming techniques....

Organic livestock production in Uganda: potentials, challenges and prospects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nalubwama, Sylvia Muwanga; Mugisha, Anthony; Vaarst, Mette

2011-01-01

Development in organic farming has been stimulated by farmers and consumers becoming interested in healthy food products and sustainable environment. Organic agriculture is a holistic production management system which is based on the principles of health, ecology, care, and fairness. Organic...... development in Uganda has focused more on the crop sector than livestock sector and has primarily involved the private sector, like organic products export companies and non-governmental organizations. Agriculture in Uganda and many African countries is predominantly traditional, less mechanized......, and is usually associated with minimum use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and drugs. This low external input agriculture also referred to as “organic by default” can create basis for organic farming where agroecological methods are introduced and present an alternative in terms of intensification...

Orchid bees as bio-indicators for organic coffee farms in Costa Rica: Does farm size affect their abundance?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ingemar Hedström

2006-09-01

Full Text Available The potential of Euglossini bees, especially Euglossa, as biological indicators of organic vs non-organic coffee farms was studied in Atenas and San Isidro, Alajuela, Costa Rica using 1.8-cineole as lure. Observations were made for three days at each of four farms and complemented with data from a year of observations. Orchid bees were in greater abundance in the organic farms (t-Student test. However, lower abundances suggest that an organic farm may be negatively affected by the proximity of non-organic farms, depending on its size and distance. Orchid bees may be indicators of organic coffee farms. Rev. Biol. Trop. 54 (3: 965-969. Epub 2006 Sept. 29.

What is the benefit of organically-reared dairy cattle? Societal perception towards conventional and organic dairy farming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Inken Christoph-Schulz

2015-07-01

Full Text Available During the last years, current systems in agriculture and food production have been topic in public discussions. Especially modern animal husbandry seems not to match consumers’ or societal needs any longer. This paper concentrates on the society’s perspective regarding dairy farming in general and diverting perceptions and expectations with respect to dairy cattle either reared organically or reared conventionally. It aims to give orientation to farmers as well as policymakers about the societal point of view of dairy farming.Six focus groups were carried out in three German cities to capture the scope of opinions and expectations among the population. Three of those groups consisted of participants buying mainly organic food while the other three comprised citizens buying mainly conventional food.With respect to society’s perception of today’s dairy farming results showed that participants put emphasis on the following topics: the space for each cow was considered as insufficient and not species-appropriate, assumed application of medications as too high, and in particular the prophylactic use of antibiotics as problematic.Asked about perceived differences between organic versus conventional farming it became obvious that organic in contrast to the conventional farming was perceived as more species-appropriate. More or less, all previously criticized aspects seem to be regarded as irrelevant in organic farming. Some participants showed a very romantic view of organic dairy farming. The most critical point was an assumed high rate of rogue traders among organic farmers.

PERSPECTIVES OF ORGANIC AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT IN THE LIGHT OF EMPIRICAL STUDY SURVEYED AMONG CONVENTIONAL FARMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karol Kociszewski

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of the paper is to evaluate the perspectives of development of organic food supply in Poland. The work contains the results of the nationwide survey which was carried out among conventional farms’ owners. It was evaluated that – according to farmers’ declaration – organic farms number can be equal to 6.8-24.2% of all Polish farms. The main incentives influencing conversion into organic farming methods are health and environment care, satisfaction from work and agri-environmental subsidies. The main identified barriers are limited sales possibilities, low profitability of production, high labour intensity, high production cost, and low yield. In a long run the development of organic market could be stimulated by the increase of demand. In the middle time period, there is a need for the increase of subsidies rates which should be combined with the improvement of certification and control system.

An Introduction to Biogas Production on the Farm.

Science.gov (United States)

National Center for Appropriate Technology, Butte, MT.

This three-section report provides introductory information about biogas production and its application to farm environments. The first section discusses the various components of a biogas production system (a system that converts organic wastes into a usable form of energy), explains the system's benefits and liabilities, and provides a brief…

THE FARMING AND MARKETING OF ORGANIC LETTUCE: STUDY AT BOBOSAN VILLAGE, KEDUNGBANTENG SUB-DISTRICT, BANYUMAS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irene Kartika Eka Wijayanti

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Banyumas has great potential as a producer of organic lettuce in term of condition of natural, human resources and availability of market. The centre producer of organic lettuce is located in district of Kedungbanteng, and managed by farmers group "abdi tani". The aim of this study is to analyze: 1. The cost and income farming of organic lettuce; 2. Financial feasibility of organic lettuce farm; 3. The channel and structure of organic lettuce market. Processing and data analysis performed qualitatively and quantitatively. The data used is to the production and marketing of organic lettuce in period of June-July 2016. Quantitative analysis performed using analysis of cost, farm income, and R/C. Qualitative analysis was conducted to determine the channel and structure of organic lettuce market. The results showed that organic lettuce farm income generating positive value and the value of R/C is greater than one (R/C >1, the farming is profitable and feasible. Organic lettuce marketing channels through the use of one channel, such farmers, traders, retailers (supermarket. Farmers faced monopsony market structure, while traders and retailers deal with oligopoly one

Farmers’ reasons for deregistering from organic farming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koesling, Matthias; Løes, Anne-Kristin; Flaten, Ola

2012-01-01

Every year since 2002, 150 to 200 farmers in Norway have deregistered from certified organic production. The aim of this study was to get behind these figures and improve our understanding of the reasoning leading to decisions to opt out. Four cases of deregistered organic farmers with grain, sheep......, dairy or vegetable production were selected for in-depth studies. The cases were analysed from the perspective of individual competencies and the competencies available in the networks of the selected organic farmers. Besides the conspicuous reasons to opt out of certified organic farming......, such as regulations getting stricter over time and low income, personal reasons such as disappointment and need for acceptance were also important. This shows that hard mechanisms, such as economic support and premium prices, are not sufficient to motivate farmers for sustained organic management. Support...

Assessment of herd management on organic and conventional dairy farms in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Stiglbauer, K E; Cicconi-Hogan, K M; Richert, R; Schukken, Y H; Ruegg, P L; Gamroth, M

2013-02-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate management characteristics on organic and similarly sized conventional dairy farms located in New York, Wisconsin, and Oregon. Data from 192 organic farms (ORG), 64 conventional nongrazing farms (CON-NG), and 36 conventional grazing farms (CON-GR) were collected during farm visits and were size-matched and analyzed. The average lactation number of animals on ORG and CON-GR farms was 2.6 lactations, which was greater than that on CON-NG farms (2.3 lactations). A greater percentage of first-lactation heifers were found on conventional farms than on ORG farms. Facilities used by adult animals, including housing and milking facilities, did not differ among the grazing systems. Cattle on conventional farms were fed approximately twice as much grain as cattle on ORG farms and had greater milk production. Little difference was found for the average reported somatic cell count and standard plate count, suggesting that milk quality is not dependent on grazing system. Milking procedures were similar across all 3 grazing systems, indicating that an industry standard now exists for milking and that milk quality problems will need to be addressed with other management problems in mind. Although some disease prevention measures were commonly utilized on ORG farms, such as keeping a closed herd and having a written record of treatments administered to the animals, the use of outside support and vaccinations were found to be less prevalent on organic farms than on conventional farms. Copyright © 2013 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Future Path of Organic Farming - Values, Standards and Controversy!

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjærgård, Bente; Pedersen, Kirsten Bransholm; Land, Birgit

The study focuses on the recent debate about what is, or what constitutes, organic farming and what is the right path for organic farming in the future. The study is based on a critical discourse analysis of the controversy about suspending the private standard for organic farming adopted by the ...

Organic Farming Research in India: Present Status and Way Forward

OpenAIRE

Mitnala, Jayalakshmi; Ka, Gopinath

2018-01-01

Organic farming is a knowledge intensive system and has been developed by practitioners themselves over the years. Organic farming is native to India. The farmers of ancient India are known to have evolved nature friendly farming systems and practices such as mixed farming, mixed cropping and crop rotation. The first “scientific” approach to organic farming can be quoted back to the Vedas of the “Later Vedic Period”, 1000 BC to 600 BC. There has been significant increase in the area under cer...

The Carbon and Global Warming Potential Impacts of Organic Farming: Does It Have a Significant Role in an Energy Constrained World?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ralph C. Martin

2011-01-01

Full Text Available About 130 studies were analyzed to compare farm-level energy use and global warming potential (GWP of organic and conventional production sectors. Cross cutting issues such as tillage, compost, soil carbon sequestration and energy offsets were also reviewed. Finally, we contrasted E and GWP data from the wider food system. We concluded that the evidence strongly favours organic farming with respect to whole-farm energy use and energy efficiency both on a per hectare and per farm product basis, with the possible exception of poultry and fruit sectors. For GWP, evidence is insufficient except in a few sectors, with results per ha more consistently favouring organic farming than GWP per unit product. Tillage was consistently a negligible contributor to farm E use and additional tillage on organic farms does not appear to significantly deplete soil C. Energy offsets, biogas, energy crops and residues have a more limited role on organic farms compared to conventional ones, because of the nutrient and soil building uses of soil organic matter, and the high demand for organic foods in human markets. If farm E use represents 35% of total food chain E use, improvements shown of 20% or more in E efficiency through organic farm management would reduce food-chain E use by 7% or more. Among other food supply chain stages, wholesale/retail (including cooling and packaging and processing often each contribute 30% or more to total food system E. Thus, additional improvements can be obtained with reduced processing, whole foods and food waste minimization.

Animal Welfare in Relation to Standards in Organic Farming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hammarberg Karl-Erik

2002-03-01

Full Text Available The new EU-regulations on organic farming (1804/1999 are also influencing the animal welfare. A lot of positive regulations is to find, but also regulations that seen to mind more about the general public and customer and their view on organic farming, than the health and welfare of the animals. The paper specially focus on the impact of the regulations and the recommendations that phytotherapeutic essences and homeopathic products take precedence over the so called chemically-synthesised allopatic veterinary medical products, and that the use of the same is prohibited for preventive treatments. Key questions here are the lack of scientific evidence concerning homeopathy in animals, and that Swedish veterinarians are not allowed to work with homeopathy. Differences in interpretation of the regulations between animal owners and veterinarians will also be discussed. What is a disease that needs treatment? Who is to decide about the treatment? Parasitic infections are discussed as an illustrative example. Other consequences of the regulations concerning the animal welfare are problems in certain geographical zones, for instance subarctic areas where necessary crops are impossible to grow. Animal transports and splitting mother-offspring are briefly discussed as future problems to be handled in the regulations, and the paper ends by presenting the need of regulated herd health control programs in organic husbandry, which can detect and focus on welfare and production problems. The organic movement is not static, and must not be so.

Regional drivers of on-farm energy production in Bavaria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaffer, Axel; Düvelmeyer, Claudia

2016-01-01

Bavaria's energy policy seeks to increase the share of power supply from renewable sources related to on-farm energy production (agricultural biogas, wind- and solar energy) from currently 15% to more than 30% in 2021. It is therefore of particular interest for policy-makers to identify regional drivers of and barriers to this concept. The presented study addresses this issue and applies a spatial regression analysis to Bavaria’s 71 rural counties. The findings indicate significant impacts of technological regional transformation ability, agricultural structure (degree of professionalization and consolidation of organic farming) and neighborhood effects. This is in contrast to most geographical factors, which seem to be of minor relevance. - Highlights: •Energy transition is largely carried by farmers’ adoption of renewable energy (RE). •Adoption of RE generally follows an s-shaped diffusion curve. •Drivers are regions’ transformation ability and professionalization of agriculture. •Adoption of RE conflicts with organic farming.

Ecological concepts in organic farming and their consequences for an organic crop ideotype

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lammerts van Bueren, E.T.; Struik, P.C.; Jacobsen, E.

2002-01-01

Currently, organic farmers largely depend on varieties supplied by conventional plant breeders and developed for farming systems in which artificial fertilizers and agro-chemicals are widely used. The organic farming system differs fundamentally in soil fertility, weed, pest and disease management,

Relationships between Danish organic farming and landscape composition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Levin, Gregor Philipp

2007-01-01

in landscape composition between organic and conventional farms were not a direct implication of organic farming practices, but were related to variations within other parameters and to the location of organically farmed land. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved......This article presents an investigation of relationships between organic farming and landscape composition in Denmark. Landscape composition was analysed in terms of density of uncultivated landscape elements (I), number of land uses per hectare (II), diversity of land use (III) and mean field size...... (IV). Two analytical approaches were used. The first was based on an examination of the national agricultural registers for 1998, 2001 and 2004. The second approach used aerial photo interpretation for an analysis of 72 conventional and 40 organic farms within three sample areas for 1982, 1995...

Energy self-reliance, net-energy production and GHG emissions in Danish organic cash crop farms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Halberg, Niels; Dalgaard, Randi; Olesen, Jørgen E

2008-01-01

-energy production were modeled. Growing rapeseed on 10% of the land could produce bio-diesel to replace 50-60% of the tractor diesel used on the farm. Increasing grass-clover area to 20% of the land and using half of this yield for biogas production could change the cash crop farm to a net energy producer......, and reduce GHG emissions while reducing the overall output of products only marginally. Increasing grass-clover area would improve the nutrient management on the farm and eliminate dependence on conventional pig slurry if the biogas residues were returned to cash crop fields...

Norwegian farmers ceasing certified organic production: characteristics and reasons.

Science.gov (United States)

Flaten, Ola; Lien, Gudbrand; Koesling, Matthias; Løes, Anne-Kristin

2010-12-01

This article examines the characteristics of and reasons for Norwegian farmers' ceasing or planning to cease certified organic production. We gathered cross-sectional survey data in late 2007 from organic farmers deregistering between January 2004 and September 2007 (n=220), and similar data from a random sample of farmers with certified organic management in 2006 (n=407). Of the respondents deregistering by November 2007, 17% had quit farming altogether, 61% now farmed conventionally, and 21% were still farming by organic principles, but without certification. Nearly one in four organic farmers in 2007 indicated that they planned to cease certification within the next 5-10 years. From the two survey samples, we categorised farmers who expect to be deregistered in 5-10 years into three groups: conventional practices (n=139), continuing to farm using organic principles (uncertified organic deregistrants, n=105), and stopped farming (n=33). Of the numerous differences among these groups, two were most striking: the superior sales of uncertified organic deregistrants through consumer-direct marketing and the lowest shares of organic land among conventional deregistrants. We summarised a large number of reasons for deregistering into five factors through factor analysis: economics, regulations, knowledge-exchange, production, and market access. Items relating to economics and regulations were the primary reasons offered for opting out. The regression analysis showed that the various factors were associated with several explanatory variables. Regulations, for example, figured more highly among livestock farmers than crop farmers. The economic factor strongly reflected just a few years of organic management. Policy recommendations for reducing the number of dropouts are to focus on economics, environmental attitudes, and the regulatory issues surrounding certified organic production. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Management and use of dairy cattle feed resources on smallholder certified organic pineapple farms in Central Uganda

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Kiggundu

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Formulation of exclusively organic diets that meet maintenance and production requirements of dairy cattle is a major limitation to production of premium organic products of animal origin. This study was therefore carried out to assess the use and availability of feed resources and the coping strategies used by farmers to overcome dry season feed shortages on 64 smallholder certified organic pineapple farms. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires and two focus group discussions. Majority of households were headed by males (62.9% while average age of respondents was 42.5 years. Farmers allocated more land (P<0.05 to organic pineapple production compared to livestock. Beside dairy cattle, farmers also kept chickens, goats and pigs. Tethering was the commonest cattle management system. Fifty three percent of respondents reported using both natural pastures and crop residues as major dairy cattle feed resources while only 19% reported using elephant grass. Banana peels (25.1% and sweet potato vines (24.7% were the most important crop residues fed to cattle. Farmers reported high cost of concentrates and scarcity of feeds as their biggest challenges in dairy cattle production. Of the respondents, 51.4% conserved feed for their cattle as fodder banks. As a coping strategy to feed shortages, majority (42.9% of farmer scavenged for feed resources from both organic certified and nonorganic neighbouring farms which is contrary to organic livestock farming standards. It was, therefore, concluded that management of livestock feeding in the study area fell short of the requirements for organic livestock feeding standards. Research to develop strategies that can use alternative on-farm feed resources through ensiling organic pineapple wastes during the dry season is recommended as a long term strategy to address feed challenges for organic livestock farmers.

Indian farmers’ experience with and perceptions of organic farming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Peramaiyan, Panneer; Halberg, Niels; Vaarst, Mette

2012-01-01

to organic agriculture in three different Indian contexts—in Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand states. In each state, 40 farmers from both organic and conventional systems were interviewed. The findings indicated that conventional producers identified production and marketing barriers as the main...... to the low cost of production, and in Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand due to the price premium and health benefits. On the other hand, organic farmers were more concerned with health, environmental and production factors when institutional support was available. The years under conversion were positively...... associated with reduced input costs in all three states and with increased income in Tamil Nadu and increased yield in Madhya Pradesh. Both organic and conventional farmers found the two production factors, low yield and pest control, to be of major concern. However, organic farms in Madhya Pradesh...

Anaerobic digestion for closing the loop of a biorefinery for organic farming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fernandez, Maria Santamaria; Karkov Ytting, Nanna; Lübeck, Mette

2016-01-01

The availability of organic animal feed for monogastric animals and organic fertilizer is in many regions a limiting factor for the further spread of organic farming. The production of these two commodities based on regionally organically grown grass biomass is the main target of a green...

Experimental systems of integrated and organic wheat production

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vereijken, P.H.

1989-01-01

The objectives and significance of integrated and organic farming are briefly discussed. In wheat production, the cropping methods involved are then described and compared to those of a conventional system. Initial results from an experimental farm at Nagele, The Netherlands, indicate that by an

Yield and economic performance of organic and conventional cotton-based farming systems--results from a field trial in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Forster, Dionys; Andres, Christian; Verma, Rajeev; Zundel, Christine; Messmer, Monika M; Mäder, Paul

2013-01-01

The debate on the relative benefits of conventional and organic farming systems has in recent time gained significant interest. So far, global agricultural development has focused on increased productivity rather than on a holistic natural resource management for food security. Thus, developing more sustainable farming practices on a large scale is of utmost importance. However, information concerning the performance of farming systems under organic and conventional management in tropical and subtropical regions is scarce. This study presents agronomic and economic data from the conversion phase (2007-2010) of a farming systems comparison trial on a Vertisol soil in Madhya Pradesh, central India. A cotton-soybean-wheat crop rotation under biodynamic, organic and conventional (with and without Bt cotton) management was investigated. We observed a significant yield gap between organic and conventional farming systems in the 1(st) crop cycle (cycle 1: 2007-2008) for cotton (-29%) and wheat (-27%), whereas in the 2(nd) crop cycle (cycle 2: 2009-2010) cotton and wheat yields were similar in all farming systems due to lower yields in the conventional systems. In contrast, organic soybean (a nitrogen fixing leguminous plant) yields were marginally lower than conventional yields (-1% in cycle 1, -11% in cycle 2). Averaged across all crops, conventional farming systems achieved significantly higher gross margins in cycle 1 (+29%), whereas in cycle 2 gross margins in organic farming systems were significantly higher (+25%) due to lower variable production costs but similar yields. Soybean gross margin was significantly higher in the organic system (+11%) across the four harvest years compared to the conventional systems. Our results suggest that organic soybean production is a viable option for smallholder farmers under the prevailing semi-arid conditions in India. Future research needs to elucidate the long-term productivity and profitability, particularly of cotton and

Methods for assessing phosphorus overfeeding on organic and conventional dairy farms.

Science.gov (United States)

Nordqvist, M; Holtenius, K; Spörndly, R

2014-02-01

Phosphorus (P) losses from dairy farms can severely damage aquatic ecosystems, so it is important to have tools to assess overfeeding of P. This study screened P intake and faecal excretion of different P fractions in dairy cows on conventional and organic farms, compared the P feeding level of the herds against the recommendations and analysed different sampling and analysis methods for assessing the general status of P feeding on the farms. The organic (n=14) and conventional farms (n=15) were of comparable size and were located in southern Sweden. On each farm, feed intake was registered for 10 cows representing four different lactation stages and their P intake was calculated and related to current recommendations. Faecal samples taken from the same cows were analysed for total P (TP) and soluble P. Milk production data for the cows were obtained from the Swedish official milk recording scheme. TP was determined in one slurry sample per farm. More than 70% of the cows studied, representing both conventional and organic herds, consumed P in excess of the recommendations. Conventional herds had higher P content in the ration than organic herds, and lactating cows in conventional herds had higher faecal concentrations of total and soluble P than those in organic herds. However in dry cows, the P content of the ration and soluble P and TP in faeces did not differ between the two management systems. Soluble P was well correlated to TP in faeces, and both were good indicators of P overfeeding.

Opinions on biogas in organic farming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heiske, Stefan; Østergård, Hanne

2011-01-01

The application of biogas technologies in organic farming involves many considerations: Benefits like improved fertilizer supply and fossil fuel savings are opposed to concerns about economical risks and incompliance with organic principles. A questionnaire developed by Risø DTU gives an idea about...

Research to support development of organic food and farming

OpenAIRE

Watson, Christine; Alrøe, Hugo; Kristensen, Erik Steen

2006-01-01

Agriculture and organic agriculture in particular are developing rapidly, due not only to technological change but also to changes in agricultural policy and public expectation. Research allows new knowledge to be developed and is thus vital for the future of organic agriculture. We can ask the question, what is the purpose of research on organic farming? Is it to increase yield and productivity, to compare it with other forms of agriculture, or to quantify its environmental and social impact...

Use of homeopathy in organic dairy farming in Spain.

Science.gov (United States)

Orjales, Inmaculada; López-Alonso, Marta; Rodríguez-Bermúdez, Ruth; Rey-Crespo, Francisco; Villar, Ana; Miranda, Marta

2016-02-01

Organic farming principles promote the use of unconventional therapies as an alternative to chemical substances (which are limited by organic regulations), with homeopathy being the most extensive. Traditionally, Spain has had little faith in homeopathy but its use in organic farming is growing. Fifty-six Spanish organic dairy farmers were interviewed to obtain what we believe to be the first data on the use of homeopathy in organic dairy cattle in Spain. Only 32% of farms use some sort of alternative therapy (16.1% homeopathy, 10.7% phytotherapy and 5.3% using both therapies) and interestingly, a clear geographical pattern showing a higher use towards the East (similar to that in the human population) was observed. The main motivation to use homeopathy was the need to reduce chemical substances promoted by organic regulations, and the treatment of clinical mastitis being the principle reason. The number of total treatments was lower in farms using homeopathy compared with those applying allopathic therapies (0.13 and 0.54 treatments/cow/year respectively) and although the bulk SCC was significantly higher (p Homeopathy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Investigations on dairy welfare and performance on German organic farms

OpenAIRE

Hoerning, Bernhard; Simantke, Christel; Aubel, Erhard

2005-01-01

An investigation was carried out on 74 organic dairy farms in Germany. Results were an average milk production of 5.960 kg, 223.000 somatic cell counts (SCC), 387 days calving interval, 23.5 % culling rate, 46 Euro annual veterinary costs per cow. Farmers were asked for disease incidences. Cows were scored for injuries and body condition. The results were combined with possible influencing factors (herd size, breed, region, farming association, housing system, housing factors, amounts of conc...

An ecosystem approach to assess soil quality in organically and conventionally managed farms in Iceland and Austria

Science.gov (United States)

van Leeuwen, J. P.; Lehtinen, T.; Lair, G. J.; Bloem, J.; Hemerik, L.; Ragnarsdóttir, K. V.; Gísladóttir, G.; Newton, J. S.; de Ruiter, P. C.

2015-01-01

Intensive agricultural production can be an important driver for the loss of long-term soil quality. For this reason, the European Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) network adopted four pairs of agricultural CZO sites that differ in their management: conventional or organic. The CZO sites include two pairs of grassland farms in Iceland and two pairs of arable farms in Austria. Conventional fields differed from the organic fields in the use of artificial fertilisers and pesticides. Soils of these eight farms were analysed in terms of their physical, chemical, and biological properties, including soil aggregate size distribution, soil organic matter contents, abundance of soil microbes and soil fauna, and taxonomic diversity of soil microarthropods. In Icelandic grasslands, organically farmed soils had larger mean weight diameters of soil aggregates than the conventional farms, while there were no differences on the Austrian farms. Organic farming did not systematically influence organic matter contents or composition, nor soil carbon and nitrogen contents. Also, soil food web structures, in terms of presence of trophic groups of soil organisms, were highly similar among all farms, indicating a low sensitivity of trophic structure to land use or climate. However, soil organism biomass, especially of bacteria and nematodes, was consistently higher on organic farms than on conventional farms. Within the microarthropods, taxonomic diversity was systematically higher in the organic farms compared to the conventional farms. This difference was found across countries and farm, crop, and soil types. The results do not show systematic differences in physical and chemical properties between organic and conventional farms, but confirm that organic farming can enhance soil biomass and that microarthropod diversity is a sensitive and consistent indicator for land management.

Multifunctionality of Organic Farming: Case Study from Southern Poland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Śpiewak Ruta

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The main goal of this article is to answer the question whether organic farming, which is developing in some parts of Poland, can be considered as a form of multifunctional farming and contribute so to non-commodity functions and the process of change in a particular territory of given areas. The analyses are based on data obtained from 2013 of several points in the south of Poland representing a cluster of organic market oriented farmers. The results show that namely market organic farming may serve as multifunctional one, but only under certain conditions and for a specific type of farming. Through specific functions, organic farming facilitates the changes, primarily on a local scale. The existence of a strong integrated organic farming sector might influences development and change, resulting in not only the improvement of economic welfare of organic farmers, but also of whole local communities, strengthening the bonds amongst them, mobilising the social resources.

The main factors affecting somatic cell count in organic dairy farming

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Orjales, I.; Lopez-Alonso, M.; Miranda, M.; Rodríguez-Bermúdez, R.; Rey-Crespo, F.; Villar, A.

2017-07-01

Preventive management practices are essential for maintaining acceptable udder health status, especially in organic farming, in which the use of antimicrobials is restricted. The contribution of the following factors to somatic cell count (SCC) was assessed in 788 cows from 15 organically reared herds in northern Spain: milk production, lactation number, treatments applied, selective dry cow therapy and teat dipping routines. The data were examined by linear logistic regression. Lactation number was the main factor affecting logSCC (β= 0.339, p<0.001) followed in order of importance by milk production (β= -0.205, p<0.001), use of alternative treatments (β=0.153, p<0.001), selective dry cow therapy (β=0.120, p=0.005) and teat dipping routines (β=-0.076, p=0.028). However, the model only explained 17.0% of the total variation in SCC. This variable depends on factors other than those considered here, amongst which udder infection is probably one of the most important. Nonetheless, the study findings enabled us to determine the contribution of the main management factors that should be taken into account to improve udder health status on organic farms.

Organic farming increases richness of fungal taxa in the wheat phyllosphere.

Science.gov (United States)

Karlsson, Ida; Friberg, Hanna; Kolseth, Anna-Karin; Steinberg, Christian; Persson, Paula

2017-07-01

Organic farming is often advocated as an approach to mitigate biodiversity loss on agricultural land. The phyllosphere provides a habitat for diverse fungal communities that are important for plant health and productivity. However, it is still unknown how organic farming affects the diversity of phyllosphere fungi in major crops. We sampled wheat leaves from 22 organically and conventionally cultivated fields in Sweden, paired based on their geographical location and wheat cultivar. Fungal communities were described using amplicon sequencing and real-time PCR. Species richness was higher on wheat leaves from organically managed fields, with a mean of 54 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) compared with 40 OTUs for conventionally managed fields. The main components of the fungal community were similar throughout the 350-km-long sampling area, and seven OTUs were present in all fields: Zymoseptoria, Dioszegia fristingensis, Cladosporium, Dioszegia hungarica, Cryptococcus, Ascochyta and Dioszegia. Fungal abundance was highly variable between fields, 10 3 -10 5 internal transcribed spacer copies per ng wheat DNA, but did not differ between cropping systems. Further analyses showed that weed biomass was the strongest explanatory variable for fungal community composition and OTU richness. These findings help provide a more comprehensive understanding of the effect of organic farming on the diversity of organism groups in different habitats within the agroecosystem. © 2017 The Authors Molecular Ecology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PERSPECTIVE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIC FARMING IN LUBUSKIE VOIVODSHIP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jagoda ZBOROWSKA

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses the problem of the development of organic farming in lubuskie voivodship. Presented in it analysis of changes in this production sector in recent years and identified critical factors for growth for this area of production in the nearest term. In analysis used statistic data coming from public statistics and public institutions dealing with agricul-tural production sector in Poland.

Organic farming methods affect the concentration of phenolic compounds in sea buckthorn leaves

OpenAIRE

Heinäaho, Merja; Pusenius, Jyrki; Julkunen-Tiitto, Riitta

2006-01-01

- Berries, juice and other products of organically cultivated sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L., Eleagnaceae) are in great demand because of their beneficial health effects. The availability of berries is not sufficient especially for locally growing market. However no research has been done on the effects of farming methods on the quality of sea buckthorn tissues before. We established a field experiment to study the effects of organic farming methods on the concentra-tions of phenolic ...

Breeding birds on organic and conventional arable farms

OpenAIRE

Kragten, Steven

2009-01-01

As a result of agricultural intensification, farmland bird populations have been declining dramatically over the past decades. Organic farming is often mentioned to be a possible solution to stop these declines. In order to see whether farmland birds really benefit from organic farming a study was carried out comparing breeding bird densities, breeding success and bird food abundance between organic and conventional arable farms in Flevoland, the Netherlands. skylark (Alauda arvensis) and lap...

Towards an agro-ecological village at the Flora Community : reducing greenhouse gas emissions through organic based farming and energy self reliance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Samson, R.; Mulkins, L. [Resource Efficient Agricultural Production-Canada, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, PQ (Canada); Amongo, L.; Yap, E. [MASIPAG, Los Banos, Laguna (Philippines); Mendoza, T. [Univ. of the Philippines Los Banos, Laguna (Philippines). Dept of Agronomy

2000-07-01

A former haciendero owned sugarcane plantation in Negros Occidental, Philippines was transformed into a diversified, self-reliant, agro-ecological village, and its transition is documented in this paper. In 1995, through the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, the Philippine Government awarded 87 hectares of land to 76 hacienda workers. Community organizing, farm planning, training in organic farming, and loan support from a number of social welfare agencies were all areas where the community received assistance. The sugarcane production has been reduced at Flora since the land transition, and the community diversified into the growing of organic rice, corn and vegetables. Through its transition into an agro-ecological village, the Flora community has become more self-reliant in the areas of food and energy. Most individual farms and communally farmed areas have adopted organic based farming practices. The main products sold off the farm are sugarcane and high value vegetables. The MASIPAG rice farming system is being adhered to in the production of rice, the community's staple food. Nitrogen fixed during straw decomposition and the use of azolla, a nitrogen-fixing plant, represent some of the sources of nitrogen for the rice production. Other nutrient sources used are the mudpress from sugarcane processing and rice hull ash. To encourage nitrogen fixation and soil carbon accumulation from cane litter, a system of continuous trash farming was implemented for the production of sugarcane. In excess of 140 water buffaloes (carabaos) are employed for tillage and on-farm hauling, which minimizes the requirements for fossil fuels. Liquid propane gas (LPG), kerosene and wood fuel use in home cooking are being minimized by the efficient rice hull cookers. The local environmental impacts and greenhouse gas emissions are minimized, and the Flora community largely meets its requirements in terms of food security, on-farm energy and income. refs., 1 tab., 12 figs.

CONSEQUENCES OF ORGANIC FARMING ON THE SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY - ROMANIA AND EU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

BURJA CAMELIA

2017-02-01

Full Text Available A major trend adopted by the European Union member countries that are making efforts for sustainable development is the development of organic farming. The article studies the influences generated by the organic farming development in the EU countries, in the period 2006-2014, in terms of sustainable society. The statistical analysis is based on the use of certain variables that have a significant influence on the components of sustainable society. The identification of estimators for panelling data showed the favourable consequences of increasing the organic area for many indicators underpinning the economic, environmental and human wellbeing. The results confirm that the organic farming is a viable alternative to the conventional agriculture for raising the quality of life. The paper essentially quantifies the multiple effects of the organic farming for sustainable development and demonstrates that one of the directions to accelerate the development of the European economy on a sustainable basis is to stimulate the organic farming.

Analysis of organic farming practices amongst crop farmers in Delta ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Dr. atoma & Family

but not limited to sensitization of consumers on the benefit of organic foods, ... Organic farming is an agricultural technique of naturally producing quality crops, vegetables or animals ... This goal cannot be achieved by the conventional farming.

Managing soil nutrients with compost in organic farms of East Georgia

Science.gov (United States)

Ghambashidze, Giorgi

2013-04-01

Soil Fertility management in organic farming relies on a long-term integrated approach rather than the more short-term very targeted solutions common in conventional agriculture. Increasing soil organic matter content through the addition of organic amendments has proven to be a valuable practice for maintaining or restoring soil quality. Organic agriculture relies greatly on building soil organic matter with compost typically replacing inorganic fertilizers and animal manure as the fertility source of choice. In Georgia, more and more attention is paid to the development of organic farming, occupying less than 1% of total agricultural land of the country. Due to increased interest towards organic production the question about soil amendments is arising with special focus on organic fertilizers as basic nutrient supply sources under organic management practice. In the frame of current research two different types of compost was prepared and their nutritional value was studied. The one was prepared from organic fraction municipal solid waste and another one using fruit processing residues. In addition to main nutritional properties both composts were tested on heavy metals content, as one of the main quality parameter. The results have shown that concentration of main nutrient is higher in municipal solid waste compost, but it contains also more heavy metals, which is not allowed in organic farming system. Fruit processing residue compost also has lower pH value and is lower in total salt content being is more acceptable for soil in lowlands of East Georgia, mainly characterised by alkaline reaction. .

Cheese liking and consumer willingness to pay as affected by information about organic production.

Science.gov (United States)

Napolitano, Fabio; Braghieri, Ada; Piasentier, Edi; Favotto, Saida; Naspetti, Simona; Zanoli, Raffaele

2010-08-01

The present study aimed to assess the effect of information about organic production on Pecorino cheese liking and consumer willingness to pay. Mean scores of perceived liking were similar for organic cheese (OC) and conventional cheese (CC). Expected liking scores were higher for OC than for CC (Pexpected liking was significantly higher (Pexpected liking was significantly lower (Pexpectations, as the difference actual vs. perceived liking was significant (Pexpected liking was significant (Ppay OC (mean+/-se=4.20+/-0.13 euro/100 g) higher than the local retail price for conventional (1.90 euro/100 g) and even organic cheese (3.00 euro/100 g). We conclude that the information about organic farming can be a major determinant of cheese liking and consumer willingness to pay, thus providing a potential tool for product differentiation, particularly for small scale and traditional farms.

Sustaining without Changing: The Metabolic Rift of Certified Organic Farming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julius Alexander McGee

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Many proponents of organic farming claim that it is a sustainable alternative to conventional agriculture due to its reliance on natural agro-inputs, such as manure based fertilizers and organic pesticides. However, in this analysis we argue that although particular organic farming practices clearly benefit ecosystems and human consumers, the social context in which some organic farms develop, limit the potential environmental benefits of organic agriculture. Specifically, we argue that certified organic farming’s increased reliance on agro-inputs, such as organic fertilizers and pesticides, reduces its ability to decrease global water pollution. We review recent research that demonstrates the environmental consequences of specific organic practices, as well as literature showing that global organic farming is increasing its reliance on agro-inputs, and contend that organic farming has its own metabolic rift with natural water systems similar to conventional agriculture. We use a fixed-effects panel regression model to explore how recent rises in certified organic farmland correlate to water pollution (measured as biochemical oxygen demand. Our findings indicate that increases in the proportion of organic farmland over time increases water pollution. We conclude that this may be a result of organic farms increasing their reliance on non-farm agro-inputs, such as fertilizers.

OPPORTUNITIES TO USE PEA - WHEAT MIXES IN ORGANIC FARMING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grigori Ivanov

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This article presented the results of productivity and quality of the green mass of pea-wheat mixes grown in conditions of organic farming. Are explored 5 wheat varieties - Sadovo 1, Geia 1, Guinness, Farmer, Liusil and 4 varieties of winter peas -Mir, Vesela, №11, L12AB, at different ratio between them - 50:50 and 30:70%. The selection of varieties is made based on previous studies of their complex characteristics – ripening, yield, chemistry (Angelova S., T.Georgieva, M.Sabeva, 2011. Setting up and raising the experimental mixture of seeds has been made in a medium free of organic and mineral fertilizers. We have studied the changes in green mass yield and the biochemistry of surface biomass. The cultivation of pea–wheat mixtures under conditions of organic farming leads to increased yields of green mass in comparison with the self-seeding of wheat and peas. According to the results obtained at early ripening and the highest crude protein content average of three years is the mixture Sadovo1–Mir 30:70%. The most productive is the mixture Sadovo1-Mir 50-50%.

Selective breeding in organic dairy production

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nauta, W.J.

2009-01-01

Organic dairy farming started to take off in the early 1990s, when the European Union laid down organic standards for animal production. Until now, however, only incidental steps have been taken towards organic breeding and organic farmers mainly use breeding stock from conventional breeding

Yield and economic performance of organic and conventional cotton-based farming systems--results from a field trial in India.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dionys Forster

Full Text Available The debate on the relative benefits of conventional and organic farming systems has in recent time gained significant interest. So far, global agricultural development has focused on increased productivity rather than on a holistic natural resource management for food security. Thus, developing more sustainable farming practices on a large scale is of utmost importance. However, information concerning the performance of farming systems under organic and conventional management in tropical and subtropical regions is scarce. This study presents agronomic and economic data from the conversion phase (2007-2010 of a farming systems comparison trial on a Vertisol soil in Madhya Pradesh, central India. A cotton-soybean-wheat crop rotation under biodynamic, organic and conventional (with and without Bt cotton management was investigated. We observed a significant yield gap between organic and conventional farming systems in the 1(st crop cycle (cycle 1: 2007-2008 for cotton (-29% and wheat (-27%, whereas in the 2(nd crop cycle (cycle 2: 2009-2010 cotton and wheat yields were similar in all farming systems due to lower yields in the conventional systems. In contrast, organic soybean (a nitrogen fixing leguminous plant yields were marginally lower than conventional yields (-1% in cycle 1, -11% in cycle 2. Averaged across all crops, conventional farming systems achieved significantly higher gross margins in cycle 1 (+29%, whereas in cycle 2 gross margins in organic farming systems were significantly higher (+25% due to lower variable production costs but similar yields. Soybean gross margin was significantly higher in the organic system (+11% across the four harvest years compared to the conventional systems. Our results suggest that organic soybean production is a viable option for smallholder farmers under the prevailing semi-arid conditions in India. Future research needs to elucidate the long-term productivity and profitability, particularly of cotton

Is the Modern High Potential Dairy Cow Suitable for Organic Farming Conditions?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Harðarson Grétar H

2002-03-01

Full Text Available It is not acceptable to compromise animal welfare in any system of farming. Feeding should be aimed at meeting the nutritional requirements at the various stages of production. This paper deals with the detrimental effects that organic, extensive or low input farming systems may have on the energy status in early lactation of the high potential dairy cow. Bovine ketosis is the most important disease resulting from insufficient energy intake in early lactation. It is also important to realize that ketosis is a part of the so-called periparturient disease complex, which includes milk fever, mastitis, retained placenta, endometritis and poor fertility also. All these diseases are interrelated and reflect to a large extent the nutritional status of the animal. If organic dairy farming is to be successful the breeding programmes have to divert from selection for high yields as a main goal, to more emphasis on a flatter lactation curve, less production diseases and longevity.

Effect Of Intercropping System On Green Peach Aphid Dinamics On Organic Farming Of Potato In Karo Highland

OpenAIRE

Lamria Sidauruk; Darma Bakti; Retna Astuti Kuswardani; Chairani Hanum

2015-01-01

Abstract Green peach aphid Myzus persicae Sulzer represents one of the major pest affecting decreased production which found in different potato fields in Karo Highland. This study was conducted to determine the population dynamics of Myzus persicae Sulzer on potato cropping system. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with main plot are farming system such as conventional farming semi organic farming and organic farming. The sub plot are intercropping system consist of potato mon...

Organic Farming in Europe

OpenAIRE

Willer, Helga

2014-01-01

In this article latest developments in Europe are presented: › Current statistics › Review of the European political and legal framework for organic agriculture › EU regulation on organic farming › Policy support › Action plans › Research › Progress of the OrganicDataNetwork project › Successful policy work of IFOAM EU › Further reading › Websites

Chlorinated pesticides in stream sediments from organic, integrated and conventional farms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shahpoury, Pourya; Hageman, Kimberly J.; Matthaei, Christoph D.; Magbanua, Francis S.

2013-01-01

To determine if current sheep/beef farming practices affect pesticide residues in streams, current-use and legacy chlorinated pesticides were quantified in 100 sediment samples from 15 streams on the South Island of New Zealand. The study involved five blocks of three neighboring farms, with each block containing farms managed by organic, integrated and conventional farming practices. Significantly higher concentrations of dieldrin, ∑ endosulfans, ∑ current-use pesticides, and ∑ chlorinated pesticides were measured in sediments from conventional farms compared to organic and integrated farms. However, streams in the latter two farming categories were not pesticide-free and sometimes contained relatively high concentrations of legacy pesticides. Comparison of measured pesticide concentrations with sediment quality guidelines showed that, regardless of farming practice, mean pesticide concentrations were below the recommended toxicity thresholds. However, up to 23% of individual samples contained chlorpyrifos, endosulfan sulfate, ∑ DDT, dieldrin, or ∑ chlordane concentrations above these thresholds. -- Highlights: •Pesticides were measured in streams in organic, integrated, and conventional farms. •Higher concentrations of some pesticides were found in conventional sites. •Streams in organic and integrated sites were not pesticide free. •Mean pesticide concentrations were below the recommended toxicity thresholds. -- Higher concentrations of several chlorinated pesticides were found in conventional farms; however, organic and integrated practices were not pesticide-free

Farm production performance in Russian regions: farm panel data analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bezlepkina, I.

2003-01-01

The Russian agricultural sector has experienced many problems since the beginning of the 1990s that resulted in a fall in farm output. Employing a production function approach and, unlike other studies, farm-level data on more than 20,000 Russian large-scale farms for the period 1995-2000, this

Automatic milking systems, farm size, and milk production.

Science.gov (United States)

Rotz, C A; Coiner, C U; Soder, K J

2003-12-01

Automatic milking systems (AMS) offer relief from the demanding routine of milking. Although many AMS are in use in Europe and a few are used in the United States, the potential benefit for American farms is uncertain. A farm-simulation model was used to determine the long-term, whole-farm effect of implementing AMS on farm sizes of 30 to 270 cows. Highest farm net return to management and unpaid factors was when AMS were used at maximal milking capacity. Adding stalls to increase milking frequency and possibly increase production generally did not improve net return. Compared with new traditional milking systems, the greatest potential economic benefit was a single-stall AMS on a farm size of 60 cows at a moderate milk production level (8600 kg/cow). On other farm sizes using single-stall type robotic units, losses in annual net return of 0 dollars to 300 dollars/cow were projected, with the greatest losses on larger farms and at high milk production (10,900 kg/cow). Systems with one robot serving multiple stalls provided a greater net return than single-stall systems, and this net return was competitive with traditional parlors for 50- to 130-cow farm sizes. The potential benefit of AMS was improved by 100 dollars/cow per year if the AMS increased production an additional 5%. A 20% reduction in initial equipment cost or doubling milking labor cost also improved annual net return of an AMS by up to 100 dollars/cow. Annual net return was reduced by 110 dollars/cow, though, if the economic life of the AMS was reduced by 3 yr for a more rapid depreciation than that normally used with traditional milking systems. Thus, under current assumptions, the economic return for an AMS was similar to that of new parlor systems on smaller farms when the milking capacity of the AMS was well matched to herd size and milk production level.

Marketing of organic products in southern Poland

OpenAIRE

Kuboń Maciej; Olech Elżbieta

2018-01-01

The article presents an outline of the issue concerning formulation of a marketing strategy and the possibility of using the knowledge on consumers' preferences for organic development of farms and their products on the example of southern Poland. The paper analyses the distribution process of organic food in the aspect of developing innovative marketing strategies. The studies were performed in 50 organic farms and on the example of 100 respondents from the region of southern Poland. In the ...

Effects of organic farming duration on field boundary vegetation in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Sune; Axelsen, Jørgen A.; Tybirk, Knud

2006-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess, whether organic dairy farming has increased the biological diversity of field boundary vegetation when compared to conventional dairy farming, and if increasing organic farming duration affected diversity. The diversity of plant species in field boundaries...... was found to be higher under organic than under conventional farming. Analysis of community patterns revealed that ruderal species and species with affinity to nutrient rich conditions were most common in conventional field borders, whereas stress-tolerant species were more abundant around organic farming....... These differences occurred only 3-4 years after conversion to organic farming....

Organic Farming as a Strategy for Climate Change Adaptation and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

For climate change adaptation, OF systems have a strong potential for building resilient food systems through farm diversification and building soil fertility with organic matter. In developing countries, OF offers alternatives to energy-intensive production inputs such as synthetic fertilizers which are limited for poor rural ...

Comparison of landscape features in organic and conventional farming systems.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mansvelt, van J.D.; Stobbelaar, D.J.; Hendriks, K.

1998-01-01

Four organic (biodynamic) farms coupled with conventional farms from their neighbourhood in The Netherlands, Germany and Sweden, and 3 organic farms and 4 conventional farms from the West Friesean region in The Netherlands were evaluated to compare their impact on landscape diversity. Materials used

Appreciation to Organic Agriculture Function: Case Study of Rice Farming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tinjung Mary Prihtanti

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Agricultural activities are not only producing the visible (tangible output in the form of food but also the non-visible output (non-marketable goods/non-tangible services. Non-visible output refers to a multifunctionality to supply food to ensure the food sufficiency of farmer household and job opportunities at rural area. The article aims to compare the capability of organic rice farming to conventional, to ensure the food sufficiency of farmer household, the economic value of rice farming to produce food, and the economic estimation of rice farming to its function as an job opportunities. The data for the research is collected in Gentungan Village, Mojogedang District, Karanganyar Regency during the crop year of 2015. In order to study the differences of two rice farming systems, the total of 60 farmers, 30 farmers are dealing with organic farming and other 30 farmers from conventional farming, are subjected for the interview in this research. The results found that the food security of organic farming is higher than conventional farming. The organic rice farming gives the economic value as the food producing and the labor-absorbing function in the study area is higher than the  conventional farming.

The development of organic farming in the world

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

KOMOROWSKA Dorota

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article aims to present the size of organic farming and organic food market in each region of the world based on available statistics. The largest area of agricultural land farmed using organic methods is located in Australia, Europe and South America, while the biggest organic food markets are located in the rich countries of North America, mainly in the United States, and in the Western European countries. Fruits and vegetables are the organic products that are the most eagerly bought and dominate the organic food market. Rezumat. Articolul îşi propune să prezinte dimensiunea agriculturii ecologice şi a pieţei produselor alimentare ecologice în fiecare regiune a lumii în baza datelor statistice disponibile. Cea mai mare suprafaţă de teren agricol cultivat folosind metode organice se află în Australia, Europa şi America de Sud, în timp ce cele mai mari pieţe de produse alimentare ecologice sunt situate în ţările bogate din America de Nord, în special în Statele Unite ale Americii, precum şi în ţările din Europa de Vest. Fructele şi legumele sunt produsele organice care se vând cel mai bine şi care domină piaţa produselor alimentare ecologice.

Associations between the proportion of Salmonella seropositive slaughter pigs and the presence of herd level risk factors for introduction and transmission of Salmonella in 34 Danish organic, outdoor (non-organic) and indoor finishing-pig farms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zheng, D.M.; Bonde, Marianne; Sørensen, Jan Tind

2007-01-01

This paper evaluates the association between herd level risk factors for introduction and transmission of Salmonella in farms with three different production systems: organic, outdoor (non-organic) and indoor finishing-pig farms, and the presence of seropositive animals in the herds. Potential risk...... factors for Salmonella in the three pig production systems were identified through a literature review, and management information as well as serological data were collected in 34 pig farms: 11 organic farms, 12 outdoor farms, and 11 indoor farms. There were no general differences in the proportion...

Differences in soil quality between organic and conventional farming over a maize crop season

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, Carla; Veiga, Adelcia; Puga, João; Kikuchi, Ryunosuke; Ferreira, António

2017-04-01

Land degradation in agricultural areas is a major concern. The large number of mechanical interventions and the amount of inputs used to assure high crop productivity, such as fertilizers and pesticides, have negative impacts on soil quality and threaten crop productivity and environmental sustainability. Organic farming is an alternative agriculture system, based on organic fertilizers, biological pest control and crop rotation, in order to mitigate soil degradation. Maize is the third most important cereal worldwide, with 2008 million tons produced in 2013 (IGN, 2016). In Portugal, 120000 ha of arable land is devoted to maize production, leading to annual yields of about 930000 ton (INE, 2015). This study investigates soil quality differences in maize farms under organic and conventional systems. The study was carried out in Coimbra Agrarian Technical School (ESAC), in central region of Portugal. ESAC campus comprises maize fields managed under conventional farming - Vagem Grande (32 ha), and organic fields - Caldeirão (12 ha), distancing 2.8 km. Vagem Grande has been intensively used for grain maize production for more than 20 years, whereas Caldeirão was converted to organic farming in 2008, and is being used to select regional maize varieties. The region has a Mediterranean climate. The maize fields have Eutric Fluvisols, with gentle slopes (analyses. Additional soil samples were also collected with soil ring samplers (137 cm3) for bulk density analyses after sowing. Surface water infiltration was also measured with tension infiltrometer (membrane of 20cm), using different tensions (0 cm, -3cm, -6 cm e -15cm). Decomposition rate and litter stabilisation was assessed over a 3-month period through the Tea Bag Index (Keuskamp et al., 2013). The number and diversity of earthworms were also measured at the surface (0-20cm), through extraction, and at the subsurface (>20cm), using mustard solution.

Organic and conventional production in Slovakia: Comparison of selected managerial and financial indicators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jana Kozáková

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The paper addresses the issue to compare organic and conventional agriculture from two points of view. Firstly the managerial point of view examing number of employees and the personal costs per hectare, secondly the owners' view examing profitability of organic farming. Both views result from the specifics of organic farming. Organic production should generate higher employment, higher personal cost and results in lower yields. We evaluated differences between organic and conventional farms in Slovakia over period of years 2009-2012 on a sample of more than 1050 farms in each year. The share of organic farms was 15%. Using t-test as evaluation method we found no significant differences from the managerial point of view (measured by employees per hectare and personal costs per hectare. From the owner' s point of view (measured by return on costs, return on equity and total assets per hectare we conclude that the subsidies successfully compensate the lower revenues of organic farms (there was no significant difference in ROE and ROC. Our results are based on the sample of organic farms with Average utilised area of 850 hectares and reflect the farm structure in Slovakia. We can conclude that large organic farms do not support employment in rural areas and generate comparable profit when compared to conventional farming.

Production Flexibility in Extensive Beef Farming Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Astigarraga

2011-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work is to assess the flexibility of production allowed by extensive production conditions faced with variations in the environment, i.e., market variations and climatic fluctuations, of Limousin beef systems. The study used a case-based methodology in which seven beef farms with less than 1 LU/ha were chosen. Data collection was based on three interviews using a semistructured questionnaire and on the analysis of productive and economic results over a 15-year period (1991-2005. The main evolution of these farms is related to a rise in work productivity associated with an increase in herd size. Herd increase was made possible by enlarging the area, the margin of intensification being limited in these regions. To take advantage of the enlarged land area, females were reared for fattening or for reproduction instead of selling them at weaning. The Limousin female provides a wide product mix because of its plasticity, as has been studied by several researchers. This mix flexibility is achieved by delaying product differentiation, a form of production flexibility that can reduce the risk of under-producing or over-producing varied product configurations. On the other hand, calves sold to the Italian market after weaning are generic products, associated with a flexible production process to overcome fluctuations in forage availability due to climatic variations. The introduction of maize silage for feeding acts as an alternative route, actual and potential, through the system to overcome unexpected forage shortage from natural grasslands as a result of droughts. The study shows that extensive farming systems have developed types of flexibility to match different factors of uncertainty from the environment. Finally, the issue of farm system performance is thus not so much a question of whether a farm is fit at a specific moment in time, but whether it transforms into a less or more sustainable orientation.

Health and Welfare in Organic Poultry Production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Berg C

2002-03-01

Full Text Available This review paper deals with the major health and welfare aspects of organic poultry production. The differences between organic and conventional egg and poultry meat production are discussed, with the main emphasis on housing and management requirements, feed composition and the use of veterinary prophylactic and therapeutic drugs. The effects of the legislation and statutes for organic farming on the health and welfare of the birds are also discussed, especially in relation to the biosecurity problems associated with free-range systems, the occurrence of behavioural disturbances in loose housed flocks and the use of veterinary drugs and vaccinations in general. The results from a questionnaire sent out to all Swedish organic egg producers, where questions about the farmer's perception of the birds' health status were included, are presented at the end of the paper. It is concluded that most of the health and welfare problems seen in conventional poultry systems for loose housed or free ranging birds can also been found on organic poultry farms. It is also concluded that there is a need for information about biosecurity, disease detection and disease prevention on organic poultry farms.

Organic farming and multi-criteria decisions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Tove; Olsen, Søren Bøye; Dubgaard, Alex

of the many different Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) techniques available and their relative advantages and disadvantages. In addition, theoretical and practical problems related to the use of Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) and MCA respectively are briefly discussed. We then review the MCA literature on case...... studies on organic farming. Based on this review we provide directional markers for future research where MCA may possibly be applied and adapted in order to provide useful knowledge and support for decision makers in the context of organic farming....

The Study of Effect Factors on Organic Products Productivity on Farmer Income in Golestan Province

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shahram nessabian

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In order to study the efficiency resulting from optimization of energy consumptionin organic farming, the amount of consumption and production inputs and their costs, obtained profit, cultivated area and … was estimated in conjuction with the three crop of wheat, canola and tomato in Iran over a five year period 2006-2011. Using the objective function and constraints, the DEA method was used to analyze the data. All the processes of models estimation was performed using DEAP software. To calculate the energy amount in external inputs consumption in conventional and organic farming were used coefficients to convert the amount of energy input consumption, too. Finally, the energy consumptions were compared in the two cultures. According to these results, the use of organic fertilizers and biological inputs (in consequence of more energy consumption in organic specific inputs leads to lower productivity growth in organic products. These results were significant in the 5 and 1 percent levels, respectively. Due to the type of used inputs in the inorganic products, in fuel inputs, nitrogen fertilizer, phosphate fertilizer, insecticide and fungicide, inorganic products had more consumption and hence the amount of energy inputs for organic products was higher. In the case of biofertilizer and biocontrol were also used in organic production, input energy in this part was more than input energy of inorganic products. Organic farms with lower energy consumption of imports and inputs, led to production of more energy in output. Thus the efficiency besides saving of energy consumption occurred in organic products.

Methodical Problems in Organic Farming Research

OpenAIRE

Schäfer, Winfried

2002-01-01

Workshop presentation with particular focus on values, transferability and praxis relevance of organic farming research. Examples from agricultural engineering lead to the conclusion, that prototype farming, goal oriented project management, participative decision making and funding, coaching of co-operation, and coaching of conflict management may enhance long term, holistic and interdisciplinary research.

Breeding birds on organic and conventional arable farms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kragten, Steven

2009-01-01

As a result of agricultural intensification, farmland bird populations have been declining dramatically over the past decades. Organic farming is often mentioned to be a possible solution to stop these declines. In order to see whether farmland birds really benefit from organic farming a study was

Organic Farming: Biodiversity Impacts Can Depend on Dispersal Characteristics and Landscape Context

Science.gov (United States)

Feber, Ruth E.; Johnson, Paul J.; Bell, James R.; Chamberlain, Dan E.; Firbank, Leslie G.; Fuller, Robert J.; Manley, Will; Mathews, Fiona; Norton, Lisa R.; Townsend, Martin; Macdonald, David W.

2015-01-01

Organic farming, a low intensity system, may offer benefits for a range of taxa, but what affects the extent of those benefits is imperfectly understood. We explored the effects of organic farming and landscape on the activity density and species density of spiders and carabid beetles, using a large sample of paired organic and conventional farms in the UK. Spider activity density and species density were influenced by both farming system and surrounding landscape. Hunting spiders, which tend to have lower dispersal capabilities, had higher activity density, and more species were captured, on organic compared to conventional farms. There was also evidence for an interaction, as the farming system effect was particularly marked in the cropped area before harvest and was more pronounced in complex landscapes (those with little arable land). There was no evidence for any effect of farming system or landscape on web-building spiders (which include the linyphiids, many of which have high dispersal capabilities). For carabid beetles, the farming system effects were inconsistent. Before harvest, higher activity densities were observed in the crops on organic farms compared with conventional farms. After harvest, no difference was detected in the cropped area, but more carabids were captured on conventional compared to organic boundaries. Carabids were more species-dense in complex landscapes, and farming system did not affect this. There was little evidence that non-cropped habitat differences explained the farming system effects for either spiders or carabid beetles. For spiders, the farming system effects in the cropped area were probably largely attributable to differences in crop management; reduced inputs of pesticides (herbicides and insecticides) and fertilisers are possible influences, and there was some evidence for an effect of non-crop plant species richness on hunting spider activity density. The benefits of organic farming may be greatest for taxa with lower

Organic Farming: Biodiversity Impacts Can Depend on Dispersal Characteristics and Landscape Context.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruth E Feber

Full Text Available Organic farming, a low intensity system, may offer benefits for a range of taxa, but what affects the extent of those benefits is imperfectly understood. We explored the effects of organic farming and landscape on the activity density and species density of spiders and carabid beetles, using a large sample of paired organic and conventional farms in the UK. Spider activity density and species density were influenced by both farming system and surrounding landscape. Hunting spiders, which tend to have lower dispersal capabilities, had higher activity density, and more species were captured, on organic compared to conventional farms. There was also evidence for an interaction, as the farming system effect was particularly marked in the cropped area before harvest and was more pronounced in complex landscapes (those with little arable land. There was no evidence for any effect of farming system or landscape on web-building spiders (which include the linyphiids, many of which have high dispersal capabilities. For carabid beetles, the farming system effects were inconsistent. Before harvest, higher activity densities were observed in the crops on organic farms compared with conventional farms. After harvest, no difference was detected in the cropped area, but more carabids were captured on conventional compared to organic boundaries. Carabids were more species-dense in complex landscapes, and farming system did not affect this. There was little evidence that non-cropped habitat differences explained the farming system effects for either spiders or carabid beetles. For spiders, the farming system effects in the cropped area were probably largely attributable to differences in crop management; reduced inputs of pesticides (herbicides and insecticides and fertilisers are possible influences, and there was some evidence for an effect of non-crop plant species richness on hunting spider activity density. The benefits of organic farming may be greatest for

Production and Productivity Effects of Informal Contract Farming in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper uses data from a 2001 household survey of small-scale farming households in Kirinyaga District, Kenya to explore production effects of informal credit contracts in French bean farming where formal markets for surplus production are seemingly shallow and imperfect. Specifically, it examines whether informal ...

Prokaryotic Diversity in the Rhizosphere of Organic, Intensive, and Transitional Coffee Farms in Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Caldwell, Adam Collins; Silva, Lívia Carneiro Fidéles; da Silva, Cynthia Canêdo; Ouverney, Cleber Costa

2015-01-01

Despite a continuous rise in consumption of coffee over the past 60 years and recent studies showing positive benefits linked to human health, intensive coffee farming practices have been associated with environmental damage, risks to human health, and reductions in biodiversity. In contrast, organic farming has become an increasingly popular alternative, with both environmental and health benefits. This study aimed to characterize and determine the differences in the prokaryotic soil microbiology of three Brazilian coffee farms: one practicing intensive farming, one practicing organic farming, and one undergoing a transition from intensive to organic practices. Soil samples were collected from 20 coffee plant rhizospheres (soil directly influenced by the plant root exudates) and 10 control sites (soil 5 m away from the coffee plantation) at each of the three farms for a total of 90 samples. Profiling of 16S rRNA gene V4 regions revealed high levels of prokaryotic diversity in all three farms, with thousands of species level operational taxonomic units identified in each farm. Additionally, a statistically significant difference was found between each farm's coffee rhizosphere microbiome, as well as between coffee rhizosphere soils and control soils. Two groups of prokaryotes associated with the nitrogen cycle, the archaeal genus Candidatus Nitrososphaera and the bacterial order Rhizobiales were found to be abundant and statistically different in composition between the three farms and in inverse relationship to each other. Many of the nitrogen-fixing genera known to enhance plant growth were found in low numbers (e.g. Rhizobium, Agrobacter, Acetobacter, Rhodospirillum, Azospirillum), but the families in which they belong had some of the highest relative abundance in the dataset, suggesting many new groups may exist in these samples that can be further studied as potential plant growth-promoting bacteria to improve coffee production while diminishing negative

Basic Substances under EU Pesticide Regulation: An Opportunity for Organic Production?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrice A. Marchand

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Some of the active substances allowed in organic production are now approved as basic sub- stances under the EU plant protection products regulation. Previously, all organic farming permitted active substances were approved as conventional plant protection products. In accordance with the criteria of Article 23 of the EU regulation (EC No 1107/2009, basic substances are granted without maximum residue limits and have a good prospect for being included in Annex II of organic farming Regulation (EC 889/2008. In fact, most of them are already permitted in organic farming. At this stage, it seems desirable to organize applications in order to avoid duplications and to clarify strategy across Europe. This organization should be planned in order to identify corresponding knowledge and data from field experiments, and to further constitute the most crucial issues related to organic production. A work of this nature was initially supported by IFOAM-EU for lecithin, calcium hydroxide and Quassia extract. The Institut Technique de l’Agriculture Biologique (ITAB was previously engaged in a large-scale approval plan motivated by the continuous demand for the regularization of compounds/substances already in use and has a mandate for testing and approving new compatible substances. Thus, the horsetail extract (Equisetum arvense was the first approved basic substance and ITAB has obtained 11 of the 15 basic substances approved at the EU level.

Environmental impacts and production performances of organic agriculture in China: A monetary valuation.

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Fanqiao; Qiao, Yuhui; Wu, Wenliang; Smith, Pete; Scott, Steffanie

2017-03-01

Organic agriculture has developed rapidly in China since the 1990s, driven by the increasing domestic and international demand for organic products. Quantification of the environmental benefits and production performances of organic agriculture on a national scale helps to develop sustainable high yielding agricultural production systems with minimum impacts on the environment. Data of organic production for 2013 were obtained from a national survey organized by the Certification and Accreditation Administration of China. Farming performance and environmental impact indicators were screened and indicator values were defined based on an intensive literature review and were validated by national statistics. The economic (monetary) values of farming inputs, crop production and individual environmental benefits were then quantified and integrated to compare the overall performances of organic vs. conventional agriculture. In 2013, organically managed farmland accounted for approximately 0.97% of national arable land, covering 1.158 million ha. If organic crop yields were assumed to be 10%-15% lower than conventional yields, the environmental benefits of organic agriculture (i.e., a decrease in nitrate leaching, an increase in farmland biodiversity, an increase in carbon sequestration and a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions) were valued at 1921 million RMB (320.2 million USD), or 1659 RMB (276.5 USD) per ha. By reducing the farming inputs, the costs saved was 3110 million RMB (518.3 million USD), or 2686 RMB (447.7 USD) per ha. The economic loss associated with the decrease in crop yields from organic agriculture was valued at 6115 million RMB (1019.2 million USD), or 5280 RMB (880 USD) per ha. Although they were likely underestimated because of the complex relationships among farming operations, ecosystems and humans, the production costs saved and environmental benefits of organic agriculture that were quantified in our study compensated substantially for the

The influence on biogas production of three slurry-handling systems in dairy farms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Damiano Coppolecchia

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Handling systems can influence the production of biogas and methane from dairy farm manures. A comparative work performed in three different Italian dairy farms showed how the most common techniques (scraper, slatted floor, flushing can change the characteristics of collected manure. Scraper appears to be the most neutral choice, as it does not significantly affect the original characteristics of manure. Slatted floor produces a manure that has a lower methane potential in comparison with scraper, due to: a lower content of volatile solids caused by the biodegradation occurring in the deep pit, and a lower specific biogas production caused by the change in the characteristics of organic matter. Flushing can produce three different fluxes: diluted flushed manure, solid separated manure and liquid separated manure. The diluted fraction appears to be unsuitable for conventional anaerobic digestion in completely stirred reactors (CSTR, since its content of organic matter is too low to be worthwhile. The liquid separated fraction could represent an interesting material, as it appears to accumulate the most biodegradable organic fraction, but not as primary substrate in CSTR as the organic matter concentration is too low. Finally, the solid-liquid separation process tends to accumulate inert matter in the solid separated fraction and, therefore, its specific methane production is low.

Dairy cattle; Farming system; Animal feeding; Milk; Productivity; Work organization; Role of women; India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Alary

2008-01-01

Full Text Available To satisfy Indian consumers’ rising demand for milk products, Indian breeders will have to boost their production rapidly, especially through improved feeding practices. Many experts point out that currently used crop by-products will not be sufficient to meet increasing feed requirements from cow and buffalo herds and that it will be necessary to turn to grains such as wheat and maize. But other experts think that grain will not be enough and that the increasing animal consumption of grain will affect human consumption, unless India decides on massive grain imports, putting pressure on the world grain market. The present survey carried out in two districts of Haryana showed that grain was not an essential feed for cattle and buffaloes, and that improving cotton and mustard by-products, and green fodder had great potential. A second finding was that wealthier farmers tended to underuse the genetic potential of milk cows and buffaloes. Moreover, biotechnical management of the herd, in particular the feeding system, was closely related to the socioeconomic management of the family farming system; family strategies aimed at ensuring sufficient milk production for the family in larger farms and to provide a regular income in smaller ones. This paper also stressed out the need to design, implement, and monitor development programs that integrate sociocultural and, especially, gender issues, to facilitate technological innovation with respect to forage storage.

Relationship between stoichiometry and ecosystem services in organic crop production systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fan, Fan

contribute to and mitigate global ES loss. Organic farming has been suggested as one possible solution to alleviate the loss of ES in agro-ecosystems due to its environmental benefits compared with conventional farming. However, only a few studies have accounted for the economic value of ES in different...... organic crop production systems and little is known about how anthropogenic activities affect the supply of ES in such organic crop production systems. Ecological stoichiometry, which is the study of the fluxes of chemical elements and the ratio between them, has been considered as a new approach....... The organic farming systems with a high soil C:N stoichiometric ratio had a potential to produce more food, sequester more carbon from the atmosphere, store more water in the soil, attract more aphid predators, and regulate more nitrogen compared with the organic farming systems with a low soil C...

Webinars by eOrganic

OpenAIRE

eXtension

2012-01-01

Metadata only record This web page provide access to current and archived webinars offered by eXtension, a service provided through a partnership between 74 US universities. Ecological farm design, integrated pest management, organic production, reduced tillage, and on-farm participatory research are included in the diverse webinar topics. Presenters include farmers, professionals, and academics from institutions such as Michigan State University, University of Vermont, University of Minne...

Spatio-temporal variations in the composition of organic matter in surface sediments of a mangrove receiving shrimp farm effluents (New Caledonia)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aschenbroich, Adélaïde; Marchand, Cyril; Molnar, Nathalie; Deborde, Jonathan; Hubas, Cédric; Rybarczyk, Hervé; Meziane, Tarik

2015-01-01

In order to investigate spatio-temporal variations in the composition and origin of the benthic organic matter (OM) at the sediment surface in mangrove receiving shrimp farm effluents, fatty acid (FA) biomarkers, natural stable isotopes (δ 13 C and δ 15 N), C:N ratios and chlorophyll-a (chl-a) concentrations were determined during the active and the non-active period of the farm. Fatty acid compositions in surface sediments within the mangrove forest indicated that organic matter inputs varied along the year as a result of farm activity. Effluents were the source of fresh particulate organic matter for the mangrove, as evidenced by the unsaturated fatty acid (UFA) distribution. The anthropogenic MUFA 18:1ω9 was not only accumulated at the sediment surface in some parts of the mangrove, but was also exported to the seafront. Direct release of bacteria and enhanced in situ production of fungi, as revealed by specific FAs, stimulated mangrove litter decomposition under effluent runoff condition. Also, microalgae released from ponds contributed to maintain high benthic chl-a concentrations in mangrove sediments in winter and to a shift in microphytobenthic community assemblage. Primary production was high whether the farm released effluent or not which questioned the temporary effect of shrimp farm effluent on benthic microalgae dynamic. This study outlined that mangrove benthic organic matter was qualitatively and quantitatively affected by shrimp farm effluent release and that responses to environmental condition changes likely depended on mangrove stand characteristics. - Highlights: • Fatty acid 18:1ω9 is a relevant marker to monitor effluent pathway in the mangrove. • OM nature and distribution at sediment surface varied in relation to farm activity. • Enhancement of litter-decomposer biomass and activity stimulates litter degradation. • Diatoms dominate the microalgae community under effluent runoff conditions. • Chl-a concentrations suggest

Spatio-temporal variations in the composition of organic matter in surface sediments of a mangrove receiving shrimp farm effluents (New Caledonia)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aschenbroich, Adélaïde, E-mail: adelaide.aschenbroich@univ-brest.fr [UMR BOREA 7208 CNRS/MNHN/UPMC/IRD/UCBN, Muséum National d' Histoire Naturelle, CP 53, 61 rue Buffon, 75231 Paris cedex 5 (France); Marchand, Cyril [Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR 7590, UR 206, BP A5, 98848 Nouméa, New Caledonia (France); Molnar, Nathalie [UMR BOREA 7208 CNRS/MNHN/UPMC/IRD/UCBN, Muséum National d' Histoire Naturelle, CP 53, 61 rue Buffon, 75231 Paris cedex 5 (France); Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR 7590, UR 206, BP A5, 98848 Nouméa, New Caledonia (France); Deborde, Jonathan [Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR 7590, UR 206, BP A5, 98848 Nouméa, New Caledonia (France); Hubas, Cédric; Rybarczyk, Hervé; Meziane, Tarik [UMR BOREA 7208 CNRS/MNHN/UPMC/IRD/UCBN, Muséum National d' Histoire Naturelle, CP 53, 61 rue Buffon, 75231 Paris cedex 5 (France)

2015-04-15

In order to investigate spatio-temporal variations in the composition and origin of the benthic organic matter (OM) at the sediment surface in mangrove receiving shrimp farm effluents, fatty acid (FA) biomarkers, natural stable isotopes (δ{sup 13}C and δ{sup 15}N), C:N ratios and chlorophyll-a (chl-a) concentrations were determined during the active and the non-active period of the farm. Fatty acid compositions in surface sediments within the mangrove forest indicated that organic matter inputs varied along the year as a result of farm activity. Effluents were the source of fresh particulate organic matter for the mangrove, as evidenced by the unsaturated fatty acid (UFA) distribution. The anthropogenic MUFA 18:1ω9 was not only accumulated at the sediment surface in some parts of the mangrove, but was also exported to the seafront. Direct release of bacteria and enhanced in situ production of fungi, as revealed by specific FAs, stimulated mangrove litter decomposition under effluent runoff condition. Also, microalgae released from ponds contributed to maintain high benthic chl-a concentrations in mangrove sediments in winter and to a shift in microphytobenthic community assemblage. Primary production was high whether the farm released effluent or not which questioned the temporary effect of shrimp farm effluent on benthic microalgae dynamic. This study outlined that mangrove benthic organic matter was qualitatively and quantitatively affected by shrimp farm effluent release and that responses to environmental condition changes likely depended on mangrove stand characteristics. - Highlights: • Fatty acid 18:1ω9 is a relevant marker to monitor effluent pathway in the mangrove. • OM nature and distribution at sediment surface varied in relation to farm activity. • Enhancement of litter-decomposer biomass and activity stimulates litter degradation. • Diatoms dominate the microalgae community under effluent runoff conditions. • Chl-a concentrations suggest

Organic leek seed production - securing seed quality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Deleuran, Lise Christina; Boelt, Birte

2011-01-01

To maintain integrity in organic farming, availability of organically produced GM-free seed of varieties adapted to organic production systems is of vital impor-tance. Despite recent achievements, organic seed supply for a number of vegetable species is insufficient. Still, in many countries...... seeds. Tunnel production is a means of securing seed of high genetic purity and quality, and organic leek (Allium porrum L.) seed production was tested in tunnels in Denmark. The present trial focused on steckling size and in all years large stecklings had a positive effect on both seed yield...

Organic Leek Seed Production - Securing Seed Quality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Deleuran, L C; Boelt, B

2011-01-01

To maintain integrity in organic farming, availability of organically produced GM-free seed of varieties adapted to organic production systems is of vital impor-tance. Despite recent achievements, organic seed supply for a number of vegetable species is insufficient. Still, in many countries...... seeds. Tunnel production is a means of securing seed of high genetic purity and quality, and organic leek (Allium porrum L.) seed production was tested in tunnels in Denmark. The present trial focused on steckling size and in all years large stecklings had a positive effect on both seed yield...

Fractionation and characterization of soil organic carbon during transition to organic farming

Science.gov (United States)

Abdelrahman, H.; Olk, D.; Cocozza, C.; Miano, T.

2012-04-01

The transition from conventional to organic farming is the most difficult period faced by organic growers as it could be characterized by unstable conditions, such as nutrient availability, production reductions, mineralization extents. As soil organic matter (SOM), specifically soil organic carbon (SOC), is known to play important roles in maintenance and improvement of many soil properties, it is important to define its changes during the transition period. Total SOC might not be the suitable tool to track the changes in organically based soil fertility within a 3- to 5-yr transition period. Labile fractions that are important for nutrient cycling and supply are likely to be controlled by management to a much greater extent than is total SOM. Two field experiments, in south of Italy, were established in 2009 to study the changes in SOC during transition to organic farming. Experiments included a cereal/leguminous rotation with triplicates treatments of permitted amendments (compost and fertilizers). Soils were sampled at the beginning of the project, and after each crop harvest in 2010 and 2011. A sequential fractionation procedure was used to separate different SOC-fractions: light fraction (LF), two size classes of particulate organic matter (POM), mobile humic acid (MHA) and Ca++ bound humic acid (CaHA). Isolated fractions were quantified and analyzed for their content of C, N, carbohydrates and amino compounds fingerprints. The obtained results showed that compost application contributed to significantly higher quantities of LF, POM and MHA than did fertilizers application. Carbohydrates content decreased in LF while increased noticeably in POM and slightly in MHA fractions, which indicates that decomposing materials are converted, within the time span of humification, from young fractions into more mature fractions. Amino compounds were found to provide up to 40% of total soil N with a major contribution of the humified fractions, MHA and CaHA. The utilized

Risk and profitability of animal and crop production in Slovak farms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marián Tóth

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The paper focuses on profitability and risk of crop and animal production based on an analysis of farms operating in Slovak Republic. The individual farm data used for the analysis are from the database of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic. For our analysis, data were selected according to the farm production orientation to the subset of crop farms and animal farms. The selecting criterion for production orientation was the percentage share of revenues from crop production, or revenues from animal production from the overall revenues from own products and services. We analyse profitability of farms divided into groups based on the type of production into crop and animal farms (according to the share in sales from crop or animal production. Using descriptive statistics and portfolio theory we simulate the total farm profitability and volatility of animal and crop production in Slovakia. The modified Markowitz portfolio theory approach was used to estimate the total risk of portfolios of crop and animal farms. Based on the results we conclude that in the long run crop farms are profitable and profit from crop production is used to cover the losses from animal production in mixed farms. Farms focused on animal production only are efficient and profitable, but the profitability is lower in comparison with crop farms. Animal farms results are less volatile than crop farms. Large farms tend to production with lower value added and can generate enough profit for the owner.

Potato Organic Farming in Batu City, Indonesia

OpenAIRE

Sugiarto, Sugiarto; Sulistiono, Rudi; Sudiarso, Sudiarso; Soemarno, Soemarno

2013-01-01

Organic potato cultivation was an effort to improve declining quality of potato agroecosystems and to preserve soil fertility. This study was conducted to analyze pattern of farming system and land management on the area of organic potatoes in Batu city. Research was conducted by the survey method, respondents were determined by the method of stratified cluster sampling. Farmer respondents were experienced organic potato farmer and as "expert leaders". Results show that the mindset of farmer...

Organic farming and social capital building in small holder farmer communities in the Rwenzori region

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tibasiima, Thaddeo; Nalunga, Jane; Vaarst, Mette

uniqueness. The approach also promotes whole household participation. The facilitator who basically guides the learning stirs farmers into developing confidence within and among themselves in the organic production processes, using agro-ecological farming methods and practices which are economically...... learning garden and learning involves the growth cycle of the enterprise in question, the FFLG approach considers each farm as being unique and as a special learning entity. The approach therefore, involves farmers rotating from one farm to another to learn and support the particular farm in respect to its...

The concept of animal welfare at the interface between producers and scientists: the example of organic pig farming.

Science.gov (United States)

Leeb, Christine

2011-06-01

In organic farming animal welfare is one important aspect included in the internationally agreed organic principles of health, ecology, fairness and care (IFOAM 2006), reflecting expectation of consumers and farmers. The definition of organic animal welfare includes-besides traditional terms of animal welfare-'regeneration' and 'naturalness'. Organic animal welfare assessment needs to reflect this and use complex parameters, include natural behaviour and a systemic view. Furthermore, various parties with seemingly conflicting interests are involved, causing ethical dilemmas, such as the use of nose rings for outdoor sows (impaired animal welfare vs. destruction of humus). Solutions can only be found when foundational concepts are translated and applied to practical situations. On-farm animal welfare assessment and implementation of improvement strategies are increasingly relevant scientific areas. They combine on-farm welfare assessment, identification of key problem areas and connected risk factors. Constant communication between all parties is crucial for success. Animal health and welfare planning is one application of this approach, which was carried out on Austrian organic pig farms as well as organic dairy farms in seven European countries. The projects included welfare assessment, feedback and benchmarking as a tool for communication between farmers, advisors and scientists. Finally goals were set by the farmer and improvement strategies applicable to organic farming were implemented. This included prevention of disease by management strategies instead of routine treatment with pharmaceutical products. It appeared that next to problem structuring, multidisciplinary problem solving demands good communications skills to relate animal welfare science to value reflections.

ORGANIC GRAIN PRODUCTION MARKET OF UKRAINE: PROSPECTS AND TRENDS

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Viktoriia Bondar

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the paper is to determine the prospects of the market of organic products in Ukraine. The article studies the market for organic produce dynamic area of organic farmland, number of organic farms in volume production of organic products. Identified key factors influencing the market for organic products Ukraine, outlined areas of the market based on its current state. Grain industry serves as a source of sustainable development of agriculture, determines the socio-economic condition of society and is the basis of agricultural exports. Therefore, the development of the organic market of grain and its products are of particular importance and led to the goal and objectives of bottom investigation. Methodology. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study are works of economists on the development of ecology management, general scientific methods and approaches in the field of business management: historical, dialectical, abstract logical methods of system-structural analysis and synthesis of scientific research and provision of economic theory, management. Results. Proved that Ukraine has considerable potential as a producer of agricultural products, including organic farming, export, consumption in the domestic market. To determine the market trends of organic products studied the dynamics of agricultural surfaces of Ukraine, reserved for growing organic products. To further study the characteristics and trends of the market for organic products in Ukraine, examined the dynamics of the number of organic farms. For determining the main trends and the prospects of the organic products market, and in addition for researching proposals, examined demand for market research of market demand for organic products in terms of production of organic products in Ukraine. Practical implications. The main problem of Ukraine of organic production is exported domestic products as organic production of agricultural products. Analysis of key

Orchid bees as bio-indicators for organic coffee farms in Costa Rica: Does farm size affect their abundance?

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Ingemar Hedström

2006-09-01

Full Text Available The potential of Euglossini bees, especially Euglossa, as biological indicators of organic vs non-organic coffee farms was studied in Atenas and San Isidro, Alajuela, Costa Rica using 1.8-cineole as lure. Observations were made for three days at each of four farms and complemented with data from a year of observations. Orchid bees were in greater abundance in the organic farms (t-Student test. However, lower abundances suggest that an organic farm may be negatively affected by the proximity of non-organic farms, depending on its size and distance. Orchid bees may be indicators of organic coffee farms. Rev. Biol. Trop. 54 (3: 965-969. Epub 2006 Sept. 29.Por un año estudiamos las abejas de la tribu Euglossini (abejas de las orquídeas, especialmente el género Euglossa en Atenas y San Isidro, Alajuela, Costa Rica, para identificar su potencial como bioindicadoras de fincas orgánicas y fincas "convencionales" de café. Usamos como atrayente aceite de eucalipto (1.8-cineole. Las abejas son más abundantes en las fincas de café orgánico (t-Student. Sin embargo, el relativamente bajo número de abejas en la menor de las dos fincas orgánicas sugiere que el tamaño de una finca orgánica y la proximidad a las fincas convencionales, podrían tener efectos negativos en la orgánica. Estas abejas podrían servir como bioindicadores de fincas orgánicas.

Ethical, moral and social dimensions in farm production practices: a segmentation study to assess Irish consumers’ perceptions of meat quality

OpenAIRE

Regan Á.; Henchion M; McIntyre B

2018-01-01

Growing consumer concerns with modern farming and food production systems indicate a significant market opportunity for meat production practices that consider ethical, moral and social value traits. In the current study, we aimed to identify and characterise distinct segments of Irish consumers based on their perceptions of the quality of meat from different farm-level production practices (organic farming, high animal welfare standards, free range farming, and “natural”, treatment-free feed...

Improved milk production performance of smallholder farms in West Java (Indonesia).

Science.gov (United States)

Sembada, Pria; Duteurtre, Guillaume; Purwanto, Bagus Priyo; Suryahadi

2016-04-01

In Indonesia, because of the rapidly growing demand for dairy products, the development of milk production in rural communities can play a strong role in reducing poverty. However, the development of smallholder dairy production requires adequate support from the government, development organizations, and private firms. To assess the needs and situations of poor dairy farmers, we conducted a study in Ciater sub-district in West Java Province to compare the current situation with the situation that prevailed 4 years ago, i.e., before the implementation of a dairy development project. Data were collected from 61 farms in June 2014. The average number of cows on the farms surveyed was three to four, and each relied on cultivating an average of 0.4 ha of forage. Results showed that thanks to the project activities, milk productivity per cow and net income from milk production increased by 25% between 2010 and 2014. These results underline the importance of providing training and technical support for the development of the livelihoods of dairy smallholders.

Closing the natural cycles - using biowaste compost in organic farming in Vienna

Science.gov (United States)

Erhart, Eva; Rogalski, Wojciech; Maurer, Ludwig; Hartl, Wilfried

2014-05-01

One of the basic principles of organic farming - that organic management should fit the cycles and ecological balances in nature - is put into practice in Vienna on a large scale. In Vienna, compost produced from separately collected biowaste and greenwaste is used on more than 1000 ha of organic farmland. These municipally owned farms are managed organically, but are stockless, like the vast majority of farms in the region. The apparent need for a substitute for animal manure triggered the development of an innovative biowaste management. Together with the Municipal Department 48 responsible for waste management, which was keen for the reduction of residual waste, the Municipal Department 49 - Forestry Office and Urban Agriculture and Bio Forschung Austria developed Vienna's biowaste management model. Organic household wastes and greenwastes are source-separated by the urban population and collected in a closely monitored system to ensure high compost quality. A composting plant was constructed which today produces a total of 43000 t compost per year in a monitored open windrow process. The quality of the compost produced conforms to the EU regulation 834/2007. A large part of the compost is used as organic fertilizer on the organic farmland in Vienna, and the remainder is used in arable farming and in viticulture in the region around Vienna and for substrate production. Vienna`s biowaste management-model is operating successfully since the 1980s and has gained international recognition in form of the Best Practice-Award of the United Nations Development Programme. In order to assess the effects of biowaste compost fertilization on crop yield and on the environment, a field experiment was set up near Vienna in 1992, which is now one of the longest standing compost experiments in Europe. The results showed, that the yields increased for 7 - 10 % with compost fertilization compared to the unfertilized control and the nitrogen recovery by crops was between 4 and 6

Is organic farming safer to farmers' health? A comparison between organic and traditional farming.

Science.gov (United States)

Costa, Carla; García-Lestón, Julia; Costa, Solange; Coelho, Patrícia; Silva, Susana; Pingarilho, Marta; Valdiglesias, Vanessa; Mattei, Francesca; Dall'Armi, Valentina; Bonassi, Stefano; Laffon, Blanca; Snawder, John; Teixeira, João Paulo

2014-10-15

Exposure to pesticides is a major public health concern, because of the widespread distribution of these compounds and their possible long term effects. Recently, organic farming has been introduced as a consumer and environmental friendly agricultural system, although little is known about the effects on workers' health. The aim of this work was to evaluate genetic damage and immunological alterations in workers of both traditional and organic farming. Eighty-five farmers exposed to several pesticides, thirty-six organic farmers and sixty-one controls took part in the study. Biomarkers of exposure (pyrethroids, organophosphates, carbamates, and thioethers in urine and butyrylcholinesterase activity in plasma), early effect (micronuclei in lymphocytes and reticulocytes, T-cell receptor mutation assay, chromosomal aberrations, comet assay and lymphocytes subpopulations) and susceptibility (genetic polymorphisms related to metabolism - EPHX1, GSTM1, GSTT1 and GSTP1 - and DNA repair-XRCC1 and XRCC2) were evaluated. When compared to controls and organic farmers, pesticide farmers presented a significant increase of micronuclei in lymphocytes (frequency ratio, FR=2.80) and reticulocytes (FR=1.89), chromosomal aberrations (FR=2.19), DNA damage assessed by comet assay (mean ratio, MR=1.71), and a significant decrease in the proportion of B lymphocytes (MR=0.88). Results were not consistent for organic farmers when compared to controls, with a 48% increase of micronuclei in lumphocytes frequency (p=0.016) contrasted by the significant decreases of TCR-Mf (p=0.001) and %T (p=0.001). Our data confirm the increased presence of DNA damage in farmers exposed to pesticides, and show as exposure conditions may influence observed effects. These results must be interpreted with caution due to the small size of the sample and the unbalanced distribution of individuals in the three study groups. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effect of organic farming systems on species diversity

Science.gov (United States)

Leksono, Amin Setyo

2017-11-01

Organic farming systems have been well known to support the diversity of a wide range of taxa, including microorganisms, arable flora, invertebrates, birds, and mammals, which benefit from organic management leading to increases in abundance and/or species richness. The objective of this paper is to review the effect of organic farming on species diversity reported in several articles and compare this with the current study in Gondanglegi, Malang. A review of several studies showed that organic farming systems have been reported to increase species diversity, including that of mammals, birds, arthropods, vascular plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. The researchers about arthropod groups consisted of carabid beetles, butterflies, wasps, predators, and bees. Agricultural landscape, habitat type, farming system, landscape composition and connectivity all contribute to explaining species biodiversity and richness. Moreover, based on current and relevant studies, the results showed that the application of refugia blocks has increased arthropod diversity and composition.

AESIS: a support tool for the evaluation of sustainability of agroecosystems. Example of applications to organic and integrated farming systems in Tuscany, Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gaio Cesare Pacini

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Agricultural researchers widely recognise the importance of sustainable agricultural production systems and the need to develop appropriate methods to measure sustainability on the farm level. Policy makers need accounting and evaluation tools to be able to assess the potential of sustainable production practices and to provide appropriate agro-environmental policy measures. Farmers are in search of sustainable management tools to cope with regulations and enhance efficiency. This paper presents the outcomes of applications to organic and integrated farming of an indicator-based framework to evaluate sustainability of farming systems (Agro-Environmental Sustainability Information System, AESIS. The AESIS was described together with a review of applications dating from 1991 in a previous paper. The objective of the present paper is to present the AESIS application to organic and integrated farming systems in Val d’Elsa (Tuscany and discuss how it is adapted for application to ordinary farms. The AESIS is organised into a number of environmental and production systems. For each system, environmental critical points are identified with corresponding agro-environmental indicators and processing methods. Possible solutions to sustainability issues, and critical points of relevance to the agricultural sector of the local economic and agro-ecological zone, are formulated by including an experimental layout, identifying indicator thresholds and by defining management systems with corresponding policy measures. Alternative solutions are evaluated by calculating and measuring the relevant indicators. The outcomes of the AESIS applications are discussed with specific relevance to the operational adoptability of AESIS to ordinary, agri-touristic farms managed with the organic and the integrated production method, respectively. The AESIS framework proved to be sufficiently flexible to meet the requirements for ordinary farm applications while keeping a

How organic farming of wheat may affect the sourdough and the nutritional and technological features of leavened baked goods.

Science.gov (United States)

Pontonio, Erica; Rizzello, Carlo G; Di Cagno, Raffaella; Dousset, Xavier; Clément, Héliciane; Filannino, Pasquale; Onno, Bernard; Gobbetti, Marco

2016-12-19

Organic farming is gaining broad recognition as a system that complies well with sustainability, an overarching principle that should drive agriculture now and in the coming year. Different cultivars and products can harbour different abundances of specific bacterial groups, farming system may influence the composition and abundances of microbial communities found on food product. Despite the growing interest towards organic foods, we still have a limited understanding of the diversity of food-associated microbial communities and the factors that influence the composition of these communities. Consumers in developed nations are commonly exposed to differences in farming practices through their choice between organic and conventionally farmed foods. Organic farming practices can differ from conventional farming practices in a variety of ways, including the types of fertilizer and pesticides that are used. This review aiming to gather current knowledge on chemical, technological, toxicological and functional properties and microbiota composition of wheat flours originating from organic and conventional farming systems and how the use of these may affect the sourdough fermentation and breadmaking. Sourdough fermentation is the most natural and best-performing process to ensure optimal sensory and functional characteristics. It fits perfectly into the processing chain that starts with the organic farming, especially for old wheat varieties with weaker technological properties. Recently, organic and sourdough microbiota diversity was investigated and in some case a comparison between organic and conventional microbial ecosystem was also carried out. Opposites evidences arise. Once a higher diversity of lactic acid bacteria species was found in conventional wheat sourdoughs, while when the diversity of Firmicutes was investigated, organic sourdoughs showed the highest complexity. When occurring, the differences between conventional and organic sourdough microbiota and

Weed species diversity in organic and integrated farming systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magdalena Jastrzębska

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Phytosociological data were collected in 1994–1996 in plots (relevés at the Research Station for Organic Farming and Conservation Breeding of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Popielno included in a large-area experiment conducted according to the concept and method proposed by Prof. S. Nawrocki. In a four-field crop rotation (root crops – spring barley undersown with red clover and grasses – red clover/grass mixture – winter triticale, each field was divided into two management units, organic and integrated. Data were collected in relevés by the Braun-Blanquet method, each year at the peak of the growing season. Weed abundance (% cover in cultivated fields and the number of weed species (species richness in crops were determined, which provided a basis for calculating the Shannon-Wiener indices of species diversity and evenness, and the Rényi profiles. The qualitative (species and quantitative structure of weed communities was compared using the Sørensen index. A total of 115 weed taxa (species, subspecies and varieties were identified in the examined agro-phytocenoses. Echinochloa crus-galli, Chenopodium album, Matricaria maritima subsp. inodora, Capsella bursa-pastoris, Thlaspi arvense and Stellaria media were the most abundant. Weed infestation was slightly higher in the organic farming system than in the integrated system. Organic farming contributed to higher weed species diversity in root crops, red clover/grass mixtures and winter triticale. Weed species richness was reduced in red clover/grass stands, while root crops and – to a lesser degree – spring barley undersown with red clover and grasses decreased weed species diversity. The species composition and in particular the quantitative structure of weeds were affected by crop species and cultivation regime rather than by the farming system. Weed communities of crops grown under organic and integrated farming systems were more similar with regard to species composition

Marketing of organic products in southern Poland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuboń Maciej

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The article presents an outline of the issue concerning formulation of a marketing strategy and the possibility of using the knowledge on consumers' preferences for organic development of farms and their products on the example of southern Poland. The paper analyses the distribution process of organic food in the aspect of developing innovative marketing strategies. The studies were performed in 50 organic farms and on the example of 100 respondents from the region of southern Poland. In the opinion of the surveyed representatives of the organic food producers, a competitive advantage of their offer depends the most on the health values, brand, reputation, and taste. Moreover, information on products and the form and place of their sale are significant. The analysis shows that the knowledge is the most eagerly obtained from the Internet. Thus, producers should publish their profiles and pages on social media and business portals.

Heavy metals and other elements in serum of cattle from organic and conventional farms.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomza-Marciniak, Agnieszka; Pilarczyk, Bogumiła; Bąkowska, Małgorzata; Pilarczyk, Renata; Wójcik, Jerzy

2011-11-01

Concentrations of cadmium, lead, iron, zinc, copper, chromium, nickel, aluminium and arsenium were analysed in blood serum of cattle from organic (n=20) and conventional (n=21) farms. The elements were determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry using an Optima 2000 DV instrument (Perkin Elmer Inc.). Animals from the organic farm were characterised by significantly lower (Panimals from the conventional farm. The concentration of Cd was similar in animals from both organic and conventional farms. The concentration of toxic elements in cattle from organic and conventional farms studied was very low. The trace essential elements were generally within the adequate ranges except Zn and Cu, which were deficient. In organically reared animals, also serum Fe content was below the critical level for diagnosing iron deficiency. Pb was significantly correlated with Cd, Zn, Fe, Cu and Ni. A significant positive correlation between the concentration of Cd and Zn, Cu and Ni concentrations was only observed in cows from the organic farm. The present results suggest that organically raised animals are less exposed to harmful environmental influences such as the environmental pollution with heavy metals. On the other hand, these animals are at a greater risk of mineral deficiency compared to animals kept on conventional farms.

Rice farming in Bali: organic production and marketing challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

MacRae, Graeme

2011-01-01

All is not well with agriculture in Southeast Asia. The productivity gains of the Green Revolution have slowed and even reversed and environmental problems and shortages of water and land are evident. At the same time changing world markets are shifting the dynamics of national agricultural economies. But from the point of view of farmers themselves, it is their season-to-season economic survival that is at stake. Bali is in some ways typical of other agricultural areas in the region, but it is also a special case because of its distinctive economic and cultural environment dominated by tourism. In this environment, farmers are doubly marginalized. At the same time the island offers them unique market opportunities for premium and organic produce. This article examines the ways in which these opportunities have been approached and describes their varying degrees of success. It focuses especially on one project that has been successful in reducing production costs by conversion to organic production, but less so in marketing its produce. It argues finally for the need for integrated studies of the entire rice production/marketing complex, especially from the bottom-up point of view of farmers.

Physical and chemical characteristics of melon in organic farming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosete A. G. Kohn

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Melon farming is characterized as an important family agriculture activity and the organic production of fruits and vegetables has shown a large growth in terms of areas in Brazil and around the world. This work aimed to study the postharvest quality of melon cultivated in an organic system. The organic treatments constituted of base fertilizer with cattle manure vermicompost (recommended dose, ½ dose and double dose plus the use of biofertilizer (sprayed or sprayed + irrigated, and an additional treatment with chemical fertilization. The postharvest quality was evaluated through physico-chemical and phytochemical attributes. The organic management with half the recommended dose of vermicompost plus the sprayed biofertilizer and the chemical fertilization management produced fruits with higher levels of sugar, total carotenoids, ascorbic acid and folates, obtaining more balanced fruits, with a better phytochemical quality. The antioxidant capacity was defined mainly by the presence of the phenolic compounds, which were influenced by the type and the dose of the evaluated fertilizers, with superiority in the organic treatments with double the dose of cattle manure vermicompost.

Effect of organic fertilizers on maize production in Eastern Georgia

Science.gov (United States)

Jolokhava, Tamar; Kenchiashvili, Naira; Tarkhnishvili, Maia; Ghambashidze, Giorgi

2016-04-01

Maize remains to be the most important cereal crop in Georgia. Total area of arable land under cereal crops production equals to 184 thousands hectares (FAO statistical yearbook, 2014), from which maize takes the biggest share. Leading position of maize among other cereal crops is caused by its dual purpose as food and feed product. In Spite of a relatively high production of maize to other cereals there is still a high demand on it, especially as feed for animal husbandry. The same tendency is seen in organic production, where producers of livestock and poultry products require organically grown maize, the average yield of which is much less than those produced conventionally. Therefore, it is important to increase productivity of maize in organic farms. Current study aimed to improve maize yield using locally produced organic fertilizers and to compare them to the effect of mineral fertilizers. The study was carried out in Eastern Georgia under dry subtropical climate conditions on local hybrid of maize. This is the first attempt to use hybrid maize (developed with organic plant breeding method) in organic field trials in Georgia. The results shown, that grain yield from two different types of organic fertilizers reached 70% of the yields achieved with industrial mineral fertilizers. As on farm level differences between organic and conventional maize production are much severe, the results from the field trials seems to be promising for future improvement of organic cereal crop production.

Environmental Implications of Eco-Labeling for Rice Farming Systems

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Solhee Kim

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Concerns about climate change have forced countries to strengthen regulations, standards, and certifications related to greenhouse gas emissions. Various policies targeting farm products, such as carbon labeling and the Environmentally-Friendly Agricultural Product Certification (EFAPC for agricultural products, have been implemented in South Korea to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the agricultural sector. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implications of the various certification systems for rice farming, including organic farming, non-pesticide farming, and low-pesticide farming. For this study, we constructed a life cycle inventory (LCI of rice farming systems including conventional, low-pesticide, non-pesticide, and organic farming systems in South Korea. Finally, we compared international farming systems in South Korea, the U.S., and the EU. The rice farming systems with eco-labeling certifications have reduced the environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of rice farming by country were highest in the U.S. (100.0, followed by the EU (53.7, and Korea’s conventional (48.6, low-pesticide (35.8, non-pesticide (28.9, and organic (16.7 farming practices. These results may be useful in proliferating and improving the methodology to evaluate eco-labeling and carbon labeling systems.

Farmers' Perception towards Organic-based Vegetable Produc-tion ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

It is well established that organic farming is a production system that sustain the health of the soils, ecosystems and people. This study assessed the small-scale farmers' perception towards organic based vegetable production in Ilaro agricultural zone of Ogun state, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used in the ...

Organic Dairy Production Systems in Pennsylvania: A Case Study Evaluation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rotz, C.A.; Kamphuis, G.H.; Karsten, H.D.; Weaver, R.D.

2007-01-01

The current market demand and price for organic milk is encouraging dairy producers, particularly those on smaller farms, to consider organic production as a means for improving the economic viability of their operations. Organic production systems vary widely in scale, in practices, and across

STOVE: Seed treatments for organic vegetable production

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schmitt, A.; Jahn, M.; Kromphardt, C.; Krauthausen, H.J.; Roberts, S.J.; Wright, S.A.I.; Amein, T.; Forsberg, G.; Tinivella, F.; Gullino, M.L.; Wikström, M.; Wolf, van der J.M.; Groot, S.P.C.; Werner, S.; Koch, E.

2008-01-01

The aim of the EU-financed research project „STOVE“ (Seed Treatments for Organic Vegetable Production) is to evaluate different methods potentially suited for seed treatment of vegetables in organic farming regarding their efficacy, to optimise these methods, and where feasible to combine them with

Co-production of ethanol, biogas, protein fodder and natural fertilizer in organic farming--evaluation of a concept for a farm-scale biorefinery.

Science.gov (United States)

Oleskowicz-Popiel, Piotr; Kádár, Zsófia; Heiske, Stefan; Klein-Marcuschamer, Daniel; Simmons, Blake A; Blanch, Harvey W; Schmidt, Jens Ejbye

2012-01-01

The addition of a biorefinery to an organic farm was investigated, where ethanol was produced from germinated rye grains and whey, and the effluent was separated into two streams: the protein-rich solid fraction, to be used as animal feed, and the liquid fraction, which can be co-digested with clover grass silage to produce biogas. A method for ethanol production from rye was applied by utilizing inherent amylase activity from germination of the seed. Biogas potential of ethanol fermentation effluent was measured through anaerobic digestion trials. The effluent from the trials was assumed to serve as natural fertilizer. A technoeconomic analysis was also performed; total capital investment was estimated to be approximately 4 M USD. Setting a methane selling price according to available incentives for "green electricity" (0.72 USD/m(3)) led to a minimum ethanol selling price of 1.89 USD/L (project lifetime 25 yr, at a discount rate 10%). Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Organic agricultural products in Europe and USA

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Skrodzka Violetta

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In the most developed countries of Western Europe and North America, the share of organic farming in the food market is between 2% and 6%. The share of organic products on the Polish food market is only 0.33% (Dryjańska E. 2017. The aim of this article is to compare organic agricultural products in the US and EU. The scope of the comparison was covered by the legal regulations for organic production in the mentioned regions and the availability of organic products for customers. In order to highlight differences between the organic product and their traditional counterpart, selected meta-analyzes were conducted by authors in the field of medical and natural sciences. The possibilities of buying organic products are described on the basis of personal experiences of the author as a consumer. The offer of organic products was analyzed on the example of one European country (Poland and the example of several states of America (Colorado, Virginia, New York. The rules for producing organic food in the US are more rigorous than in the EU. The offer of organic and conventional food targeted to the American consumer is comparable. Although Polish consumers have a positive perception of organic food, its supply is significantly different from the US market. The main differences are in distribution channels, product range, price and visual design of organic products.

Organic Bread Wheat Production and Market in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

David, C.; Abecassis, J.; Carcea, M.

2012-01-01

yield under organic production. The choice of cultivar, green manure, fertilization and intercropping legumes – grain or forage – are efficient ways to obtain high grain quality and quantity. The economic viability of wheat production in Europe is also affected by subsidies from European Union agri......This chapter is a first attempt to analyse bottlenecks and challenges of European organic bread wheat sector involving technical, political and market issues. From 2000, the organic grain market has largely increased in Western Europe. To balance higher consumer demand there is a need to increase...... organic production by a new transition and technical improvement. Bread wheat is grown in a variety of crop rotations and farming systems where four basic organic crop production systems have been defined. Weeds and nitrogen deficiency are considered to be the most serious threat inducing lowest grain...

IMPACT OF CORRUPTION ON FARM PRODUCTION AND PROFIT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asif Reza Anik

2013-02-01

Full Text Available By analyzing experiences of 210 rice farmers belonging to six villages of six different districts in Bangladesh this article estimates the impact of corruption on farm production and profit. Unlike existing literature corruption here is defined in broader term. Both explicit and implicit cost items are included while calculating the cost of corruption. Through estimating the marginal physical product of fertilizer, a relative impact of corruption on farm production is estimated. Then by hypothesizing different scenarios with different levels of corruption, changes in a farmer's benefit cost ratio is estimated. It has been observed that with reducing cost of corruption farmers observe higher benefit cost ratio and vice versa. Cost of corruption is found to be relatively higher in restricted input market situation and relatively lower when the market is more competitive. Thus our results are suggestive for competitive market policy to reduce corruption which will ultimately result in more farm production and profit.

Wind farms production: Control and prediction

Science.gov (United States)

El-Fouly, Tarek Hussein Mostafa

Wind energy resources, unlike dispatchable central station generation, produce power dependable on external irregular source and that is the incident wind speed which does not always blow when electricity is needed. This results in the variability, unpredictability, and uncertainty of wind resources. Therefore, the integration of wind facilities to utility electrical grid presents a major challenge to power system operator. Such integration has significant impact on the optimum power flow, transmission congestion, power quality issues, system stability, load dispatch, and economic analysis. Due to the irregular nature of wind power production, accurate prediction represents the major challenge to power system operators. Therefore, in this thesis two novel models are proposed for wind speed and wind power prediction. One proposed model is dedicated to short-term prediction (one-hour ahead) and the other involves medium term prediction (one-day ahead). The accuracy of the proposed models is revealed by comparing their results with the corresponding values of a reference prediction model referred to as the persistent model. Utility grid operation is not only impacted by the uncertainty of the future production of wind farms, but also by the variability of their current production and how the active and reactive power exchange with the grid is controlled. To address this particular task, a control technique for wind turbines, driven by doubly-fed induction generators (DFIGs), is developed to regulate the terminal voltage by equally sharing the generated/absorbed reactive power between the rotor-side and the gridside converters. To highlight the impact of the new developed technique in reducing the power loss in the generator set, an economic analysis is carried out. Moreover, a new aggregated model for wind farms is proposed that accounts for the irregularity of the incident wind distribution throughout the farm layout. Specifically, this model includes the wake effect

Commercialization channels of organic products in Brazil: analysis at the first level of the production chain

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Andréa Rossi Scalco

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Specialized literature on organic production highlights the presence and concentration of retail, especially supermarkets, in the organic enhancement chain. This presents enormous obstacles for the entrance of small farmers in the production of organic products due to administrative barriers, in addition to pressure for lower prices by the supermarket retail network. This paper investigates the commercialization channels of organic production in Brazil. The survey was undertaken in 2013; questionnaires were sent to 900 out of approximately 11.200 farmers producing organic products; 216 answers were received. Analysis showed that approximately 90% of farmers provided for the internal market and 60% of the products were fresh fruits and vegetables. The distribution of organic products in Brazil is highly fragmented at the local, regional and national levels. The presence of supermarkets and intermediaries in the commercialization of fruits and vegetables is relevant, regardless of the size of the farm. There is a great dispersion of channels in the case of small farmers, although supermarkets rank second. However, direct commercialization (farmers markets is the main form of commercialization of the produce. Commercialization triggered by social programs has guaranteed a considerable part of the income on small production units or small farms. It seems that high involvement of retail networks and agents in the agribusiness segment causes low development rates in small agricultural units and in local development due to the latter’s low profit margins.

Prevalence of gastrointestinal helminth infections in free-range laying hens under mountain farming production conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Wuthijaree, K; Lambertz, C; Gauly, M

2017-12-01

1. A cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2015 to July 2016 in South Tyrol, Northern Italy to examine the prevalence of gastrointestinal helminths in free-range laying hens under mountain farming production conditions. 2. A total of 280 laying hens from 14 free-range mountain farms (4 organic, 10 conventional) were randomly collected at the end of the laying period. Faecal samples were taken to analyse faecal egg counts (FEC) and faecal oocyst counts (FOC). The gastrointestinal tracts were removed post mortem and examined for the presence of helminths. 3. In faeces, FEC values averaged 258 eggs per g of faeces, which were dominated by Ascaridia galli and Heterakis gallinarum. Mean FOC was 80 oocysts/g. In the gastrointestinal tract, at least one nematode species was found in 99.3% of the examined hens. H. gallinarum was the most prevalent nematode (95.7%), followed by Capillaria spp. (66.8%) and A. galli (63.6%). Thirty per cent of the chickens were infected with cestodes (tapeworms). Correlation coefficients between worm counts of H. gallinarum, Capillaria spp. and A. galli ranged from 0.41 to 0.51. 5. The helminth prevalence did not differ between conventional and organic farms, whereas total worm burden was higher in organic compared with conventional farms (318.9 vs. 112.0). Prevalence and infection intensity did not differ between farms that used anthelmintic treatments and those that did not. 6. In conclusion, free-range laying hens under the studied mountain farming conditions are at high risk of nematode infection, especially in organic systems. The vast majority of hens are subclinical infected with at least one helminth species.

Microeconomics of the Productivity, Price Indicators and Farm Incomes. Analytical Approach

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Włodzimierz Rembisz

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The paper develops a farm producer behavior type model to analyze the impact of a input productivity and price change on farm incomes. The theoretical analysis shows the consequences of the balance between the increase of production factor prices and their productivity improvement in the condition of stable procurement price for the farm producers income. The cost effect of the production factors price increment and its neutralization by productivity (TFP-type growth is examined as well as some aspects of the inputs shares (returns and costs in the produce value. The article argues that labor input productivity as an endogenous factor, is an essential for farm incomes growth assuming the specified type of the farm producer utility function (its equations and variables as well as no the compensative procurement price change conditions. Some empirical evidence is attached however more work in that respect is foreseen.

Soil microbial biomass in organic farming system Biomassa microbiana do solo em sistemas orgânicos

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Ademir Sérgio Ferreira de Araújo

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Agricultural production systems have to combine management practices in order to sustain soil's profitability and quality. Organic farming is gaining worldwide acceptance and has been expanding at an annual rate of 20% in the last decade, accounting for over 24 million hectares worldwide. Organic practices avoid applications of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, rely on organic inputs and recycling for nutrient supply, and emphasize cropping system design and biological processes for pest management, as defined by organic farming regulation in the world. In comparison with conventional farming, organic farming has potential benefits in improving food quality and safety. Plant production in organic farming mainly depends on nutrient release as a function of mineralization processes in soils. The build-up of a large and active soil microbial biomass is important pool of accessible nutrients, therefore, is an important priority in organic farming. In organic farming, there is positive effect of quantity and quality of inputs of organic residues on soil microbial biomass. In this way, the organic systems are extremely important for the increase of the soil fertility and the maintenance of the environmental sustainability.A produção agrícola tem de combinar práticas para prover a sustentabilidade do solo. A agricultura orgânica está ganhando aceitação mundial e cresce à taxa anual de 20% na última década, contabilizando mais de 24 milhões de hectares. As práticas orgânicas evitam o uso de fertilizantes sintéticos e pesticidas, enfatiza a aplicação de matéria orgânica, como também a reciclagem de nutrientes e de processos biológicos para manejo de pragas, através das regras dos sistemas orgânicos no mundo. Em comparação com a agricultura convencional, os sistemas orgânicos têm potencial de melhorar a qualidade e a segurança dos alimentos. A produção das plantas no sistema orgânico depende da liberação de nutrientes

Improvement of organic meat products nutrition

OpenAIRE

Žilytė, Eglė

2016-01-01

The aim of the research: to improve the food value indicators of cold-smoked organic meat and implement the quality requirements, which are raised for a national meat products of the company X. To answer the purpose it has been created a new recipe for cold-smoked sausage and cold-smoked minced sausage by using the produced meat in the farm X. It has been evaluated the compliance of the national products quality with the index of food value of improved cold-smoked meat products. It has bee...

Development of Farm Records Software

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M. S. Abubakar

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Farm records are mostly manually kept on paper notebooks and folders where similar records are organized in one folder or spread sheet. These records are usually kept for many years therefore they becomes bulky and less organized. Consequently, it becomes difficult to search, update and tedious and time consuming to manage these records. This study was carried-out to overcome these problems associated with manual farm records keeping by developing user-friendly, easily accessible, reliable and secured software. The software was limited records keeping in crop production, livestock production, poultry production, employees, income and expenditure. The system was implemented using Java Server Faces (JSF for designing Graphical User Interface (GUI, Enterprises Java Beans (EJB for logic tier and MySQL database for storing farm records.

Statistical coordinates of organic farming in Romania during the period 2000-2014

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DUGULEANA Liliana

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The paper emphasizes the importance of developing organic farming in Romania. This sector was not affected by the economic crisis, at the end of 2008, neither in Romania, nor in European Union. The sustainable character of its evolution was doubled by the benefits and the consequences for a better and healthier life of consumers, in the spirit of respecting the principles of environmental and life sustainability. The evolutions of organic areas in Romania in comparison with the level of the European Union, and also of its proportion in the agricultural land, are presented for the period 2000-2014. Some important structural characteristics of organic farming in Romania are analysed for 2011 and 2012, the years when the expansion of organic areas was the highest. These emphasized changes could be the future factors of organic farming development.

Isotopic discrimination as a tool for organic farming certification in sweet pepper.

Science.gov (United States)

del Amor, Francisco M; Navarro, Joaquín; Aparicio, Pedro M

2008-01-01

Organic farming is a form of agriculture that excludes the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and genetically modified organisms. These fertilizers have been traditionally overused in conventional farming to avoid lost revenue, but this often not does not take into account the potential contamination of aquifers and river due to nitrate leaching. Transition to organic farming practices could provide an instrument to reduce contamination and increase potential income. It is difficult to determine to what extent those fertilizers could have been used within a complete traceability of the production process. In this experiment, we evaluated the use of (15)N/(14)N isotopic discrimination in sweet pepper plants to test the hypothesis that synthetic fertilizers significantly reduce (15)N/(14)N compared with exclusively organic practices. Therefore, three common types of organic manures (sheep, hen, or horse) were applied at a rate of 8 kg m(-2) with or without synthetic fertilizer amendments under fully controlled environmental and irrigation conditions. Results indicate that (i) use of synthetic fertilizers significantly reduced (15/14)N(2)vsN(2)atm compared with treatments that only received water; (ii) with respect to the plant organs, old leaves and fruits were more sensitive to the synthetic fertilizer additions with reductions in (15/14)N(2)vsN(2)atm of 24.1 and 27.8%, respectively; and (iii) independently of the organic manure used, no additional fertilization (synthetic or organic) is required before 106 days after transplanting at that dosage because plant fresh weight was not reduced.

Nonmarket cobenefits and economic feasibility of on-farm biogas energy production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yiridoe, Emmanuel K.; Gordon, Robert; Brown, Bettina B.

2009-01-01

Standard analysis of the economic feasibility of on-farm biogas energy production tend to emphasize primarily on direct financial benefits to farmers, and abstracts from the nonmarket cobenefits associated with anaerobic digestion of livestock manure and other biomass feedstock. This shortcoming of the standard feasibility analysis raises a fundamental question: How is the economic feasibility of on-farm anaerobic biogas energy production affected by the associated nonpecuniary cobenefits? Incorporating key nonmarket cobenefits from biogas energy production extends the standard economic feasibility analysis, and provides important insights. When nonmarket cobenefits were excluded, on-farm biogas energy production was generally not financially feasible for the dairy and swine farm size ranges studied (except for 600- and 800-sow farms). Overall, results of the financial feasibility analysis did not change compared to a base scenario (without nonmarket cobenefits) when an estimated annual total nonmarket cobenefits of CND$5000 was incorporated into the analysis, for both dairy and swine farms. Biogas energy production was generally financially viable for small-size dairy (i.e., 50-cow) and swine (i.e., 200-sow) farms when the nonmarket cobenefits were valued at CND$15,000 (or higher). Improvements in financial feasibility were more dramatic for dairy than for swine farms

Nitrogen cycling in organic farming systems with rotational grass-clover and arable crops

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Berntsen, Jørgen; Grant, Ruth; Olesen, Jørgen E.

2006-01-01

Organic farming is considered an effective means of reducing nitrogen losses compared with more intensive conventional farming systems. However, under certain conditions, organic farming may also be susceptible to large nitrogen (N) losses. This i especially the case for organic .....

Influence of Organic Farming on the Potato Transcriptome

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Daniela Pacifico

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Organic agriculture sparks a lively debate on its potential health and environmental benefits. Comparative studies often investigate the response of crops to organic farming through targeted approaches and within a limited experimental work. To clarify this issue, the transcriptomic profile of a cultivar of the potato grown for two years under organic and conventional farming was compared with the profile of an experimental clone grown in the same location of Southern Italy for one year. Transcriptomic raw data were obtained through Potato Oligo Chip Initiative (POCI microarrays and were processed using unsupervised coupling multivariate statistical analysis and bioinformatics (MapMan software. One-hundred-forty-four genes showed the same expression in both years, and 113 showed the same expression in both genotypes. Their functional characterization revealed the strong involvement of the farming system in metabolism associated with the nutritional aspects of organic tubers (e.g., phenylpropanoid, flavonoid, glycoalcaloid, asparagine, ascorbic acid. Moreover, further investigation showed that eight of 42,034 features exhibited the same trend of expression irrespective of the year and genotype, making them possible candidates as markers of traceability. This paper raises the issue regarding the choice of genotype in organic management and the relevance of assessing seasonal conditions effects when studying the effects of organic cultivation on tuber metabolism.

Development of livestock production in the tropics: farm and farmers' perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Oosting, S J; Udo, H M J; Viets, T C

2014-08-01

Because of an increasing demand for animal-source foods, an increasing desire to reduce poverty and an increasing need to reduce the environmental impact of livestock production, tropical farming systems with livestock must increase their productivity. An important share of the global human and livestock populations are found within smallholder mixed-crop-livestock systems, which should, therefore, contribute significantly towards this increase in livestock production. The present paper argues that increased livestock production in smallholder mixed-crop-livestock systems faces many constraints at the level of the farm and the value chain. The present paper aims to describe and explain the impact of increased production from the farm and farmers' perspective, in order to understand the constraints for increased livestock production. A framework is presented that links farming systems to livestock value chains. It is concluded that farming systems that pass from subsistence to commercial livestock production will: (1) shift from rural to urban markets; (2) become part of a different value chain (with lower prices, higher demands for product quality and increased competition from peri-urban producers and imports); and (3) have to face changes in within-farm mechanisms and crop-livestock relationships. A model study showed that feed limitation, which is common in tropical farming systems with livestock, implies that maximum herd output is achieved with small herd sizes, leaving low-quality feeds unutilised. Maximal herd output is not achieved at maximal individual animal output. Having more animals than required for optimal production - which is often the case as a larger herd size supports non-production functions of livestock, such as manure production, draught, traction and capital storage - goes at the expense of animal-source food output. Improving low-quality feeds by treatment allows keeping more animals while maintaining the same level of production. Ruminant

THE ANALYSIS OF ORGANIC RICE CONTRACT FARMING IN CAMBODIA: A LESSON LEARNED FOR INDONESIA

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Betti Rosita Sari

2015-12-01

Full Text Available  This study examines organic rice contract farming inCambodiaand its impact on farmers’ livelihood. The study’s objective is to gain a better insight of the terms and conditions of rice contract farming scheme inCambodia, and determine under what conditions contract farming could bring improvements to farmers’ livelihoods. This study contributes new research findings on contract farming practices and farmers’ livelihood due to organic-rice contract farming with a case study in Kampong Speu province,Cambodia.Rice contract farming is not widespread inCambodiaat present, but is expected to expand significantly in the near future. Contract farming can increase investment into agricultural and infrastructure in rural areas. Contract farming can also enable farmers to access credit, inputs, technical advice and information about market condition and pricing trends. Yet, the disadvantages of contract farming include loss of farmer bargaining power and a potential reduction in profit margins, increased emphasis on improving production quality, land consolidation in favor of participating contract farmers, and less secure livelihoods.In this study, the contract farming arrangements of Angkor Kasekam Rongroeung (AKR Company is studied. A survey of 16 contract farmers and 20 non-contract farmers in Kampong Speu province has been undertaken to examine the AKR contract farming scheme arrangements and to identify farmer’s motivations to participate in contract farming and its impact on farmers’ livelihood.AKR rice contract farming improves farmers’ livelihood because they get a higher income and rice yields. Higher price, good rice seed, and access to market are the main reasons for farmers to participate in AKR contract farming. However, strict requirements, heavy penalties, poor extension services, and lack of information about the contract terms and conditions reduce farmers’ long-term participation in contract farming. In addition

Amplified recruitment pressure of biofouling organisms in commercial salmon farms: potential causes and implications for farm management.

Science.gov (United States)

Bloecher, Nina; Floerl, Oliver; Sunde, Leif Magne

2015-01-01

The development of biofouling on finfish aquaculture farms presents challenges for the industry, but the factors underlying nuisance growths are still not well understood. Artificial settlement surfaces were used to examine two possible explanations for high rates of biofouling in Norwegian salmon farms: (1) increased propagule release during net cleaning operations, resulting in elevated recruitment rates; and (2) potential reservoir effects of farm surfaces. The presence of salmon farms was associated with consistently and substantially (up to 49-fold) elevated recruitment rates. Temporal patterns of recruitment were not driven by net cleaning. Resident populations of biofouling organisms were encountered on all submerged farm surfaces. Calculations indicate that a resident population of the hydroid Ectopleura larynx, a major biofouling species, could release between 0.3 × 10(9) and 4.7 × 10(9) larvae per farm annually. Such resident populations could form propagule reservoirs and be one explanation for the elevated recruitment pressure at salmon farms.

Animal Health and Welfare Planning in Organic Dairy Cattle Farms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vaarst, Mette; Winckler, Christoph; Roderick, Stephen

2011-01-01

Continuous development is needed within the farm to reach the goal of good animal health and welfare in organic livestock farming. The very different conditions between countries call for models that are relevant for different farming types and can be integrated into local practice and be relevant...... for each type of farming context. This article reviews frameworks, principles and practices for animal health and welfare planning which are relevant for organic livestock farming. This review is based on preliminary analyses carried out within a European project (acronym ANIPLAN) with participants from...... as well as animal health and welfare professionals (veterinarians and advisors) is paramount. This paper provides an overview of some current animal health and welfare planning initiatives and explains the principles of animal health and welfare planning which are being implemented in ANIPLAN partner...

Evaluation of wildlife management through organic farming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Topping, Christopher John

2011-01-01

Organic farming has often been suggested as a way of increasing biodiversity in agricultural landscapes, but literature reports a variable success. The drivers in play are multi-factorial and include the particular species groups under consideration, the precise form of organic management, the la...

The Significance of Farm Size in the Evaluation of Labour Productivity in Agriculture

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Martina Novotná

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The paper deal with the analysis of difference in labour productivity of farms categorised according to their size, to determine if the set subsidy system influences labour productivity in the size groups of the farms. The source of data for enterprises analysis was the firms database, which contains accounting data of 926 farms with at least one employee. The observed data were from the 6 year period (2007–2012. The farms were divided, according to their size into four categories defined by the European Commission: micro, small, medium and large enterprises. The analysis of the labour productivity I based on the added value and labour costs revealed that there are big differences of the labour productivity levels in particular size groups of farms. The further analysis revealed that an adjustment of the farm approach of the labour productivity, when the paid operation subsidies are added (labour productivity II, changes this conclusion and the differences between particular size groups of farms decreased. Using σ-convergence, it was proved that the relative variability of the labour productivity II values decreased significantly in the case of the medium-sized farms. We can say that subsidies significantly influence the labour productivity in farms. On one hand, there is decrease of differences between the level values of particular size groups of farms; on the other hand, there is no significant decrease its variability (except the medium-sized farms.

An autonomous weeding robot for organic farming

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bakker, T.; Asselt, van C.J.; Bontsema, J.; Müller, J.; Straten, van G.

2006-01-01

The objective of this research is the replacement of hand weeding in organic farming by a device working autonomously at ¯eld level. The autonomous weeding robot was designed using a structured design approach, giving a good overview of the total design. A vehicle was developed with a diesel engine,

On Farm Feeding;Replacing Bought in Pig Feed with Home-Grown Straights at Sheepdrove Organic Farm

OpenAIRE

Nelder, Rebecca

2009-01-01

Organic systems aim to operate in an ecological and economical way, importing cereals grown thousands of miles away, processed at a mill and then transported again to our farms is costly in oil and therefore money. It is neither ecologically nor economically sustainable. British farms are capable of producing a large amount of high quality cereal, the majority of which is usually sold. Transportation and processing of the grain uses oil and leaves farms vulnerable to market prices. If farm...

Evaluation of an organic package of practice towards integrated management of Solanum tuberosum and its comparison with conventional farming in terms of yield, quality, energy efficiency and economics

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Antara Seal

2017-09-01

Full Text Available A study was taken up during 2014-16 for evaluating the potential of an organic package of practice towards integrated crop production (green farming in comparison to conventional farmers’ practice in West Bengal, India. Under green farming, compost was integrated with chemical fertilizer for soil management while organic plant/ pest management was undertaken utilizing Inhana Rational Farming (IRF Technology. The study indicated higher yield (9.7 %, higher nutrient use efficiency and economic sustainability under green farming irrespective of study area or potato variety. Higher qualitative expression in terms of starch content, pulp pH, vitamin C etc. under green farming might be due to the organic plant management aimed at energization of plant biochemical functions. Soil quality development as noted under green farming might have been influenced by the on-farm produced compost containing rich self- generated micro flora (in order of 1016 per colony forming unit.. The study indicated that green farming may serve as an efficient substitute of conventional farming towards yield sustenance, abatement of food toxicity and quality end product; through higher use of renewable energy and activation of plant physiological functions.

Differences in sheep and goats milk microbiological profile between conventional and organic farming systems in Greece.

Science.gov (United States)

Malissiova, Eleni; Papadopoulos, Theofilos; Kyriazi, Aikaterini; Mparda, Maria; Sakorafa, Christina; Katsioulis, Antonios; Katsiaflaka, Anna; Kyritsi, Maria; Zdragas, Antonios; Hadjichristodoulou, Christos

2017-05-01

The aim of this study was to examine differences in the microbiological profile and antimicrobial resistance of bacteria isolated from milk from organic and conventional sheep and goat farms. Twenty-five organic and 25 conventional sheep and goat farms in the region of Thessaly, Greece participated in this study. A standardised detailed questionnaire was used to describe farming practices. A total of 50 samples were collected and analysed for total viable count (TVC), total coliform count (TCC) and somatic cell count (SCC), while Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were isolated using standard methods. Isolates were identified at species level by Api-test and Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Susceptibility to a panel of 20 for E. coli and 16 for S. aureus antimicrobials was determined by the agar dilution method. Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) was performed for S. aureus and E. coli isolates to determine predominant clones. Lower counts of TVC, TCC and SCC were identified in milk from the organic farms, possibly due to differences in the hygienic farming practices found on those farms. API-tests and MALDI-TOF MS showed no significant differences in the S. aureus and E. coli isolates. Overall, antimicrobial resistance rates were low, while a statistically higher percentage was estimated among strains originating from conventional farms in comparison with organic farms, possibly due to the restriction of antibiotic use in organic farming. PFGE revealed diversity among S. aureus and E. coli populations in both organic and conventional farms indicating circulation of 2-3 main clones changing slightly during their evolution. Consequently, there is evidence that milk from the organic farms presents a better microbiological profile when compared with milk from conventional farms.

Effects of switching between production systems in dairy farming

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Antonio Alvarez

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The increasing intensification of dairy farming in Europe has sparked an interest in studying the economic consequences of this process. However, empirically classifying farms as extensive or intensive is not a straightforward task. In recent papers, Latent Class Models (LCM have been used to avoid an ad-hoc split of the sample into intensive and extensive dairy farms. A limitation of current specifications of LCM is that they do not allow farms to switch between different productive systems over time. This feature of the model is at odds with the process of intensification of the European dairy industry in recent decades. We allow for changes of production system over time by estimating a single LCM model but splitting the original panel into two periods, and find that the probability of using the intensive technology increases over time. Our estimation proposal opens up the possibility of studying the effects of intensification not only across farms but also over time.

Organic Farming and Social-Ecological Resilience: the Alpine Valleys of Sölktäler, Austria

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Rebecka Milestad

2003-12-01

Full Text Available Farming in the Austrian Alps is small in scale and involves a high degree of manual labor. In the face of structural changes in agriculture, alpine farms are finding it increasingly difficult to remain economically viable. Organic farming presents a promising alternative for alpine farmers because it receives considerable financial support under the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union. Recent years have seen an increase in the number of organic farms in Austria in general, and in alpine areas in particular. Using data from an empirical study carried out in the alpine area of Sölktäler, Austria, this paper examines the issues of how closely the regulations and principles of organic farming match farmers' perspectives on sustainable agriculture and whether or not organic farming is capable of building social-ecological resilience for local farms. Qualitative interviews and a series of workshops were used to learn about farmers' "desired system state" with regard to their region, disturbances to this system, and their perspectives on organic farming. The desired system in Sölktäler as formulated by the farmers depicts a vivid farming community that manages a diverse traditional agricultural landscape and performs a number of ecological services. The desired system and the principles of organic farming have several aspects in common, and many management practices and features of the social system support social-ecological resilience. The vulnerability of farms increases, however, when farmers must deal with structural changes in agriculture, the erosion of traditional ecological knowledge, and societal transformation. In conclusion, organic farming is a tool that can be used to build social-ecological resilience for Sölktäler farms, because it secures economic funding for the area and makes it possible to sustain environmentally benign practices. What remains is the question of whether the farming community is capable of

The popularity of organic products among young people in the Czech Republic

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Martina Zámková

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Organic farming and foods, which have been very promisingly evolving over the recent years, are areas of economy that are not only of interest for farmers themselves but also for economists. Recent trends in this sector indicate an ongoing increase in the demand for organic production. The first part of this paper is devoted to introducing the concept of organic farming and gathering all the factors influencing the consumer’s decisions in purchasing organic products. Based on these findings, a marketing research has been carried out. The aim of this research is to identify different shopping patterns among young males and females in the Czech Republic concerning organic products and new upcoming trends in this area. In the second part of this paper, the results of this research are summed up and used to give advice to producers and merchants of organic production on improving their marketing strategies.

Adoption of Organic Farming as an Opportunity for Syrian Farmers of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour and Structural Equation Modelling

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Irwa Issa

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Exporting organic fresh fruit and vegetables (FFV to the European Union could represent a great opportunity for Syrian farmers and exporters. Yet, the organic sector in Syria is comparatively young and only a very small area of FFV is organically managed. To date, little is known about Syrian farmers’ attitudes towards organic FFV production. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the intentions and attitudes of Syrian farmers of FFV towards organic farming and how likely they are to convert their farms to organic production within the next five years. Using a two-stage cluster sampling procedure, 266 conventional farmers of FFV in 75 villages located in different districts of Syria’s coastal region were selected for this survey. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews by a project partner in Syria (Citrus Fruit Board in Tartous from December 2012 until mid-May 2013. We used the Theory of Planned Behaviour as theoretical framework and Partial Least Squares Path Modelling as the main tool for data analysis. The results show that most farmers used at least one of the practices that are also part of certified organic production (throughout this article, the term organic agriculture, farming, and/or production always refer to certified organic agricultural production, and hold strong positive attitudes and intentions to adopt organic production within the next five years.

Energy productivity and efficiency of wheat farming in Bangladesh

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahman, Sanzidur; Hasan, M. Kamrul

2014-01-01

Wheat is the second most important cereal crop in Bangladesh and production is highly sensitive to variations in the environment. We estimate productivity and energy efficiency of wheat farming in Bangladesh by applying a stochastic production frontier approach while accounting for the environmental constraints affecting production. Wheat farming is energy efficient with a net energy balance of 20,596 MJ per ha and energy ratio of 2.34. Environmental constraints such as a combination of unsuitable land, weed and pest attack, bad weather, planting delay and infertile soils significantly reduce wheat production and its energy efficiency. Environmental constraints account for a mean energy efficiency of 3 percentage points. Mean technical efficiency is 88% thereby indicating that elimination of inefficiencies can increase wheat energy output by 12%. Farmers' education, access to agricultural information and training in wheat production significantly improves efficiency, whereas events such as a delay in planting and first fertilization significantly reduce it. Policy recommendations include development of varieties that are resistant to environmental constraints and suitable for marginal areas; improvement of wheat farming practices; and investments in education and training of farmers as well as dissemination of information. - Highlights: • Bangladesh wheat farming is energy efficient at 20,596 MJha −1 ; energy ratio 2.34. • Environmental factors significantly influence productivity and energy efficiency. • Environmental factors must be taken into account when estimating wheat productivity. • Government policies must focus on ways of alleviating environmental factors. • Farmers' education, training and information sources increase technical efficiency

Stress influencing production and welfare in farmed mink

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Malmkvist, Jens

2012-01-01

Results linking stress, production and welfare in farmed mink, with special focus on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis, are presented. Interpretation of stress responses are discussed, combining context, neuroendocrine and behavioural indicators. Results from the development and valid......Results linking stress, production and welfare in farmed mink, with special focus on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis, are presented. Interpretation of stress responses are discussed, combining context, neuroendocrine and behavioural indicators. Results from the development...... animals and whether fur-chewing/stereotypic behaviour is associated with hippocampal neurogenesis in mink. Perspectives and suggested future research aiming to improve production and welfare in farmed mink are given....

Co-production of ethanol, biogas, protein fodder and natural fertilizer in organic farming – Evaluation of a concept for a farm-scale biorefinery

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Oleskowicz-Popiel, Piotr; Kádár, Zsófia; Heiske, Stefan

2012-01-01

The addition of a biorefinery to an organic farm was investigated, where ethanol was produced from germinated rye grains and whey, and the effluent was separated into two streams: the protein-rich solid fraction, to be used as animal feed, and the liquid fraction, which can be co-digested with cl......The addition of a biorefinery to an organic farm was investigated, where ethanol was produced from germinated rye grains and whey, and the effluent was separated into two streams: the protein-rich solid fraction, to be used as animal feed, and the liquid fraction, which can be co...... to serve as natural fertilizer. A technoeconomic analysis was also performed; total capital investment was estimated to be approximately 4 M USD. Setting a methane selling price according to available incentives for “green electricity” (0.72 USD/m3) led to a minimum ethanol selling price of 1.89 USD...

Reduced soil cultivation and organic fertilization on organic farms: effects on crop yield and soil physical traits

Science.gov (United States)

Surböck, Andreas; Gollner, Gabriele; Klik, Andreas; Freyer, Bernhard; Friedel, Jürgen K.

2017-04-01

A continuous investment in soil fertility is necessary to achieve sustainable yields in organic arable farming. Crucial factors here besides the crop rotation are organic fertilization and the soil tillage system. On this topic, an operational group (Project BIOBO*) was established in the frame of an European Innovation Partnership in 2016 consisting of organic farmers, consultants and scientists in the farming region of eastern Austria. The aim of this group is the development and testing of innovative, reduced soil cultivation, green manure and organic fertilization systems under on-farm and on-station conditions to facilitate the sharing and transfer of experience and knowledge within and outside the group. Possibilities for optimization of the farm-specific reduced soil tillage system in combination with green manuring are being studied in field trials on six organic farms. The aim is to determine, how these measures contribute to an increase in soil organic matter contents, yields and income, to an improved nitrogen and nutrient supply to the crops, as well as support soil fertility in general. Within a long-term monitoring project (MUBIL), the effects of different organic fertilization systems on plant and soil traits have been investigated since 2003, when the farm was converted to organic management. The examined organic fertilization systems, i.e. four treatments representing stockless and livestock keeping systems, differ in lucerne management and the supply of organic manure (communal compost, farmyard manure, digestate from a biogas plant). Previous results of this on-station experiment have shown an improvement of some soil properties, especially soil physical properties, since 2003 in all fertilization systems and without differences between them. The infiltration rate of rainwater has increased because of higher hydraulic conductivity. The aggregate stability has shown also positive trends, which reduces the susceptibility to soil erosion by wind and

Elm Farm Organic Research Centre December 2006

OpenAIRE

Sanders, Richard; Whiltley, Andrew; Haigh, Zoe; Clarke, Sarah; Hitchings, Roger; O'Brien, Josie

2006-01-01

The Organic Research Centre. Elm Farm Research Centre Bulletin with Technical Updates from The Organic Advisory Service is a regular publication from The Organic Research Centre. The current issue covers: Report from 2006 Cirencester Conference; Quest for more home produced organic food; in a world where bread matters; Improving wheat with plenty of parents; Unlocking the secrets of the ancient (cereal varieties); Brain food- a good read; Not to late to protect the future: The organic...

Performance of commercial laying hen genotypes on free range and organic farms in Switzerland, France and The Netherlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Leenstra, F; Maurer, V; Bestman, M; van Sambeek, F; Zeltner, E; Reuvekamp, B; Galea, F; van Niekerk, T

2012-01-01

1. A total of 257 farmers with free ranging laying hens (organic and conventional) in Switzerland, France and The Netherlands with 273 flocks were interviewed to determine the relationships between the genotype of the hens, management conditions and performance. 2. Almost 20 different genotypes (brands) were present on the farms. In France, all birds were brown feathered hens laying brown eggs. In Switzerland and The Netherlands, there were brown, white (white feathered hens laying white eggs) and silver (white feathered hens laying brown eggs) hens. In Switzerland, mixed flocks were also present. 3. The overall effect of system (organic vs. conventional free range) on egg production and mortality was significant, with higher mortality and lower egg production among organic hens. In pair wise comparisons within country, the difference was highly significant in The Netherlands, and showed a non-significant tendency in the same direction in Switzerland and France. 4. White hens tended to perform better than brown hens. Silver hens appeared to have a higher mortality and lower production per hen housed at 60 weeks of age. 5. There were no significant relationships between production, mortality, feather condition and use of outside run or with flock size. 6. There was more variation in mortality and egg production among farms with a small flock size than among farms with a large flock size.

Production Farms at Fermilab

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fischler, M.; Rinaldo, F.; Wolbers, S.

1994-05-01

UNIX Farms at Fermilab have been used for more than than three years to solve the problem of providing massive amounts of CPU processing power for event reconstruction. System configurations, parallel processing software, administration and allocation issues, production issues and other experiences and plans are discussed

I Have a Dream: Organic Movements Include Gene Manipulation to Improve Sustainable Farming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gerhart U. Ryffel

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Several papers in a Special Issue of Sustainability have recently discussed various aspects to evaluate whether organic farming and gene manipulation are compatible. A special emphasis was given to new plant breeding techniques (NPBTs. These new approaches allow the most predictable genetic alterations of crop plants in ways that the genetically modified plant is identical to a plant generated by conventional breeding. The articles of the Special Issue present the arguments pro and contra the inclusion of the plants generated by NPBTs in organic farming. Organic movements have not yet made a final decision whether some of these techniques should be accepted or banned. In my view these novel genetically manipulated (GM crops could be used in such a way as to respect the requirements for genetically manipulated organisms (GMOs formulated by the International Federation of Organic Movements (IFOAM. Reviewing the potential benefits of disease-resistant potatoes and bananas, it seems possible that these crops support organic farming. To this end, I propose specific requirements that the organic movements should proactively formulate as their standards to accept specific GM crops.

Appraisal of pig production in Songhai redemption farm, Nekede ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The objectives of the study are to estimate the costs and returns of pig production in the farm estimate the production function of the enterprise and isolate the factors militating against enhanced production performance of pig enterprises in the farm. Data used for the analysis were collected through well-structured ...

Efficiency of dairy production on a family farm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zoran Grgić

2002-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the evaluation of economic efficiency of dairyproduction on a family farm with 14 dairy cows in the breeding stock, and with average production from 3.206 to 3.407 lit. of milk annually. On the basis of survey data for three-year period from 1998 to 2000, economic indicators were calculated, as well as the cost price of milk, income and the revenue of total production and per production head. In the family farm with an average annual sale from 2.827 to 2.972 lit. of milk per head, total revenue has been realized from 44.884 to 47.695 kuna and the profit from 606 to 8.515 kuna. Revenues per production head were from 5.655 to 6.495 kuna and the profitfrom 177 to 726 kuna. The milk cost price in the analyzed period was 1.71, 1.66 and 1.69 kn. per lit, and the profit per liter of milk was 0.06, and 0.21 kn. Basic economic indicators point out on efficiency of dairy production for the investigated farm on the stated production level. The biggest influence on the dairy production efficiency on the farm, regarding the cost price structure, has been registered from the costs of fodder production, while the favorable parity of the cost price and producer-sale price of milk determines the increase in dairy production efficiency and income from dairy production in the analyzed period.

Assessing impacts of organic production on pork and beef quality

OpenAIRE

Sundrum, Albert

2010-01-01

Organic livestock farming is based on a low input production method, aiming to provide products of a high product and process quality rather than maximizing production. The production of a high meat quality corresponds to the expectations of consumers who are both seeking a premium product and who are willing to pay premium prices. This review focuses on the question of whether organic pork and beef production currently meet consumer demands, and it elaborates the potentials and limitations f...

Effect of yield and price risk on conversion from conventional to organic farming

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Acs, S.; Berentsen, P.B.M.; Huirne, R.B.M.; Asseldonk, van M.A.P.M.

2009-01-01

Although the benefits of organic farming are already well known, the conversion to organic farming does not proceed as the Dutch government expected. In order to investigate the conversion decisions of Dutch arable farms, a discrete stochastic dynamic utility-efficient programming (DUEP) model is

The operation and production in Penaeid farm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ludi parwadani aji

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Penaeid prawn demand in the world market has brought about a dramatic raise in the price of prawns, so, the aquaculture prawn industry also increase. Prawn farming can be divided by intensive, semi intensive or extensive culture system. Extensive culture system has low stocking densities, whereas, intensive culture (very high stocking densities has highest level of environmental control such as recirculation system and stable ecological system. Predation and disease is the major obstacles in culture system. To deal with predation, farmers use net for covering the ponds and fencing the ponds. Disease organism such as parasites, bacteria, fungal and viruses may be eliminated through sterilization of the water. The commercial diets made from squid and white fish meal may replace fresh diet in semi-intensive culture as fish diet has a problem with preservation. Moreover, maintaining water quality such as dissolve oxygen, pH, nitrogen (ammonia and ammonium and temperature is very important to support productivity and profitability in prawn farming. The most prominent aims at harvest are to pack the prawn in a way that avoids physical damage, minimize the quantity of prawn left on the bottom of pond, and directly chill prawn. Therefore, good management of water quality, feeding, disease, predation, and harvesting is important in prawn culture.

Comparative evaluation of organic and conventional farming on ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Five samples of organic fruits with seal certification, organic fruits without seal certification and conventional fruits were acquired from supermarkets and farm in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Organic lime and orange showed higher mean values of acidity, being 4.5 and 34.8% higher, when compared to conventional fruit, ...

Technology for recycling of manure and organic residues in a whole-farm perspective. Vol. 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Petersen, Soeren O. (ed.)

2006-08-15

Efficient use of agricultural residues and imported waste materials within agriculture is increasingly viewed from a whole-farm perspective. A wide range of management decisions - including feeding, manure collection systems, and treatment for hygienization or energy production - influence the nutrient value and environmental impact of agricultural residues. Field application of manure and urban wastes are affected by societal constraints, such as legislation, tradition, consumer attitudes towards waste recycling, and pollution risks. Hence, the optimal use of manure and organic wastes as a nutrient source and soil conditioner interacts strongly with many other aspects of farming. The objective behind this 12th International Conference of the Ramiran network is to present and discuss on-farm interactions between manure and waste management practices, and to consider methods to describe and quantify the overall effects of a given strategy or treatment practice. Accordingly, the research presented at the conference and in the proceedings cover a wide range of topics, from feed impact on manure composition to environmental losses in the field, from energy production to odour control, from biochemistry to modelling. We hope that everyone involved in the conference will see this as an opportunity to discover interfaces with other research areas that can strengthen the whole-farm perspective of future research. (au)

Technology for recycling of manure and organic residues in a whole-farm perspective. Vol. 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Petersen, Soeren O. (ed.)

2006-08-15

Efficient use of agricultural residues and imported waste materials within agriculture is increasingly viewed from a whole-farm perspective. A wide range of management decisions - including feeding, manure collection systems, and treatment for hygienization or energy production - influence the nutrient value and environmental impact of agricultural residues. Field application of manure and urban wastes are affected by societal constraints, such as legislation, tradition, consumer attitudes towards waste recycling, and pollution risks. Hence, the optimal use of manure and organic wastes as a nutrient source and soil conditioner interacts strongly with many other aspects of farming. The objective behind this 12th International Conference of the Ramiran network is to present and discuss on-farm interactions between manure and waste management practices, and to consider methods to describe and quantify the overall effects of a given strategy or treatment practice. Accordingly, the research presented at the conference and in the proceedings cover a wide range of topics, from feed impact on manure composition to environmental losses in the field, from energy production to odour control, from biochemistry to modelling. We hope that everyone involved in the conference will see this as an opportunity to discover interfaces with other research areas that can strengthen the whole-farm perspective of future research. (au)

Potential and barriers for biogas production in Denmark at widely expanded organic farming with focus on the soil carbon content; Potentiale og barrierer for biogasproduktion i Danmark ved omfattende oekologisk jordbrug med fokus paa dyrkningsjordens kulstofforhold

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buch Salomonsen, K.

2000-06-01

The Ph.D. thesis describes the influence from continued expansion of organic farming systems to the potential for energy production from biogas in Denmark. The project analyses the consequence from three categories of barriers: 1) Practical barriers, 2) The attitude of organic farmers, and 3) Agricultural biological problems. Economic and political barriers are not examined. When the barriers can be quantified, they are included in the calculation of the maximum biogas potential. When not, the implications of barriers are expressed qualitatively. It has been a particular goal to provide new information on whether agricultural biological problems are a barrier to biogas production in organic farming systems. One important question in this connection is whether biogas production has a negative influence on the soil carbon content compared to composting. This question is investigated by an experiment. The project is based on technical and natural science disciplines, with an interdisciplinary basis ranging over energy planning, agricultural science, microbiology, and crop, and animal operation. (au)

Do differences in food web structure between organic and conventional farms affect the ecosystem service of pest control?

Science.gov (United States)

Macfadyen, Sarina; Gibson, Rachel; Polaszek, Andrew; Morris, Rebecca J; Craze, Paul G; Planqué, Robert; Symondson, William O C; Memmott, Jane

2009-03-01

While many studies have demonstrated that organic farms support greater levels of biodiversity, it is not known whether this translates into better provision of ecosystem services. Here we use a food-web approach to analyse the community structure and function at the whole-farm scale. Quantitative food webs from 10 replicate pairs of organic and conventional farms showed that organic farms have significantly more species at three trophic levels (plant, herbivore and parasitoid) and significantly different network structure. Herbivores on organic farms were attacked by more parasitoid species on organic farms than on conventional farms. However, differences in network structure did not translate into differences in robustness to simulated species loss and we found no difference in percentage parasitism (natural pest control) across a variety of host species. Furthermore, a manipulative field experiment demonstrated that the higher species richness of parasitoids on the organic farms did not increase mortality of a novel herbivore used to bioassay ecosystem service. The explanation for these differences is likely to include inherent differences in management strategies and landscape structure between the two farming systems.

Farming and the geography of nutrient production for human use: a transdisciplinary analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Herrero, Mario; Thornton, Philip K; Power, Brendan; Bogard, Jessica R; Remans, Roseline; Fritz, Steffen; Gerber, James S; Nelson, Gerald; See, Linda; Waha, Katharina; Watson, Reg A; West, Paul C; Samberg, Leah H; van de Steeg, Jeannette; Stephenson, Eloise; van Wijk, Mark; Havlík, Petr

2017-04-01

Information about the global structure of agriculture and nutrient production and its diversity is essential to improve present understanding of national food production patterns, agricultural livelihoods, and food chains, and their linkages to land use and their associated ecosystems services. Here we provide a plausible breakdown of global agricultural and nutrient production by farm size, and also study the associations between farm size, agricultural diversity, and nutrient production. This analysis is crucial to design interventions that might be appropriately targeted to promote healthy diets and ecosystems in the face of population growth, urbanisation, and climate change. We used existing spatially-explicit global datasets to estimate the production levels of 41 major crops, seven livestock, and 14 aquaculture and fish products. From overall production estimates, we estimated the production of vitamin A, vitamin B 12 , folate, iron, zinc, calcium, calories, and protein. We also estimated the relative contribution of farms of different sizes to the production of different agricultural commodities and associated nutrients, as well as how the diversity of food production based on the number of different products grown per geographic pixel and distribution of products within this pixel (Shannon diversity index [ H ]) changes with different farm sizes. Globally, small and medium farms (≤50 ha) produce 51-77% of nearly all commodities and nutrients examined here. However, important regional differences exist. Large farms (>50 ha) dominate production in North America, South America, and Australia and New Zealand. In these regions, large farms contribute between 75% and 100% of all cereal, livestock, and fruit production, and the pattern is similar for other commodity groups. By contrast, small farms (≤20 ha) produce more than 75% of most food commodities in sub-Saharan Africa, southeast Asia, south Asia, and China. In Europe, west Asia and north Africa, and

Economic, ecological, and social performance of conventional and organic broiler production in the Netherlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Bokkers, E A M; de Boer, I J M

2009-09-01

1. In this study, we compared a conventional broiler production system keeping fast growing broilers with an organic broiler production system keeping slow growing broilers in the Netherlands, both managed by one person working a full time year (Full Time Equivalent, FTE). This comparison was based on a quantification of economic, ecological and social indicators. Indicators were quantified using scientific literature and national data sets. 2. The organic system performed better for the economic indicator net farm income per FTE than the conventional system. 3. Regarding ecological indicators, calculations showed a higher on-farm emission of ammonia per kg live weight for the organic system. Moreover, an organic system includes a higher risk for eutrophication per ha due to outdoor access. Emission of green house gasses, use of fossil fuels and use of land required for the production of one kg of live weight is higher for an organic than for a conventional system. This is mainly due to a lower feed conversion in organic production and use of organic feed. 4. The organic system performed better than the conventional system for the social indicators related to animal welfare time spent on walking, footpad lesions, mortality, and sound legs. Regarding the social indicator food safety was found that meat from an organic system contained less antibiotic residues and Salmonella contaminations but more Campylobacter contaminations than meat from a conventional system. 5. Changing from a conventional to an organic broiler production system, therefore, not only affects animal welfare, but also affects economic, ecological and other social issues. In this study, we ran into the situation that some information needed was lacking in literature and quantifications had to be based upon several sources. Therefore, an integrated on-farm assessment is needed, which can be used to develop a broiler production system that is economically profitable, ecologically sound, and

A survey of bacteria found in Belgian dairy farm products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N'Guessan, E.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Description of the subject. Due to the potential hazards caused by pathogenic bacteria, farm dairy production remains a challenge from the point of view of food safety. As part of a public program to support farm diversification and short food supply chains, farm dairy product samples including yogurt, ice cream, raw-milk butter and cheese samples were collected from 318 Walloon farm producers between 2006 and 2014. Objectives. Investigation of the microbiological quality of the Belgian dairy products using the guidelines provided by the European food safety standards. Method. The samples were collected within the framework of the self-checking regulation. In accordance with the European Regulation EC 2073/2005, microbiological analyses were performed to detect and count Enterobacteriaceae, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Results. Even when results met the microbiological safety standards, hygienic indicator microorganisms like E. coli and S. aureus exceeded the defined limits in 35% and 4% of butter and cheese samples, respectively. Unsatisfactory levels observed for soft cheeses remained higher (10% and 2% for S. aureus and L. monocytogenes respectively than those observed for pressed cheeses (3% and 1% and fresh cheeses (3% and 0% (P ≥ 0.05. Furthermore, the percentages of samples outside legal limits were not significantly higher in the summer months than in winter months for all mentioned bacteria. Conclusions. This survey showed that most farm dairy products investigated were microbiologically safe. However, high levels of hygiene indicators (e.g., E. coli in some products, like butter, remind us of applying good hygienic practices at every stage of the dairy production process to ensure consumer safety.

Assessing the status of food safety management systems for fresh produce production in East Africa: evidence from certified green bean farms in Kenya and noncertified hot pepper farms in Uganda.

Science.gov (United States)

Nanyunja, J; Jacxsens, L; Kirezieva, K; Kaaya, A N; Uyttendaele, M; Luning, P A

2015-06-01

The farms of fresh produce farmers are major sources of food contamination by microbiological organisms and chemical pesticides. In view of their choice for farming practices, producers are influenced by food safety requirements. This study analyzes the role of food safety standard certification toward the maturity of food safety management systems (FSMS) in the primary production of fresh produce. Kenya and Uganda are two East African countries that export green beans and hot peppers, respectively, to the European Union but have contrasting features in terms of agricultural practices and certification status. In the fresh produce chain, a diagnostic instrument for primary production was used to assess context factors, core control and assurance activities, and system output to measure the performance of FSMS for certified green bean farms in Kenya and noncertified hot pepper farms in Uganda. Overall, our findings show that in Uganda, noncertified hot pepper farms revealed only a "basic level of control and assurance" activities in their FSMS, which was not satisfactory, because no insight into potential pesticide microbial contamination was presented by these farmers. On the other hand, certified green bean farms in Kenya had an "average level of control and assurance," providing insight into the delivered food safety and quality by the farmers. Farm size did not impact the maturity level of FSMS. This study confirms the role played by food safety standard certification toward the maturity of FSMS implemented in developing countries and demonstrates the possibility of Ugandan farms to upgrade agricultural practices in the fresh produce sector.

Increasing the Economical Efficiency and Sustainability of Indoor Fish Farming by Means of Aquaponics - Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Flavius Blidariu

2011-10-01

Full Text Available This review focuses on increasing economical efficiency and sustainability of indoor fish farming. Aspects like sustainability and economical efficiency were reviewed. In order to improve man`s health we must reconsider the agricultural sciences, by this we understand that we must develop technologies friendly for the environment. Sustainable indoor fish farming is the farming of the new millennium. Combining aquaculture with hydroponics we obtain a new innovation named aquaponics which respects principles of sustainable agriculture (wastewater biofiltration by plants and gives us the possibility to increase economical efficiency with an additional production (organic vegetables.

N-losses and energy use in a scenario for conversion to organic farming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dalgaard, Tommy; Kjeldsen, Chris; Hutchings, Nick

2002-01-01

is not straightforward, and different scenarios for conversion to organic farming might lead to reduced or increased N-losses and E-use. This paper presents a scenario tool that uses a Geographical Information System in association with models for crop rotations, fertilisation practices, N-losses, and E...... reduction at the 95% level. We therefore recommend further research in how conversion to organic farming or other changes in the agricultural practice might help to reduce N-surpluses and E-uses. In that context, the presented scenario tool would be useful......The aims of organic farming include the recycling of nutrients and organic matter and the minimisation of the environmental impact of agriculture. Reduced nitrogen (N)-losses and energy (E)-use are therefore fundamental objectives of conversion to organic farming. However, the case...

Effects of organic fertilizers on yield and quality of potato tubers in organic farming

OpenAIRE

Kolbe, Hartmut

2006-01-01

In this lecture, an overview was given over effects of organic fertilizers (compost, farmyard manure, slurry, organic commercial fertilizers) on yield and quality (DM, starch, contents of N, P, K) of potato tubers in organic farming.

Natural regulation of Delia radicum in organic cabbage production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meyling, Nicolai Vitt; Navntoft, Søren; Philipsen, Holger Frederik

2013-01-01

In a field experiment, we evaluated effects of three different organic white cabbage-cropping systems (O1, O2, O3) on the cabbage root fly, Delia radicum, and its egg predators and pupal parasitoids over 3 years. The three systems all complied with regulations for organic production, but varied...... in external nutrient input and N-recycling, and were compared to a conventionally farmed control. One organic system (O3) included an intercropped strip of green manure between crop rows. Oviposition by D. radicum was generally not reduced in organic cropping systems. However, higher pupae/egg ratios were...... observed in the conventional compared to all organic systems, indicating that immature survival from oviposition to pupation was reduced under all the three organic farming practices. In organic system O2 most small coleopteran predators were recorded, but predation on fly eggs was not significantly higher...

Conventional, organic and biodynamic farming: differences in polyphenol content and antioxidant activity of Batavia lettuce.

Science.gov (United States)

Heimler, Daniela; Vignolini, Pamela; Arfaioli, Paola; Isolani, Laura; Romani, Annalisa

2012-02-01

Lactuca sativa L. ssp. acephala L., cv. Batavia red Mohican plants were cultivated under intensive conventional, organic and biodynamic farming and were analyzed for their polyphenol content and antiradical activity in order to demonstrate the influence of farming on yield, polyphenol content and antiradical activity. The yield of plants from conventional farming was the highest (2.89 kg m⁻²), while polyphenol content, measured by spectrophotometry, of these plants was lower at P flavonoid and hydroxycinnamic acid contents. Flavonoid, hydroxycinnamic acid and anthocyan patterns were not affected by the type of cultivation, while quantitative differences were demonstrated and some differences were found between conventional farming and organic or biodynamic farming. The yield of conventionally grown salads was the highest. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.

Studies on quality, storeability, cooking and processing for products of agricultural and livestock produced by natural farming

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Han Ok; Byun, Myung Woo; Yang, Jae Seung; Jo, Sung Ki; Go, Youn Mi [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Heun Ja; Lee, Sung Hee [Ansung National University, Ansung (Korea, Republic of)

1997-12-01

The wholesomeness of agricultural and livestock products produced in contaminated natural environment and inactivated farmland are under apprehension. We have to produce foodstuff reliable high quality and wholesomeness in harmonizing with environmental condition and sustainable agriculture. All members of Korean Natural Farming Association are working at the self-managing natural farming field and has been developed steadily to village unit due to voluntary demanding and self-practicing more than 30 years. Agricultural and livestock products and its processed foods produced by member of Association are distributing in domestic and exporting to Japan and other country with recognition of its high quality and wholesomeness by consumer. In order to propagate the natural farming technology and to increase the consumption of its products and processed food in domestic and abroad, scientific approach and evaluation for their quality were carried out in field of chemical component and microbial activity of farmland(32 kinds), physico-chemical properties of cereals(7 kinds), fruits and vegetables(14 kinds) and meat processed foods (2 kinds). 51 refs., 29 tabs. (author)

Interrill Erodibility of P and C on conventially and organically farmed Devon soils

Science.gov (United States)

Kuhn, N. J.

2012-04-01

Soil erosion can have significant off-site effects on water quality and thus human and habitat health. Apart from sedimentation, the transfer of nutrients, both dissolved and particulate, is a major concern. The particulate transfer of nutrients from agricultural land can occur either by rill or interrill erosion. Rill erosion is non-selective and affects only a limited extent of agricultural land. Interrill processes such as crusting, splash and raindrop-impacted wash, on the other hand, act on all cropland and affect the quality of the water from all areas generating runoff. A significant amount of phosphorus (P) is contained in the surface soil layer transformed by interrill processes annually. In the EU, the P content of a crusted (2 mm) surface layer corresponds to 4 to 40 kg ha-1 of P on arable land (1.094 mil km2). Therefore, the role of interrill processes and erosion for regional nutrient cycling requires close attention. Interrill erosion is a complex phenomenon, involving the detachment, transport and deposition of soil particles by raindrop impacted flow. Resistance to interrill erosion varies between soils depending on their physical, chemical and mineralogical properties. In addition, significant changes in soil resistance to interrill erosion occur during storms as a result of changes in surface roughness, cohesion and particle size. As a consequence, erosion on interrill areas is selective, moving the most easily detached small and/or light soil particles which are often enriched in clay, P and organic C. Commonly, the risk of erosion associated with organically farmed soils is lower than those farmed in a conventional way. This is attributed to greater aggregate stability and thus greater infiltration and lower erodibility. Erosion of nutrients on organically farmed soils is therefore considered to be reduced by the same order of magnitude than the amount of eroded soil compared to conventionally farmed soils. However, the selective nature of

A comparative analysis of vehicle-related greenhouse gas emissions between organic and conventional dairy production.

Science.gov (United States)

Aggestam, Vivianne; Buick, Jon

2017-08-01

Agricultural industrialisation and globalisation have steadily increased the transportation of food across the world. In efforts to promote sustainability and self-sufficiency, organic milk producers in Sweden are required to produce a higher level of cattle feed on-farm in the hope that increased self-sufficiency will reduce reliance on external inputs and reduce transport-related greenhouse gas emissions. Using data collected from 20 conventional and 20 organic milk producers in Sweden this paper aims to assess the global warming impact of farmyard vehicles and the transportation of feed produced 'off-farm' in order to compare the impact of vehicle-related emissions from the different production methods. The findings show organic and conventional production methods have different vehicle-related emission outputs that vary according to a reliance on either road transportation or increased farmyard machinery use. Mechanical weeding is more fuel demanding than conventional agrichemical sprayers. However, artificial fertilising is one of the highest farmyard vehicle-related emitters. The general findings show organic milk production emits higher levels of farm vehicle-related emissions that fail to be offset by reduced emissions occurring from international transport emissions. This paper does not propose to cover a comprehensive supply chain carbon footprint for milk production or attempt to determine which method of production has the largest climatic impact. However, it does demonstrate that Sweden's legal requirements for organic producers to produce more feed on-farm to reduce transport emissions have brought emissions back within Sweden's greenhouse gas inventory and raises questions around the effectiveness of policies to reduce vehicle-related emissions. Further research is needed into the effectiveness of climate change mitigation on food production policies, in particular looking at various trade-offs that affects the entire food supply chain.

Ethical, moral and social dimensions in farm production practices: a segmentation study to assess Irish consumers’ perceptions of meat quality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Regan Á.

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Growing consumer concerns with modern farming and food production systems indicate a significant market opportunity for meat production practices that consider ethical, moral and social value traits. In the current study, we aimed to identify and characterise distinct segments of Irish consumers based on their perceptions of the quality of meat from different farm-level production practices (organic farming, high animal welfare standards, free range farming, and “natural”, treatment-free feeding regimes. An online survey was carried out with 251 Irish meat consumers. Using cluster analysis, we identified three distinct segments: “Target consumers”, “Purist consumers” and “Disinterested consumers”. Chi-square analyses revealed differences between the segments based on gender, age and meat-purchasing motivations. The results provide insight into the opportunities that exist for exploring new viable market segments as well as for engaging Irish consumers and empowering them with information around the ethical, social and moral aspects of farm-level practices related to meat production.

Soil Organic Matter Erosion by Interrill Processes from Organically and Conventionally farmed Devon Soil

Science.gov (United States)

Armstrong, E.; Ling, A.; Kuhn, N. J.

2012-04-01

that the net P export from organically farmed soils is not reduced by a similar degree than soil erosion compared to conventional soil management. The enrichment of P and C in the interrill sediment was not directly related to SOC, P content of the soil and soil interrill erodibility. A comparison of soil and sediment properties indicates that crusting, P and C content as well as density and size of eroded aggregate fragments control P and C enrichment. Due to complex and dynamic interactions between P, SOC and interrill erosional processes, the nutrient and C status of sediments cannot be predicted based on soil P content, SOC or interrill erodibility alone. Clearly, further research on crust formation and the composition of fragments generated by aggregate breakdown and their transport in raindrop impacted flow under different rainfall conditions is required. Attaining this critical missing knowledge would enable a comprehensive assessment of the benefits of organic farming on nutrient budgets, off-site effects of interrill erosion and its role in the global C cycle.

Effect of feeding strategies and cropping systems on greenhouse gas emission from Wisconsin certified organic dairy farms.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, D; Sun, F; Wattiaux, M A; Cabrera, V E; Hedtcke, J L; Silva, E M

2017-07-01

Organic agriculture continues to expand in the United States, both in total hectares and market share. However, management practices used by dairy organic producers, and their resulting environmental impacts, vary across farms. This study used a partial life cycle assessment approach to estimate the effect of different feeding strategies and associated crop production on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from Wisconsin certified organic dairy farms. Field and livestock-driven emissions were calculated using 2 data sets. One was a 20-yr data set from the Wisconsin Integrated Cropping System Trial documenting management inputs, crop and pasture yields, and soil characteristics, used to estimate field-level emissions from land associated with feed production (row crop and pasture), including N 2 O and soil carbon sequestration. The other was a data set summarizing organic farm management in Wisconsin, which was used to estimate replacement heifer emission (CO 2 equivalents), enteric methane (CH 4 ), and manure management (N 2 O and CH 4 ). Three combinations of corn grain (CG) and soybean (SB) as concentrate (all corn = 100% CG; baseline = 75% CG + 25% SB; half corn = 50% CG + 50% SB) were assigned to each of 4 representative management strategies as determined by survey data. Overall, GHG emissions associated with crop production was 1,297 ± 136 kg of CO 2 equivalents/t of ECM without accounting for soil carbon changes (ΔSC), and GHG emission with ΔSC was 1,457 ± 111 kg of CO 2 equivalents/t of ECM, with greater reliance on pasture resulting in less ΔSC. Higher levels of milk production were a major driver associated with reduction in GHG emission per metric tonne of ECM. Emissions per metric tonne of ECM increased with increasing proportion of SB in the ration; however, including SB in the crop rotation decreased N 2 O emission per metric tonne of ECM from cropland due to lower applications of organically approved N fertility inputs. More SB at the expense of CG

Trends in Organic Farming Development in Bulgaria: Applying Circular Economy Principles to Sustainable Rural Development

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Dimitrov Dimitar K.

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The paper examines the development of organic farming in Bulgaria through the viewpoint of its links to circular economy concept and its potential to contribute to sustainable rural development. The significant increase in the number of organic operators and areas is analyzed in the context of stable growth in the European sector and worldwide and the increase in consumer demand. Main indicators reported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Bulgaria and the support provided by the National Rural Development Program are used to present the characteristics of organic production and agricultural holdings. The advantages of Bulgaria are underlined as a country offering the necessary conditions, along with the main problems in production and marketing. Recommendations are provided for organic sector encouragement as a sustainable business model and an entrepreneurial initiative for sustainable rural development putting a special accent on networking and capacity building activities in connection to potential solutions and policy development.

Soil organic carbon and physical properties in vegetable farms in South Uruguay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia de Souza, M.; Dogliotti, S.; Alliaume, F.; Mancassola, V.

2011-01-01

The South of Uruguay is the area of the country most severely affected by soil erosion and where the most important vegetable production area is located. Soil degradation has been aggravated by a process of intensification and specialization of the vegetable production due to an unfavorable socio-economic context and lack of adequate planning of the production systems. The objectives of this work were the description of current soil quality (Typic Hapluderts, Paquic (vertic) Argiudolls, and Abruptic Argiudolls) in 16 vegetable farms in the region, and the evaluation of the impact of improved management techniques on soil quality. We evaluated soil organic carbon (SOC), soil structure stability and the evolution of SOC in time. We found a degradation of soil quality under vegetable cropping compared to the reference sites, given by an average loss of SOC of 31 to 44% and 0.4 mm in structure stability. A linear regression model was fitted to explain the change in SOC content observed in fields under vegetable cultivation during the period under study. The change in SOC content was explained by the organic matter inputs by green manures and chicken bed, the initial SOC content and length of the period in years. This model is a simple tool to estimate the effect of soil organic amendments on SOC balance in soils under vegetable cropping in this region

Farm Organization, Ownership and Food Productivity in Nigeria

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Nkasiobi Silas Oguzor

2012-06-01

Full Text Available African food production is in crisis. Today, despite Africa’s vast physical and climatic potentials to produce food, most African States depend on food importation. Africa’s capacity to deal with its food battles is severely constrained by its political instability, its early stage of scientific and institutional development, and a rapidly changing and complex global environment. In Nigeria and in most developing economies, there is a fundamental lack of political commitment to come grips with poverty, malnutrition and access to food. Because of these barriers, traditional economics is a rather limited tool to understand food production and other related variables. Poverty, hunger, malnutrition, famine and starvation in developing economies are just as much a function of political, macroeconomic, and institutional barriers as lack of technology. Illustrations from the agrarian chaos in Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Chad and others are too numerous to conclude otherwise. The aim of this paper is to determine and analyze economics incentives and strategies, which could stimulate commercial agriculture in Nigeria. The analysis is based on the premise that the form of production organization in Nigerian agriculture is the major constraint to commercialization. The paper concludes that output price subsidy is the over-riding factor in the commercialization of agriculture in Nigeria.

The contamination on farm products from 125I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Wenhu; Xu Shiming; Hou Lanxin

1990-02-01

The 125 I contamination on 15 farm products have been investigated. The effects of 12 farm crops (wheat, bean, eggplants and other vegetables) contaminated by 125 I during the growing stage on their fruits and seeds have been studied. The results show that the 125 I radioactive substance is mainly concentrated on the fruit surface, and the radioactivity rapidly decreased towards its kernel. The fruits and seeds would not be contaminated when plants were contaminated in the seedling stage

Allocative Efficiency Analysys Production Function Of Cassava Farming (Manihot, Sp.) In Tenayan Raya Sub-District Of Pekanbaru City

Science.gov (United States)

Nizar, Rini; Nurwati, Niken; Amalia

2017-12-01

Cassava (Manihot sp) has long been known and cultivated by Indonesian farmers. The economic and social potential of cassava aside from foodstuffs can also be used as raw materials for industrial use and animal feed. In Riau Province, Cassva has the potential to be developed considering Cassva is a plant that can easily grow on low altitude to high altitude lands. Cassava does not need a complex maintenance. Conventionally, this plant can be planted and left alone by itself. Cassava roots can be developed to be a processed products that society needs as main foodstuffs ingredients. This research is done in three months and the purpose is to know the influence of input use (pesticide, seeds, fertilizers and labor) on cassava farming to cassava farming by the model of cobb-douglas. Other than that is also the effect on economical efficiency. The method used in this research is a quantitative research by using Cobb-Douglas Function Model. This research was done in the Tenayan Raya sub-district with 55 farmer samples. This research shows Cobb-Douglas Production Function can be used as the predictor for Cassava production function in Tenayan Raya Sub-district of Pekanbaru City. Altogether the production factor used by farmers influence production. Partially only usage of organic fertilizer that does not affect production, while other production factor such as, seeds, pesticides, an-organic fertilizer (urea) and labor affect production by quite a bit. Usage of production factor seeds, urea and pesticides is not yet efficient while usage of organic fertilizer is not efficient and usage of labor on cassava agriculture by respondent farmers is relatively efficient

Organic production in the hills and uplands (OF0319)

OpenAIRE

Keatinge, R

2005-01-01

It is Government policy to provide a framework in which organic farming can develop, promoting more sustainable and environmentally sound systems of livestock production. Scientific information is required on the development, performance and limitations of organic systems, to facilitate informed decision-making and to aid policy formulation. Using the established organic unit at Redesdale, the overall objective of this project was to evaluate and demonstrate the long-term potential of organic...

Evaluating the Effects of Farming Systems on Potato Production Factors Productivity; a Case Study in Kordesatan and Hamedan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

nasibeh zarei

2016-02-01

Full Text Available In the current study, the effects of farming systems on potato production factors productivity were investigated in the 2011-2012. The data were collected using two stages cluster sampling and preparing 208 questionnaires submitted to farmers in the Koredestan and Hamedan Provinces. The efficacy of farming systems computed using dummy variable, and to select the best produce function, flexible and non-flexible functions were studied. Results indicated that production function Cobb-Douglas is better than the other tested functions. In addition, the effect of ownership farming system on production factors productivity was positive while the effect of other farming systems was found to be negative. Therefore, it is recommended that Ministry of Jahad-e-Agriculture encourage farmers to buy rental land and wells over the long-term period by giving low interest loans.

FRESHWATER FISH FARMING CONDITIONS IN 1999 AND THE PRODUCTION PLAN FOR 2000

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Zlatko Homen

2000-09-01

Full Text Available One of the activities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Fishery and Mediterranean Agriculture Directorate, i. e. Fishery Directorate to be more specific, is the monitoring of conditions in freshwater fish farming. The objective of this work is to show conditions in freshwater fish farming during 1999. and to provide a production plan for 2000. It will also provide detailed insight into the present conditions in freshwater fish farming and into the production trends of this field. Regarding this issue, the »Questionnaire for the Monitoring of Conditions in Freshwater Fish Farming«, was sent to fish farmers aroud the country data was processed from 22 cap ponds and 13 trout ponds. Roughe estimates of conditions were conducted for 2 fish farms, since they haven’t yet returned the mandatoruy questionnaire, i. e. the necessary data. This work features data on the number of employees in fish farms, as well as their qualifications, on the actual production and distribution of farmed freshwater fish, on the areas where production was conducted and on the overall yield. Fish food, raw materials, used tools and incentive funds paid were also taken into consideration. The difficulties faced in this branch of the economy are also inicated. Compared to 1998, a slight decrease in the number of employees of freshwater fish farms has been recorded. The total number of employees in 1999 was 655, of which 555 were on carp ponds and 100 on trout ponds. Data on the qualifications of employees for 1999 show that most of them were unskilled workers, while highly skilled workers make up a minority in this work force. The total production of freshwater in 1999. amoounted to 6.185,51 tons. Of this amount 5.592,52 tons were warm-water fish specied and 592,99 tons were cold-water fish species. Compared to 1998, production decreased by 4,89 percent. Production for 2000 has been planned to increase by 22,15 percent, i. e. the production quantity is projected

Comparing milk yield, chemical properties and somatic cell count from organic and conventional mountain farming systems

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Marcello Bianchi

2010-01-01

Full Text Available A study was undertaken to investigate the effects of farming systems (organic vs. conventional, diet (hay/concentrate vs. pasture and their interaction on milk yield, gross composition and fatty acid (FA profile of dairy cows bred in mountainous areas. For this purpose four dairy farms (two organic and two conventional were chosen in the alpine territory of Aosta Valley (NW Italy; individual milk yield was recorded daily and bulk milk samples were collected monthly from February to September 2007 to cover dietary variations. Higher levels of milk production (P<0.05 and lower milk protein amounts (P<0.01 were observed in the organic farms with respect to the conventional ones, while no significant differences were noticed in milk fat and lactose contents and in somatic cell count. Concerning fatty acids, only small differences were detected between organic and conventional milk and such differences seemed to be related mainly to the stabled period. Diet affected almost all variables studied: pasture feeding provided a significant improvement in the fatty acid composition in both organic and conventional systems leading to lower hypercholesterolemic saturated fatty acids, higher mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid amounts (P<0.001.

Developing novel farming systems: effective use of nutrients from cover crops in intensive organic farming

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Burgt, van der G.J.H.M.; Scholberg, J.M.S.; Koopmans, C.J.

2011-01-01

On-farm nitrogen fixation is a driving force in organic agriculture. The efficiency with which this nitrogen is used can be increased by using alfalfa or grass-clover crops directly as fertilizer on other fields: cut-and-carry fertilizers. In two crops in two years, the use of several types of

Systems of organic farming in spring vetch II: Biological response of Aeolothrips intermedius Bagnall and Coccinella septempunctata L.

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Ivelina Nikolova

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The effects of four systems of organic farming of spring vetsch on Aeolothrips intermedius Bagnall (Thysanoptera: Aeolothripidae and Coccinella septempunctata L. (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae population density and the toxicity of several products on predatory insects were studied. The variants were: Control (without using any biological products; combined treatment with Polyversum (biological foliar fertilizer and Biofa (biological plant growth regulator; treatment with NeemAzal T/S (biological insecticide, a.i. azadirachtin and treatment with a combination of NeemAzal with Polyversum and Biofa. Variant V was a conventional farming system in which a combination of Nurelle D (synthetic insecticide, Masterblend (foliar fertilizer and Flordimex 420 (growth regulator was used as a standard treatment. In the organic farming system that included treatment of plants with the biological insecticide NeemAzal (azadirachtin, the reduction in A. intermedius abundance was 20.7% when it was applied alone and 24.6 % in combination with the organic products Polyversum and Biofa. NeemAzal achieved a lower reduction in the counts of predatory ladybirds C. septempunctata, from 14.9% (alone to 21.9% (combination. The biological insecticide, applied alone or in combination, was mostly harmless and rarely harmful to A. intermedius. NeemAzal manifested harmlessness to C. septempunctata as its toxic action did not exceed 25%. An analysis of variance regarding product toxicity to A. intermedius and C. septempunctata demonstrated that the type of treatment (the application of insecticides alone or in combination had the strongest effect on product toxicity. Тhe use of neem-based insecticides can be a substantial contribution towards preservation of biodiversity in ecosystems.

Evaluation of Technological, Economic and Social Indicators for Different Farming Practices in Lithuania

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Aistė Galnaitytė

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Organic and integrated farming practices contribute to protecting biodiversity, reducing environmental pollution, improving soil quality, and providing high-quality raw material for food industry. The objective of the article is to establish the methodology and evaluate the system of indicators, which enables answering the question which farming practice has more advantages: organic or integrated? Multi-criteria analysis methods were used to achieve this objective. When being compared with between conventional and integrated farming practices, organic farming practice achieves higher profitability and greater energy efficiency. Organic farming reveals to be either superior, or similar to integrated farming practices in environmental terms. Potatoes, fruits and berries under both conventional and integrated farming practices have obtained the same rank (1–2 according to the selected criterions (yield, share of sold product, expenses on plant protection, production cost, price and labour input. Organic farming practice has shown worse rank. Organic farming practice has appeared to be the most suitable for vegetables.

Temporal trends in arthropod abundances after the transition to organic farming in paddy fields.

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Masaru H Tsutsui

Full Text Available Organic farming aims to reduce the effect on the ecosystem and enhance biodiversity in agricultural areas, but the long-term effectiveness of its application is unclear. Assessments have rarely included various taxonomic groups with different ecological and economic roles. In paddy fields with different numbers of years elapsed since the transition from conventional to organic farming, we investigated changes in the abundance of insect pests, generalist predators, and species of conservation concern. The abundance of various arthropods exhibited diverse trends with respect to years elapsed since the transition to organic farming. Larval lepidopterans, Tetragnatha spiders, and some planthoppers and stink bugs showed non-linear increases over time, eventually reaching saturation, such as the abundance increasing for several years and then becoming stable after 10 years. This pattern can be explained by the effects of residual pesticides, the lag time of soil mineralization, and dispersal limitation. A damselfly (Ischnura asiatica did not show a particular trend over time, probably due to its rapid immigration from source habitats. Unexpectedly, both planthoppers and some leafhoppers exhibited gradual decreases over time. As their abundances were negatively related to the abundance of Tetragnatha spiders, increased predation by natural enemies might gradually decrease these insect populations. These results suggest that the consideration of time-dependent responses of organisms is essential for the evaluation of the costs and benefits of organic farming, and such evaluations could provide a basis for guidelines regarding the length of time for organic farming to restore biodiversity or the economic subsidy needed to compensate for pest damage.

[Storage of plant protection products in farms: minimum safety requirements].

Science.gov (United States)

Dutto, Moreno; Alfonzo, Santo; Rubbiani, Maristella

2012-01-01

Failure to comply with requirements for proper storage and use of pesticides in farms can be extremely hazardous and the risk of accidents involving farm workers, other persons and even animals is high. There are still wide differences in the interpretation of the concept of "securing or making safe", by workers in this sector. One of the critical points detected, particularly in the fruit sector, is the establishment of an adequate storage site for plant protection products. The definition of "safe storage of pesticides" is still unclear despite the recent enactment of Legislative Decree 81/2008 regulating health and work safety in Italy. In addition, there are no national guidelines setting clear minimum criteria for storage of plant protection products in farms. The authors, on the basis of their professional experience and through analysis of recent legislation, establish certain minimum safety standards for storage of pesticides in farms.

Winter cereal yields as affected by animal manure and green manure in organic arable farming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, Jørgen E; Askegaard, Margrethe; Rasmussen, Ilse Ankjær

2009-01-01

The effect of nitrogen (N) supply through animal and green manures on grain yield of winter wheat and winter rye was investigated from 1997 to 2004 in an organic farming crop rotation experiment in Denmark on three different soil types varying from coarse sand to sandy loam. Two experimental....... Adjusting for these model-estimated side-effects resulted in wheat grain yields gains from manure application of 0.7-1.1 Mg DM ha-1. The apparent recovery efficiency of N in grains (N use efficiency, NUE) from NH4-N in applied manure varied from 23% to 44%. The NUE in the winter cereals of N accumulated......-estimated benefit of increasing N input in grass-clover from 100 to 500 kg N ha-1 varied from 0.8 to 2.0 Mg DM ha-1 between locations. This is a considerably smaller yield increase than obtained for manure application, and it suggests that the productivity in this system may be improved by removing the cuttings...

Economic Analysis Of Rabbit Production: On Farm Research ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The technical data derived from this indicate that technical data are more efficient and dependable in determining production outcomes on the filed relative to survey data. As a result of this, on-farm research was thus suggested as a way by which correct information on cost, returns and profitability of agricultural production ...

WHAT ARE THE BARRIERS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIC FARMING?

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Afagh VEISI

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The main purpose of this study was to investigate the main barriers to development of organic farming system in Kermanshah Province, Iran. Statistical population in this study consisted of all farmers in Kermanshah province, Iran. Applying stratified random sampling method, 137 farmers were selected as a sample. The main instrument in this study was questionnaire which its validity was confirmed by the panel of experts and its reliability was established by Cronbach's Alpha coefficient. Data was analyzed by SPSSWin16 software. Principal component analysis was used as main statistical technique to analyze the data. The results of factor analysis revealed that 4 factors including “Infrastructural”, “technical-managerial”, “economic-financial” and “educational” explained 42.36 percent of the variance. Results of this study have applications for agriculture development policy- makers for development of organic farming in Iran.

Evaluation of wildlife management through organic farming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Topping, Christopher John

2011-01-01

for six common agricultural wildlife species. ALMaSS outputs can be expressed as a simple index of relative change in abundance and distribution, allowing easy comparison between scenarios. Results indicate that organic farming generally had a beneficial effect, but the degree was variable with all...

Modelling potential production of macroalgae farms in UK and Dutch coastal waters

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J. van der Molen

2018-02-01

Full Text Available There is increasing interest in macroalgae farming in European waters for a range of applications, including food, chemical extraction for biofuel production. This study uses a 3-D numerical model of hydrodynamics and biogeochemistry to investigate potential production and environmental effects of macroalgae farming in UK and Dutch coastal waters. The model included four experimental farms in different coastal settings in Strangford Lough (Northern Ireland, in Sound of Kerrera and Lynn of Lorne (north-west Scotland and in the Rhine plume (the Netherlands, as well as a hypothetical large-scale farm off the UK north Norfolk coast. The model could not detect significant changes in biogeochemistry and plankton dynamics at any of the farm sites averaged over the farming season. The results showed a range of macroalgae growth behaviours in response to simulated environmental conditions. These were then compared with in situ observations where available, showing good correspondence for some farms and less good correspondence for others. At the most basic level, macroalgae production depended on prevailing nutrient concentrations and light conditions, with higher levels of both resulting in higher macroalgae production. It is shown that under non-elevated and interannually varying winter nutrient conditions, farming success was modulated by the timings of the onset of increasing nutrient concentrations in autumn and nutrient drawdown in spring. Macroalgae carbohydrate content also depended on nutrient concentrations, with higher nutrient concentrations leading to lower carbohydrate content at harvest. This will reduce the energy density of the crop and thus affect its suitability for conversion into biofuel. For the hypothetical large-scale macroalgae farm off the UK north Norfolk coast, the model suggested high, stable farm yields of macroalgae from year to year with substantial carbohydrate content and limited environmental effects.

Modelling potential production of macroalgae farms in UK and Dutch coastal waters

Science.gov (United States)

van der Molen, Johan; Ruardij, Piet; Mooney, Karen; Kerrison, Philip; O'Connor, Nessa E.; Gorman, Emma; Timmermans, Klaas; Wright, Serena; Kelly, Maeve; Hughes, Adam D.; Capuzzo, Elisa

2018-02-01

There is increasing interest in macroalgae farming in European waters for a range of applications, including food, chemical extraction for biofuel production. This study uses a 3-D numerical model of hydrodynamics and biogeochemistry to investigate potential production and environmental effects of macroalgae farming in UK and Dutch coastal waters. The model included four experimental farms in different coastal settings in Strangford Lough (Northern Ireland), in Sound of Kerrera and Lynn of Lorne (north-west Scotland) and in the Rhine plume (the Netherlands), as well as a hypothetical large-scale farm off the UK north Norfolk coast. The model could not detect significant changes in biogeochemistry and plankton dynamics at any of the farm sites averaged over the farming season. The results showed a range of macroalgae growth behaviours in response to simulated environmental conditions. These were then compared with in situ observations where available, showing good correspondence for some farms and less good correspondence for others. At the most basic level, macroalgae production depended on prevailing nutrient concentrations and light conditions, with higher levels of both resulting in higher macroalgae production. It is shown that under non-elevated and interannually varying winter nutrient conditions, farming success was modulated by the timings of the onset of increasing nutrient concentrations in autumn and nutrient drawdown in spring. Macroalgae carbohydrate content also depended on nutrient concentrations, with higher nutrient concentrations leading to lower carbohydrate content at harvest. This will reduce the energy density of the crop and thus affect its suitability for conversion into biofuel. For the hypothetical large-scale macroalgae farm off the UK north Norfolk coast, the model suggested high, stable farm yields of macroalgae from year to year with substantial carbohydrate content and limited environmental effects.

Husbandry factors and health conditions influencing the productivity of French rabbit farms

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A. Huneau-Salaün

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In 2009 productivity data from 95 kindling to finishing rabbit farms in France were analysed to identify rearing factors and health conditions that influenced their productivity. Farm productivity, expressed on a yearly basis, was described with 4 productivity indices: doe fertility and prolificacy, viability of young rabbits in the nest and mortality during the fattening period. The productivity data were obtained with the technical support of the farm and expressed in a standardised way. The average numerical productivity observed in the sample of farms was 50.9 rabbits produced per doe and per year (CI95% [49.6-52.2]. The husbandry management and health conditions were described based on a questionnaire filled out during an interview with the farmer and a farm visit. Explanatory data were organised into meaningful blocks relative to biosecurity measures, del using a Partiamaternity management, the sanitary context and the farm structure. The relationship between the 4 thematic blocks and the productivity indices was studied in a single mol Least Squares (PLS regression model. Fertility (81.0%, CI95% [80.0-82.0] and viability of young at nest (85.1%, CI95% [85.0-85.3] and mortality rate during fattening: 7.2%, CI95% [6.4-7.9] were significantly associated with common factors relative to maternity management and the health context whereas prolificacy (9.7 live kits per parturition, CI95% [9.5-9.9] was mostly influenced by a specific set of variables pertaining to those 2 blocks. Farm structure and biosecurity measures had a limited impact on fertility and on kit viability before weaning. The health conditions of the doe herd and the fattening rabbits were found to be significantly associated with several productivity indexes, but their impacts on productivity were as high as the impact of the other blocks. Genetic strain of the females, doe replacement strategy and nursing and weaning practices appeared to significantly influence reproductive

Animal Husbandry Practices of Organic Farmers: An Appraisal

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Subrahmanyeswari

Full Text Available In Uttarakhand organic farming is being promoted through a special institution i.e. Uttarakhand Organic Commodity Board (UOCB through registering the farmers and orienting them towards organic farming. Organic farmers currently practicing and marketing only organic crop products. However, their livestock production practices are also similar to recommended organic standards. Hence, to document their livestock production practices, a total of 180 registered organic farmers selected through multistage sampling technique studied during 2006-07. Cent percent of registered organic farmers were involved in mixed farming enterprises and most of them were with more than one livestock species (farm diversity. The breeds maintained by these farmers were of indigenous and they were raising livestock on the inputs met on farm and from the farms of similar agro-ecological regions. In view of the raising demand for organic livestock products locally as well as internationally, the organic promoting agencies have to focus on orienting these farmers towards stringent organic livestock standards so as to enable them to meet the organic livestock products demand locally as well as internationally. [Veterinary World 2008; 1(10.000: 303-305

Opponent note no. 5b:: Support to Organic Farming and Bio-energy as rural development drivers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reinhard, A.J.

2006-01-01

Given the current competitive strength of North West European agriculture, organic farming and bio-energy production will not expand without subsidies. Technical research shows that high tech agriculture can be viable in the future if it is both efficient with respect to the environment and with

The Use of Radiation to Develop Organic Farming for Food Safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Office of Atoms fo Peace

2006-09-01

The conference of the use of radiation to develop organic farming for food safety was held on 28-29 September 2006 in Bangkok. This conference contain paper on non-power applications of nuclear technology in farming, agriculture and industry.

The economic efficiency of conservation measures for amphibians in organic farming--results from bio-economic modelling.

Science.gov (United States)

Schuler, Johannes; Sattler, Claudia; Helmecke, Angela; Zander, Peter; Uthes, Sandra; Bachinger, Johann; Stein-Bachinger, Karin

2013-01-15

This paper presents a whole farm bio-economic modelling approach for the assessment and optimisation of amphibian conservation conditions applied at the example of a large scale organic farm in North-Eastern Germany. The assessment focuses mainly on the habitat quality as affected by conservation measures such as through specific adapted crop production activities (CPA) and in-field buffer strips for the European tree frog (Hyla arborea), considering also interrelations with other amphibian species (i.e. common spadefoot toad (Pelobates fuscus), fire-bellied toad (Bombina bombina)). The aim of the approach is to understand, analyse and optimize the relationships between the ecological and economic performance of an organic farming system, based on the expectation that amphibians are differently impacted by different CPAs. The modelling system consists of a set of different sub-models that generate a farm model on the basis of environmentally evaluated CPAs. A crop-rotation sub-model provides a set of agronomically sustainable crop rotations that ensures overall sufficient nitrogen supply and controls weed, pest and disease infestations. An economic sub-model calculates the gross margins for each possible CPA including costs of inputs such as labour and machinery. The conservation effects of the CPAs are assessed with an ecological sub-model evaluates the potential negative or positive effect that each work step of a CPA has on amphibians. A mathematical programming sub-model calculates the optimal farm organization taking into account the limited factors of the farm (e.g. labour, land) as well as ecological improvements. In sequential model runs, the habitat quality is to be improved by the model, while the highest possible gross margin is still to be achieved. The results indicate that the model can be used to show the scope of action that a farmer has to improve habitat quality by reducing damage to amphibian population on its land during agricultural activities

Comparison of Management Styles in Organic and Conventional Farming with Respect to Disruptive External Influences. The Case of Organic Dairy Farming and Conventional Horticulture in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blom, M.; Gremmen, H.G.J.

2012-01-01

Conventional Dutch farming systems are constantly improving their technology to withstand disruptive external influences, while organic farming tends to focus on methods that stress conservation of natural and nonrenewable resources. We hypothesize that management styles to withstand disruptive

Virtual Nitrogen Losses from Organic Food Production

Science.gov (United States)

Cattell Noll, L.; Galloway, J. N.; Leach, A. M.; Seufert, V.; Atwell, B.; Shade, J.

2015-12-01

Reactive nitrogen (Nr) is necessary for crop and animal production, but when it is lost to the environment, it creates a cascade of detrimental environmental impacts. The nitrogen challenge is to maximize the food production benefits of Nr, while minimizing losses to the environment. The first nitrogen footprint tool was created in 2012 to help consumers learn about the Nr losses to the environment that result from an individual's lifestyle choices. The nitrogen lost during food production was estimated with virtual nitrogen factors (VNFs) that quantify the amount of nitrogen lost to the environment per unit nitrogen consumed. Alternative agricultural systems, such as USDA certified organic farms, utilize practices that diverge from conventional production. In order to evaluate the potential sustainability of these alternative agricultural systems, our team calculated VNFs that reflect organic production. Initial data indicate that VNFs for organic grains and organic starchy roots are comparable to, but slightly higher than conventional (+10% and +20% respectively). In contrast, the VNF for organic vegetables is significantly higher (+90%) and the VNF for organic legumes is significantly lower (-90%). Initial data on organic meat production shows that organic poultry and organic pigmeat are comparable to conventional production (both <5% difference), but that the organic beef VNF is significantly higher (+30%). These data show that in some cases organic and conventional production are comparable in terms of nitrogen efficiency. However, since conventional production relies heavily on the creation of new reactive nitrogen (Haber-Bosch, biological nitrogen fixation) and organic production primarily utilizes already existing reactive nitrogen (manure, crop residue, compost), the data also show that organic production contributes less new reactive nitrogen to the environment than conventional production (approximately 70% less). Therefore, we conclude that on a local

Factors influencing consumption of farmed seafood products in the Pacific northwest.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Troy E; Amberg, Shannon M

2013-07-01

This study used a mail survey (n=1159 usable surveys) of Pacific northwest (US) residents to understand general seafood preferences (familiarity, price, freshness, health and environmental concerns), beliefs and attitudes specific to aquaculture versus wild products, and how those cognitive factors affect decisions to consume types of farmed seafood products. Respondents strongly agreed that seafood is healthy, and they preferred wild over farmed products. Many respondents were uncertain about human health and environmental benefits and problems associated with aquaculture. While there was agreement that aquaculture reduces pressure on wild fish, there was equally strong agreement that it has the same problems as other agricultural practices. Belief in the superiority of wild seafood was a strong predictor of consumption choices. Belief in the benefits of aquaculture was positively related to higher consumption of farmed products, but--unexpectedly--beliefs related to environmental and health problems associated with aquaculture did not predict specific consumption choices. Nearly half of respondents recalled hearing or reading about aquaculture in the mass media, and recall of negative stories contributed to a general preference for wild products, but not consumption of specific types of farmed products. Consumption of the different classes of products had some different predictors, and communication efforts directed at different beliefs may have different impacts on consumer behavior. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Farming: Animals or machines? | Mitchell | Southern African ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The intensive farming industry, where nonhuman animals are treated as machines in a production process, is abhorrent to many people, and more traditional farming may seem more acceptable ethically. Nowadays, one finds products on the market with labels such as organic and green, which suggest more humane ...

Sustainable extensification as an alternative model for reducing GHG emissions from agriculture. The case of an extensively managed organic farm in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bluwstein, Jevgeniy; Braun, Martin; Henriksen, Christian Bugge

2015-01-01

GHG emissions of an extensively managed Danish organic farm were estimated upstream and on-farm. The results were compared to Danish national levels based on land area and output. Overall, the farm emitted 2.12 t CO2eq ha−1 yr−1. Excluding land use, land use change, and forestry (LULUCF) related...... emissions, the combined GHG emissions from energy- and agriculture-based activities at the case farm were 47% lower (per unit area) and 12% higher (per unit output), than GHG emissions from Danish agriculture. With current livestock density (0.64 LU ha−1) and crop production area, the case study farm would...... supply at average 1,466 kcal per inhabitant per day in Denmark, if the farm was scaled up to Danish national level. With a reduction of livestock density to 0.36 LU ha−1 and proportional cropland area expansion for food production (ceteris paribus), the case study farm could supply around 4,940 kcal...

Net Farm Income Analysis of Maize Production in Gwagwalada Area ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Net Farm Income Analysis of Maize Production in Gwagwalada Area Council of Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. OO Alabi, AAA Coker, ME Idegbesor. Abstract. This study examined net farm income of maize production in Gwagwalada Area Council of Federal Capital Territory. The specific objectives are to: identify the ...

The impact of biogas production on the circularity of nitrogen flows around a dairy farm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoang, Dieu Linh; Davis, Christopher Bryan; Nonhebel, Sanderine; Dijkema, Gerhard

2017-01-01

Dairy farms require a significant amount of nitrogen to enter the production system via cattle fodder, which in intensive farming can be traced back to artificial fertilizers. As a by-product of dairy farms, cattle manure contains undigested nitrogen that allows the farmers to reuse it for their

Fish production and some traits of meat quality in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss farmed in different production systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

St. Stoyanova

2016-12-01

.81 mg.kg (P≤0.05. The K and Na content -1 -1 exhibited the opposite tendency with substantially higher values in trouts farmed in net cages (2658.26±48.75 mg.kg and 671.31±16.16 mg.kg than in fish in -1 -1 raceways (2552.90±39.93 mg.kg and 569.32±13.75 mg.kg (P≤0.05, P≤0.001. The production costs of 1 kg rainbow trout were by 17.27% lower in the Forest Group farm than in the Happy Fish farm. The coefficient of economic efficiency in the net cage farm was by 23.44% higher than that of the raceways production system.

The effect of production type and antimicrobial usage on the occurrence of tetracycline resistant E. coli in danish slaughter pig farms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Struve, Tina; Vigre, Håkan; Wingstrand, Anne

The Qualysafe project was initiated in 2007 to support and strengthen the sustainable production systems in Danish food production. One of the objectives of the epidemiological investigation was to find new methods to improve food safety in conventional as well as in alternative pig production...... systems. At nine different slaughterhouses 1500 ceacum samples were collected from slaughter pigs originating from 226 farms. One thousand samples were analyzed and one E. coli isolate per sample was susceptibility tested to Tetracycline. Data on management practice and health status at farm level...... the farm types, with the Organic having the lowest consumption (0.14 doses /annually produced slaughter pig) while Free Range had the highest consumption (0,85 doses/annually produced slaughter pig) and Conventional farms was in between (0.67 doses/annually produced slaughter pig). The effect...

Energy efficiency and econometric analysis of broiler production farms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heidari, M.D.; Omid, M.; Akram, A.

2011-01-01

The objective of this study was to determine the energy consumption per 1000 bird for the broiler production in Yazd province, Iran. The data were collected from 44 farms by using a face-to-face questionnaire method during January–February 2010. The collected information was analyzed using descriptive statistics, economic analysis and stochastic frontier production function. The production technology of the farmer was assumed to be specified by the Cobb–Douglas (CD) production function. Total input energy was found to be 186,885.87 MJ (1000 bird) −1 while the output energy was 27,461.21 MJ (1000 bird) −1 . The values of specific energy and energy ratio were calculated at 71.95 MJ kg −1 and 0.15, respectively. The sensitivity of energy inputs was estimated using the marginal physical productivity (MPP) method. The MPP value showed the high impact of human labor and machinery energy inputs on output energy. Returns to scale (RTS) values for broiler were found to be 0.96; thus, there prevailed a decreasing RTS for the estimated model. The net return was found positive, as 1386.53 $ (1000 bird) −1 and the benefit to cost ratio from broiler production was calculated to be 1.38. The study revealed that production of meat was profitable in the studied area. -- Highlights: ► We determined the energy use efficiency (EUE) for the broiler production as 0.15, indicating inefficiency use of energy in these farms. ► Total input and output energies were found to be 186,885.87 MJ (1000 bird) −1 and 27,461.21 MJ (1000 bird) −1 , respectively. ► Cobb–Douglas (CD) frontier production function was found useful in developing econometric model for broiler production. ► The results of budgetary analysis indicate production of meat in broiler farms is profitable in the studied area.

ECONOMICS OF DAIRY FARMING IN TURKEY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Özgür Bor

2014-10-01

Full Text Available In this study dairy farming activities in Turkey are employed to prove that small-scale agricultural production is disappearing rapidly due to costly investment and mechanization needs. For that purpose the cost structure and the investment needs in starting a dairy farm are analyzed. The results show that the capital requirements of building a dairy farm with optimal capacity are hard to reach for small farmers unless a system of marketing and production agricultural cooperatives and/or institutions are organized.

The effect of cocoa fermentation and weak organic acids on growth and ochratoxin A production by Aspergillus species

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Copetti, Marina V.; Iamanaka, Beatriz T.; Mororó, Raimundo C.

2012-01-01

The acidic characteristics of cocoa beans have influence on flavor development in chocolate. Cocoa cotyledons are not naturally acidic, the acidity comes from organic acids produced by the fermentative microorganisms which grow during the processing of cocoa. Different concentrations of these met...... by Aspergillus carbonarius in cocoa, and the effect of weak organic acids such as acetic, lactic and citric at different pH values on growth and ochratoxin A production by A. carbonarius and Aspergillus niger in culture media. A statistical difference (ρ......The acidic characteristics of cocoa beans have influence on flavor development in chocolate. Cocoa cotyledons are not naturally acidic, the acidity comes from organic acids produced by the fermentative microorganisms which grow during the processing of cocoa. Different concentrations...... of these metabolites can be produced according to the fermentation practices adopted in the farms, which could affect the growth and ochratoxin A production by fungi. This work presents two independent experiments carried out to investigate the effect of some fermentation practices on ochratoxin A production...

Livestock production and manure management on animal farms in Vietnam

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sommer, S.G.; Bui, H.H.; Dalsgaard, Anders

2008-01-01

  The Vietnamese and Asian livestock production is increasing these years. In consequence large amounts of manure are produced, which may be a hazard to the environment because the traditional technology and the management practise of manure is not adapted to specialised livestock production.......  Further, there is little knowledge about the plant nutrient value of animal manure, and about technologies for environmentally-friendly manure management. This lack of knowledge enhances the risk of polluting the environment by inappropriate use of livestock manure and is also a potential risk...... for transferring pathogens between livestock and from livestock to humans (zoonoses). The objective of this article is to describe manure management at livestock farms in Vietnam. The focus is on presenting the most typical farming concepts, manure management on these farms, environmental and hygienic risks...

Farm Technologies and Production Risk in the Face of Climate ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In countries where insurance and credit markets are thin or missing, production and consumption risks play a critical role in the choice and use of production inputs and adoption of new farm technologies. This paper investigated the effect of selected farm technologies and their risk implications in different rainfall patterns of ...

Seed quality of common bean accessions under organic and conventional farming systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diego Medeiros Gindri

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Agrobiodiversity is essential for a sustainable food production, and the knowledge of the potential characteristics of landrace seeds may prompt farmers to adopt the habit of seed conservation for this species. This study aimed at categorizing landrace and commercial common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. accessions, according to the physiological quality (viability and vigor of seeds produced in the field, during two growing seasons, under organic and conventional farming systems. Germination percentage, field emergence, electrical conductivity, accelerated aging, cold test and seedling length were assessed. The landrace bean accessions exhibit diversity in the physiological seed quality, in terms of their viability and vigor. No differences were observed between the farming systems, in relation to the physiological quality of the seeds produced. The categorization of landrace common bean accessions allows to identify those with superior physiological seed quality.

A Global Analysis of the Relationship between Farmed Seaweed Production and Herbivorous Fish Catch.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E James Hehre

Full Text Available Globally, farmed seaweed production is expanding rapidly in shallow marine habitats. While seaweed farming provides vital income to millions of artisanal farmers, it can negatively impact shallow coral reef and seagrass habitats. However, seaweed farming may also potentially provide food subsidies for herbivorous reef fish such as the Siganidae, a valuable target family, resulting in increased catch. Comparisons of reef fish landings across the central Philippines revealed that the catch of siganids was positively correlated to farmed seaweed production whilst negatively correlated to total reef fish catch over the same period of time. We tested the generality of this pattern by analysing seaweed production, siganid catch, and reef fish catch for six major seaweed-producing countries in the tropics. We hypothesized that increased seaweed production would correspond with increased catch of siganids but not other reef fish species. Analysis of the global data showed a positive correlation between farmed seaweeds and siganids in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines but not Africa (Tanzania and Zanzibar, or the Western Pacific (Fiji. In Southeast Asia, siganid catch increased disproportionately faster with seaweed production than did reef fish catch. Low continuity, sporadic production and smaller volumes of seaweed farming may explain the differences.

A Global Analysis of the Relationship between Farmed Seaweed Production and Herbivorous Fish Catch.

Science.gov (United States)

Hehre, E James; Meeuwig, Jessica J

2016-01-01

Globally, farmed seaweed production is expanding rapidly in shallow marine habitats. While seaweed farming provides vital income to millions of artisanal farmers, it can negatively impact shallow coral reef and seagrass habitats. However, seaweed farming may also potentially provide food subsidies for herbivorous reef fish such as the Siganidae, a valuable target family, resulting in increased catch. Comparisons of reef fish landings across the central Philippines revealed that the catch of siganids was positively correlated to farmed seaweed production whilst negatively correlated to total reef fish catch over the same period of time. We tested the generality of this pattern by analysing seaweed production, siganid catch, and reef fish catch for six major seaweed-producing countries in the tropics. We hypothesized that increased seaweed production would correspond with increased catch of siganids but not other reef fish species. Analysis of the global data showed a positive correlation between farmed seaweeds and siganids in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines) but not Africa (Tanzania and Zanzibar), or the Western Pacific (Fiji). In Southeast Asia, siganid catch increased disproportionately faster with seaweed production than did reef fish catch. Low continuity, sporadic production and smaller volumes of seaweed farming may explain the differences.

Biogas in organic agriculture-effects on productivity, energy self-sufficiency and greenhouse gas emissions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pugesgaard, Siri; Olesen, Jørgen E; Jørgensen, Uffe

2014-01-01

was obtained for all biogas scenarios, showing that biomass production for biogas on 10% of the farm area results in an energy surplus, provided that the heat from the electricity production is utilized. The energy surplus implies a displacement of fossil fuels and thereby reduced CO2 emission from the farm...... of anaerobic digestion and biogas production were analyzed on a 1000 ha model farm with combined dairy and cash crop production, representing organic agriculture in Denmark. The effects on crop rotation, nitrogen flows and losses, yield, energy balance and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were evaluated for four...... scenarios of biogas production on the farm. Animal manure was digested for biogas production in all scenarios and was supplemented with: (1) 100 ha grass–clover for biogas, (2) 100 ha maize for biogas, (3) 200 ha grass–clover for biogas and reduced number of livestock, and (4) 200 ha grass–clover for biogas...

The Significance of Consumer’s Awareness about Organic Food Products in the United Arab Emirates

OpenAIRE

Safdar Muhummad; Eihab Fathelrahman; Rafi Ullah Tasbih Ullah

2016-01-01

Awareness about negative externalities generated by conventional farming is gaining momentum with consumers around the world, opting for alternatively, namely organically, produced food products. Information about consumers’ awareness is an essential element for farmers and marketing agencies to successfully plan production that can capture a greater market share. This study discusses effective factors influencing consumers’ awareness about the benefits of organic food in the United Arab Emir...

Modelling conventional and organic farming : a literature review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Acs, S.; Berentsen, P.B.M.; Huirne, R.B.M.

2005-01-01

Literature shows a significant development of organic farming in Europe but with considerable differences between countries. These depend on general agricultural policy (the set of regulations and laws), specific policy incentives, and also on differences in consumer behaviour. This paper reviews

Farm animal proteomics - A review

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bendixen, Emøke; Danielsen, Marianne; Hollung, Kristin

2011-01-01

In agricultural sciences as in all other areas of life science, the implementation of proteomics and other post-genomic tools is an important step towards more detailed understanding of the complex biological systems that control physiology and pathology of living beings. Farm animals are raised...... and cattle are relevant not only for farm animal sciences, but also for adding to our understanding of complex biological mechanisms of health and disease in humans. The aim of this review is to present an overview of the specific topics of interest within farm animal proteomics, and to highlight some...... of the areas where synergy between classic model organism proteomics and farm animal proteomics is rapidly emerging. Focus will be on introducing the special biological traits that play an important role in food production, and on how proteomics may help optimize farm animal production...

Farm Typology in the Berambadi Watershed (India: Farming Systems Are Determined by Farm Size and Access to Groundwater

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marion Robert

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Farmers’ production decisions and agricultural practices directly and indirectly influence the quantity and quality of natural resources, some being depleted common resources such as groundwater. Representing farming systems while accounting for their flexibility is needed to evaluate targeted, regional water management policies. Farmers’ decisions regarding investing in irrigation and adopting cropping systems are inherently dynamic and must adapt to changes in climate and agronomic, economic and social, and institutional, conditions. To represent this diversity, we developed a typology of Indian farmers from a survey of 684 farms in Berambadi, an agricultural watershed in southern India (state of Karnataka. The survey provided information on farm structure, the cropping system and farm practices, water management for irrigation, and economic performances of the farm. Descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis (Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering were used to analyze relationships between observed factors and establish the farm typology. We identified three main types of farms: (1 large diversified and productivist farms; (2 small and marginal rainfed farms, and (3 small irrigated marketing farms. This typology represents the heterogeneity of farms in the Berambadi watershed.

Soil microbial activity under conventional and organic production of bean and maize

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marinković Jelena B.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to compare the effects of conventional and organic production system on microbial activity in the soil cultivated with bean and maize crops. The trial in Đurđevo was set up according to the conventional farming system, while organic farming system was used in Futog. Two maize hybrids and two bean cultivars were used in the trial. Soil samples were collected in two periods during 2014 (before sowing, at flowering stage of bean crops, and at 9-11 leaf stage of maize at two depths, at both locations. The following microbiological parameters were tested: the total number of micro­organisms, number of ammonifiers, Azotobacter sp., free nitrogen fixing bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes, and activity of dehydrogenase enzyme. The results showed that the total number of microorganisms, number of free N-fixers and dehydrogenase activity were higher within organic production, while Azotobacter sp. was more abundant in conventional production. Variations in the number of ammonifiers, fungi and actinomycetes in relation to the type of production were not obtained. Significant differences in microbial activity were also obtained between period and depths of sampling.

The effect of production type and antimicrobial usage on the occurrence of tetracycline resistant E. coli in danish slaughter pig farms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Struve, Tina; Vigre, Håkan; Wingstrand, Anne

The Qualysafe project was initiated in 2007 to support and strengthen the sustainable production systems in Danish food production. One of the objectives of the epidemiological investigation was to find new methods to improve food safety in conventional as well as in alternative pig production sy...... of potential risk factors on the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance in animal production....... (organic, free range and conventional farms) was a risk factor for occurrence of antimicrobial resistance and Tetracycline usage was regarded as an intervening factor between production type and occurrence of antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, the effect of production type and Tetracycline usage...... was estimated in two separate models using logistic regression, taking into account the correlation of results obtained from the same farm. Among the 411 isolates, 129 was found resistant to Tetracycline (Organic: 10%, Free Range: 27 % Conventional: 39 %). Differences was seen in the consumption pattern among...

Impact of the structure of agricultural production to the financial health of farms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Kopta

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The first part of the paper deals with the influence of individual commodities on the profitability and risks of farms. Production structure was given thought share of twelve basic crops in total agricultural production yield. Volume of accumulated profit for five-year income was chosen as viability criterion. The research did not show that specialization in one of the commodities had significantly influenced achieved profitability. The only exception is the production of milk, which clearly lead to lower profitability. Production structure determined the risk of farms. Farms were constantly threatened by both negative profitability, and also steep fluctuations of cash flow (in other of long-term positive profitability, leading to temporary loss of solvency. The analysis showed that different types of production structures lead to different types of threats. The probability of falling into production losses, or that the loss is so great that not even cover variable costs (a farm finds itself under the point of termination of production was calculated using the EaR method. The results again supported previous findings. Loss is highly likely to be achieved in commodities of animal production. For commodities of crop production the probability of loss was roughly a half, but the probability of exceeding a period of variable costs is higher.

SWEET CORN FARMING: THE EFFECT OF PRODUCTION FACTOR, EFFICIENCY AND RETURN TO SCALE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dwijatenaya I.B.M.A.

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This research aims to determine the effect of production factors on the sweet corn production, the efficiency of sweet corn farming, and the return to scale of sweet corn production. The sampling technique was taken by proportionate stratified random sampling method with the sample number of 57 people while the analyzer used was the program of Frointer 4.1c. The results show that the production factors of the land farm, seed, and fertilizer have a positive and significant effect on sweet corn production. On the other hand, labor production factors have a positive but not significant effect on sweet corn production. It also found that technical efficiency, price efficiency, and economic efficiency of sweet corn farming in Muara Wis Sub-district of Kutai Kartanegara Regency are not efficient yet. The return to scale of sweet corn yield has an increasing return to scale condition.

Stability in Organic Milk Farm Prices: A Comparative Study

OpenAIRE

Su, Ye; Brown, Scott; Cook, Michael L.

2013-01-01

The organic milk pay price is more stable year round and increases every year. However, the conventional milk price varies within the year and from year to year. As an emerging segment of the milk industry, consumer demand for organic milk is increasing rapidly. The growth in demand relative to supply provides organic milk producers and processors large premiums over the conventional milk price. Many conventional dairy farms have converted to organic operations for the more stable price. The ...

The Interactive Effect of Diversification and Farming Scale on Productivity of Family Farm:Taking Rice Cultivation as An Example

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Zhou

2017-05-01

Based on the diversification and cultivation scale, the rice cropping data of rural fixed observation points in 2011 were selected and the effect of diversification degree on rice productivity was analyzed by the Tobit model. The empirical results of the model show that diversification of sample farm will lead to loss of rice production efficiency. With the increase of rice planting scale, the loss of rice production efficiency will need to be further increased by diversification. Thus, we should stick to the family farm of specialized production operation. The transfer of land, the price and quantity of leasing, respecting the law of the market; the raising of funds can be considered non-subsidized capital market financing to help, while maintaining a certain degree of diversification, to avoid idle assets, low resource efficiency loss.

ARIZONA FARM LABOR REPORT.

Science.gov (United States)

SALTER, RICHARD H.

THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FARM PLACEMENT PROGRAM IS DESCRIBED. INCLUDED ARE THE ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATIONS, THE LOCAL LEVELS, THE STATE FARM LABOR ADVISORY COMMITTEE, AND THE PLANNING AND OPERATING METHODS USED BY FARM PLACEMENT PERSONNEL IN MEETING FARM LABOR NEEDS. MAJOR CROP ACTIVITIES ARE RELATED TO COTTON AND VEGETABLES. THE LABOR FORCE IS…

Competitiveness of organically grown cereals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaroslav Jánský

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The contribution is aimed at the assessment of recommended crop management practices of chosen cereals for organic farming. To increase competitiveness, these practices are modified depending on soil and climatic conditions, and on a way of production use. Furthermore, impacts of the recommended crop management practices on economics of growing chosen cereals are evaluated and compared with economic results obtained under conventional farming. It is assumed that achieved results will contribute to the increase in proportion of arable crops in the Czech Republic where organic production offer does not meet current demands.When evaluating results of growing individual cereal species in a selective set of organic farms, triticale, spelt and spring barley (in this ranking can be considered as profitable crops. Moreover, triticale and spelt have even higher gross margin under organic farming than under conventional farming (by 62 % in triticale. Oat brings losses, however, it is important for livestock production. Winter wheat seems to be also unprofitable since less grain is produced at lower imputs per hectare and only part of it is produced in quality “bio”, i.e. marketed for higher prices. Rye also brings losses under organic farming, particularly due to lower yields, similarly to the other mentioned cereals. Special cereal species that are still neglected in organic farming systems are of potential use. Durum wheat has vitreous kernels with a high content of quality gluten which is used for pasta production. It can be grown in the maize production area on fertile soils only.

Analysis of organic farming practices amongst crop farmers in Delta ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The past decade has been characterized by public concern over nutrition, health and food safety issues. Consumers perceive high risk associated with the consumption of conventionally grown produce. Organic farming is beneficial because it is a source of healthy food and healthy living. The United Nations regards ...

14C specific activity of farm products and marine products collected from the Rokkasho area in Aomori prefecture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muranaka, Takeshi; Honda, Kazuya

1996-01-01

We investigated 14 C specific activity of farm products and marine products which were collected from the Rokkasho area in Aomori prefecture from 1988 to 1990. The measured 14 C specific activity of farm products was almost equal to one another with the averaged 14 C specific activity of 0.261 [Bq/g·C]. On the other hand, 14 C specific activity of marine products was slightly lower than those of farm products. Especially that of squid was the lowest among studied marine products. This may be due to the low 14 C specific activity of the sea water surrounding squid. (author)

Evaluation of farmed cod products by a trained sensory panel and consumers in different test settings

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sveinsdottir, K.; Martinsdottir, E.; Thorsdottir, F.; Schelvis-Smit, A.A.M.; Kole, A.; Thorsdottir, I.

2010-01-01

Sensory characteristics of farmed cod exposed to low or conventional stress levels prior to slaughter were evaluated by a trained sensory panel. Consumers in two different settings, central location test (CLT) and home-use test (HUT), also tasted the products and rated them according to overall

Are large farms more efficient? Tenure security, farm size and farm efficiency: evidence from northeast China

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Yuepeng; Ma, Xianlei; Shi, Xiaoping

2017-04-01

How to increase production efficiency, guarantee grain security, and increase farmers' income using the limited farmland is a great challenge that China is facing. Although theory predicts that secure property rights and moderate scale management of farmland can increase land productivity, reduce farm-related costs, and raise farmer's income, empirical studies on the size and magnitude of these effects are scarce. A number of studies have examined the impacts of land tenure or farm size on productivity or efficiency, respectively. There are also a few studies linking farm size, land tenure and efficiency together. However, to our best knowledge, there are no studies considering tenure security and farm efficiency together for different farm scales in China. In addition, there is little study analyzing the profit frontier. In this study, we particularly focus on the impacts of land tenure security and farm size on farm profit efficiency, using farm level data collected from 23 villages, 811 households in Liaoning in 2015. 7 different farm scales have been identified to further represent small farms, median farms, moderate-scale farms, and large farms. Technical efficiency is analyzed with stochastic frontier production function. The profit efficiency is regressed on a set of explanatory variables which includes farm size dummies, land tenure security indexes, and household characteristics. We found that: 1) The technical efficiency scores for production efficiency (average score = 0.998) indicate that it is already very close to the production frontier, and thus there is little room to improve production efficiency. However, there is larger space to raise profit efficiency (average score = 0.768) by investing more on farm size expansion, seed, hired labor, pesticide, and irrigation. 2) Farms between 50-80 mu are most efficient from the viewpoint of profit efficiency. The so-called moderate-scale farms (100-150 mu) according to the governmental guideline show no

Biogas production on dairy farms: A Croatia case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikola Bilandžija

2013-03-01

Full Text Available In order to determine the differences in the production and composition of biogas as well as the quality of digested residue from anaerobic digestion of the raw materials generated by dairy farms in Croatia, investigations were undertaken in the biogas laboratory facility of the Faculty of Agriculture. The investigated raw materials were: dairy manure, corn silage, haylage and equal-measure mix (1/3 of all raw materials. For each substrate, three runs of experiments were performed with the same overall hydraulic retention time (40 days and temperature of digestion (35 °C in mesophilic conditions. The investigations found that the most efficient production of biogas was from corn silage. As for biogas composition, it was acceptable in all investigated samples both in energy and environmental terms. Digested residues, which are mildly alkaline, have low dry matter content. About 70 % of dry matter content is organic. On the basis of N:P:K analysis and the analysis of biogenic elements values and heavy metal values, it can be concluded that digested residues of all input raw materials can be used in agricultural production.

Organic and Low-Input Dairy Farming: Avenues to Enhance Sustainability and Competitiveness in the EU

OpenAIRE

Scollan, Nigel; Padel, Susanne; Halberg, Niels; Hermansen, J.E.; Nicholas, Pip; Rinne, Marketta; Zanoli, Raffaele; Zollitsch, Werner; Lauwers, Ludwig

2017-01-01

Whether farming strategies built on continuing input intensification or relying on integrated natural resource management are more sustainable and competitive is at the core of the agricultural development debate. The five-year (2011–16) Sustainable Organic and Low Input Dairying (SOLID) project, funded by the European Commission, involved 25 partners across 10 European countries and was designed to support innovation in European organic and low-input dairy farming. Results show that such sys...

Smallholder Participation and Certification of Organic Farm Products in Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez, Alma Amalia; Nigh, Ronald

2005-01-01

Organic and other environmental and social marketing devices seek to connect producers and consumers more directly and reward environmentally and socially superior production systems. Some researchers have observed that these schemes may introduce mechanisms of exclusion, creating an elite group of certified smallholders while putting…

Effects of organic versus conventional arable farming on soil structure and organic matter dynamics in a marine loam in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pulleman, M.M.; Jongmans, A.G.; Marinissen, J.C.Y.; Bouma, J.

2003-01-01

We compared the effects of conventional and organic arable farming on soil organic matter (SOM) content, soil structure, aggregate stability and C and N mineralization, which are considered important factors in defining sustainable land management. Within one soil series, three different farming

Factors Affecting the Structural Features of Dairy Farming Organizations in Yalova: The Habits of Feeding and Nutrition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Galip BAKIR

2014-03-01

Full Text Available This research has been conducted in order to determine the habits of feed and nutrition in dairy farming organizations, and how the education level of farmers and the number of animals affected these habits. The data that obtained from 324 randomly chosen dairy farms around the city by the means of the survey comprised the material of research. Crosstabb analysis was applied to the obtained data using SPSS 20.0 package program. The most commonly used roughage combination in organizations was knotgrass and straw. It has been founded that the rate of using the this combination was 50% in primary education level, 27.2% in secondary education level and 35.1% in high school and higher education level. The ratio of breeders who have less animals using this combination was 50%. The rate declined to 25.5% with the increase in the number of animals. The number of animals affected the roughage combination considerably (P<0.01.Concentrate usage changed according to the education level. The ratio of using 4-6 kg concentrate was 48.5% in organizations with primary education level. This declined to 43.8% in secondary education level, and 38.9% in high school and higher education levels. So, there was a reverse relation in 7-9 kg feed usage: as education level increases the rate of using concentrate increases. The feed crop production in organizations has been affected by the number of animals considerably. While the rate of feed crop production was 44.9% in organizations which have less than five animals, this rate increased up to 74.5% with the rise in the number of animals. The education level of breeders (P<0.05 and the number of animals (P<0.01 affected the use of silage in organizations substantially.