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Agriculture
Special Issues
Soil Science and Plant Cultivation in Organic Farming
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Soil Science and Plant Cultivation in Organic Farming

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Systems and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 March 2023) | Viewed by 9022

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Beata Feledyn-Szewczyk

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Systems and Economics of Crop Production, Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation–State Research Institute, Czartoryskich 8 Street, 24-100 Puławy, Poland
Interests: organic agriculture; biodiversity; plant cultivation; agroecology; weed control; yield quality
Dr. Jarosław Stalenga

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Systems and Economics of Crop Production, Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation–State Research Institute, Czartoryskich 8 Street, 24-100 Puławy, Poland
Interests: soil fertility; organic farming; cropping systems; agroecology; biodiversity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Elżbieta Harasim

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Herbology and Plant Cultivation Techniques, University of Life Sciences, Akademicka 13 Street, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
Interests: agrotechnics of cereal, root and herbal crops; organic farming; soil properties; quality of agricultural produce
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recent EU strategies such as The Green Deal, Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategy aim to significantly increase the area of organic farming in the EU to 25% in 2030. Moreover, there is an increasing consumer demand for high-quality organic food. To achieve this goal, new knowledge on how to improve organic crop management, as well as its economic and energy efficiency should be widely disseminated and easily accessible to farmers, advisors, processors and other stakeholders.

In organic farming, there is a key role of preventive, mechanical, physical and biological methods of crop production to reach the proper yield quantity and quality, and as a result to obtain the ecological, economic and social sustainability of farms.

This Special Issue focuses on different problems of organic farming, such as the maintenance of proper soil fertility and biodiversity, cropping system design, fertilization, plant health, product quality and the economic efficiency of organic farms, including in comparison to conventional farms.

The Guest Editors invite researchers to share knowledge on innovative solutions in organic farming, such as digital methods of weed control, agricultural robots, biopesticides, decision support tools etc. Original papers and reviews are accepted.

Dr. Beata Feledyn-Szewczyk
Dr. Jarosław Stalenga
Dr. Elżbieta Harasim
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • organic farming
  • biodiversity
  • soil fertility
  • non-chemical methods of plant protection
  • yield quality
  • organic crop management
  • cropping systems design
  • organic vs. conventional systems
  • economic efficiency of organic farms
  • innovative solutions for organic farming

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 2301 KiB  
Article
Assessment of Resistance of Different Varieties of Winter Wheat to Leaf Fungal Diseases in Organic Farming
by Paweł Radzikowski, Krzysztof Jończyk, Beata Feledyn-Szewczyk and Tomasz Jóźwicki
Agriculture 2023, 13(4), 875; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13040875 - 15 Apr 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1801
Abstract
A change in agricultural policy in the European Union aims, among other things, to halve the use of pesticides and increase the share of organic farming to 25% by 2030. One of the challenges associated with this target will be the control of [...] Read more.
A change in agricultural policy in the European Union aims, among other things, to halve the use of pesticides and increase the share of organic farming to 25% by 2030. One of the challenges associated with this target will be the control of plant fungal diseases. The key methods in organic farming include the selection of less susceptible crop varieties. In order to test this method, a long-term trial of organic farming in Eastern Poland was established. In total, 41 different winter wheat varieties were grown from 2018 to 2022 and their resistance to fungal leaf diseases was monitored. Brown rust was found to be the disease causing the highest infestation towards the end of vegetation, often exceeding 80% of the flag leaf area. However, yield reductions were mainly related to the severe occurrence of leaf Septoria. Other leaf diseases such as tan spot, yellow rust, powdery mildew, and fusariosis were of little importance and only occurred at low infestations of Septoria and brown rust. The course of the weather was found to have a significant effect on disease incidence. Drought occurring in May and June significantly increased the incidence of brown rust and Septoria, while prolonged rains increased tan spot and Fusarium infestation. Greater overall infestation occurred in years with high average temperatures. Ten varieties with high resistance to foliar fungal diseases were selected and can be recommended for organic farming. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Science and Plant Cultivation in Organic Farming)
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10 pages, 238 KiB  
Article
The Vigor of Seed Potatoes from Organic and Conventional Systems
by Krystyna Zarzyńska, Dominika Boguszewska-Mańkowska, Beata Feledyn-Szewczyk and Krzysztof Jończyk
Agriculture 2022, 12(11), 1764; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12111764 - 25 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1912
Abstract
In the research carried out in 2018–2020 at the Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute, the vigor of seed potatoes from two production systems—organic and conventional—was examined. The characteristics of the tubers and the plants grown from them were assessed. It was found that [...] Read more.
In the research carried out in 2018–2020 at the Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute, the vigor of seed potatoes from two production systems—organic and conventional—was examined. The characteristics of the tubers and the plants grown from them were assessed. It was found that seed potatoes from the organic system were characterized by features showing symptoms of weaker vigor, i.e., a shorter resting period, a smaller percentage of germinating eyes, a smaller mass of sprouts produced, and a shorter length of the longest sprout. The weaker vigor of seed potatoes from the organic system was reflected in the development and yield of the plants derived from them. It was expressed in weaker emergence, lower stem number, and smaller yield per plot. However, there were no differences in the yield structure. A large varietal differentiation was demonstrated for most of the studied traits. The differences in the vigor of individual cultivars were not related to the length of the growing season. The conditions prevailing in the research years had the greatest impact on the length of tuber dormancy, the percentage of germinating eyes, and the percentage of plant emergence. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Science and Plant Cultivation in Organic Farming)
16 pages, 330 KiB  
Article
Productivity and Quality of Chamomile (Chamomilla recutita (L.) Rausch.) Grown in an Organic System Depending on Foliar Biopreparations and Row Spacing
by Cezary A. Kwiatkowski, Elżbieta Harasim, Beata Feledyn-Szewczyk, Jarosław Stalenga, Marta Jańczak-Pieniążek, Jan Buczek and Agnieszka Nnolim
Agriculture 2022, 12(10), 1534; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12101534 - 23 Sep 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1971
Abstract
The study involved a field experiment conducted on two cultivars of chamomile (‘Złoty Łan’ and ‘Mastar’) in the climatic and soil conditions of the central Lublin region (Poland) during the years 2016–2018. The experiment was designed to determine the effects of three foliar [...] Read more.
The study involved a field experiment conducted on two cultivars of chamomile (‘Złoty Łan’ and ‘Mastar’) in the climatic and soil conditions of the central Lublin region (Poland) during the years 2016–2018. The experiment was designed to determine the effects of three foliar biological preparations (growth stimulant Bio-algeen, fertilizer Herbagreen Basic, and Effective Microorganisms applied as EM Farming spray), which were applied once or twice, on the yield and quality of herbal raw material of chamomile grown under organic conditions. Chamomile was grown at different row spacings (40 cm and 30 cm). The biopreparations (in particular Herbagreen Basic) had a positive effect on chamomile yield (about 10–11% in comparison with control treatment) and yield attributing characters (plant height, number of branches, and inflorescences per plant) as well as on the quality parameters. The EM Farming had a minimal influence on the quantity characteristics studied, but it beneficially affected essential oil and chlorophyll content. The biopreparations had a more favorable effect when they were applied twice. The wider row spacing of chamomile (40 cm) promoted higher yields (about 18%) compared to 30 cm. The narrower spacing (30 cm), however, contributed to better quality characteristics of herbal raw material. The study confirmed much higher productivity and quality of the cultivar ‘Złoty Łan’ compared to cv. ‘Mastar’ (about 15%). Significant interactions of experimental factors concerned mainly the formation of the essential oil content in herbal raw material (the most advantageous was the ‘Złoty Łan’ cultivar sown at a row spacing of 30 cm with the use of Herbagreen Basic biopreparation twice). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Science and Plant Cultivation in Organic Farming)
13 pages, 287 KiB  
Article
The Antioxidant Potential of Grains in Selected Cereals Grown in an Organic and Conventional System
by Cezary A. Kwiatkowski, Elżbieta Harasim, Beata Feledyn-Szewczyk and Jolanta Joniec
Agriculture 2022, 12(9), 1485; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12091485 - 16 Sep 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2192
Abstract
The paper presents the effect of conventional (use of NPK mineral fertilizers and pesticides) and organic (no use of agrochemicals) farming systems on selected parameters of antioxidant properties of winter wheat, spring barley and oat grain. The research was carried out during the [...] Read more.
The paper presents the effect of conventional (use of NPK mineral fertilizers and pesticides) and organic (no use of agrochemicals) farming systems on selected parameters of antioxidant properties of winter wheat, spring barley and oat grain. The research was carried out during the period 2017–2019 at the Czesławice Experimental Farm (central Lublin region, Poland) on loess soil (second quality class). The aim of the research was to evaluate the functional (antioxidant) properties of winter wheat, spring barley and oat grain in whole grain and its milling fractions (dehulled grain, flour and bran). The reduction potential (Fe+3 → Fe+2 ), the ability to eliminate the free DPPH• radical and the total antioxidant potential in the β-carotene/linoleic acid system were determined. Polyphenol content was also determined using Folin–Ciocalteau reagent. The organic system did not significantly increase the antioxidant properties of cereal grains compared to the conventional system. Under organic farming conditions, oat grain was characterised only by the most favourable antioxidant properties. A highly statistically significant correlation was found between total polyphenol content and DPPH• free radical quenching capacity, especially for oat and barley in the organic system. The closest correlations were for the fractions of bran and whole grain. Dehulling of grain, with the exception of oat grain, irrespective of the farming system, resulted in a significant deterioration of the antioxidant potential of grain extracts. In summary, the study showed that the bran obtained from oat grown under an organic system had the strongest antioxidant activity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Science and Plant Cultivation in Organic Farming)
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