A Field Pea Ideotype for Organic Systems of Northern Italy

Abstract

Field pea can provide protein-rich feed and improve the sustainability of organic systems, but its use is limited because of its poor competitiveness against weeds. This study assessed the value of an index of variety suitability for organic systems of northern Italy. The index was computed as the average variety rank for the following traits evaluated under conventional, weed-free conditions across two autumn sowings (early; late): (i) grain yield; (ii) straw yield; (iii) plant height at the onset of flowering; (iv) tolerance to lodging; (v) tolerance to ascochyta blight; (vi) winter survival; and (vii) earliness of maturity. Attika, which ranked first for index value (seventh for grain yield) across sowings among 50 recent European and Australian varieties, was compared with Metaxa (a recent variety marketed in EU for organic farming, eleventh for index value) for grain yield and competitiveness against weeds in a farmer-managed organic system across two years. Sowing time (autumn or late-winter) was also considered, adopting a factorial design with three replicates. Compared with late-winter sowing, autumn sowing led to higher yields (+56%), greater crop biomass and better ability to control weeds from late vegetative stages onwards. Attika out yielded Metaxa across (+17%) and within sowing times and tended to have greater competitive ability (28% lower weed biomass in April) and crop biomass. The optimal technique (Attika + autumn sowing) tested under organic and conventional farming at the same site in one year could reduce substantially the yield disadvantage of organic cropping. The index, possibly region-specific in its definition, may be used for recommendation or selection of material adapted to organic or low-input systems.