Abstract
Organic farmers usually do not have the opportunity to address the actual symptoms of deficiency through the foliar application of synthetic fertilization, therefore, the main treatment is realized by green manure crop cultivation and application of organic fertilizers. The aim of this long-term experiment was to compare two different production systems with and without livestock in terms of organic farming, and a control variant with no fertilization was also included (treatment 1). The production system without animal husbandry was based on solely the application of renewable external resources (compost or digestate) (treatment 2) and the same fertilization with the addition of auxiliary substances (AS) (treatment 3). The production system with animal husbandry included utilization of fertilizers produced on the farm (fermented urine or manure) using solely farm fertilizers (treatment 4) and in addition with AS (treatment 5). Each treatment had three replications. This work describes the average yields from four experimental years and five experimental localities. Winter wheat, potatoes, winter wheat spelt and legume-cereal mix with corn were used and examined as model crops during the first four years of this long-term research. The highest average yield of winter wheat grain and potato tubers during the first two years of the experiment were obtained after the treatments 2 (7.1 t/ha grain, 33.9 t/ha tubers) and 3 (7.0 t/ha grain, 34.1 t/ha tubers). The several times higher nitrogen content in applied digestate and compost in comparison with fermented urine and manure was probably the reason for such results. On the contrary, the results obtained from the third (spelt) and fourth (LCM and corn) experimental years favored treatment 4 (5.5 t/ha grain, 4.6 cereal unit/ha) and 5 (5.4 t/ha grain, 4.7 cereal unit/ha) from the long-term point of view. After four experimental years, the presented results supported the application of farm fertilizers as a preferable option. The treatments with additional application of AS did not provide a higher yield, therefore, such an application seems unnecessary.
Highlights
The origins of organic farming date back to the first half of the 20th century, the first law describing organic farming was not published until 1985 in Austria
Our result indicates that production systems with animal husbandry, e.g., farm fertilizers, could possibly provide more nutrients to the plants in the following years after application compared to the production systems without livestock, e.g., renewable external resources
The average crop yields examined over four experimental years indicate the increase in yield of crops after organic fertilization regardless of the production system compared to the control variant without fertilization
Summary
The origins of organic farming date back to the first half of the 20th century, the first law describing organic farming was not published until 1985 in Austria. Organic farmers should minimize the use of non-renewable resources and fossil energy, while preserving biodiversity, natural ecosystems and animal welfare The decrease recorded in animal production can be explained by high acquisition costs of modern equipment suited for today’s high standard (stables, milking parlors) Another important reason is the low interest of people working with animals, or in agriculture in general (additional costs for possible robotization). Farmers are looking for another way to earn money This situation has resulted in narrow crop rotation of economic crops (wheat, barley, oilseed rape, corn) with a declining percentage of improving and fodder crops. The content of quality organic matter in our soils is decreasing, as the
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