Abstract
The aim of this paper was to present results from two long term field experiments comparing potato samples from conventional farming systems with samples from biodynamic farming systems. The principal component analyses (PCA), consistently exhibited differences between potato samples from the two farming systems. According to the PCA, potato samples treated with inorganic fertilizers exhibited a variation positively related to amounts of crude protein, yield, cooking or tissue discoloration and extract decomposition. Potato samples treated according to biodynamic principles, with composted cow manure, were more positively related to traits such as Quality- and EAA-indices, dry matter content, taste quality, relative proportion of pure protein and biocrystallization value. Distinctions between years, crop rotation and cultivars used were sometimes more significant than differences between manuring systems. Grown after barley the potato crop exhibited better quality traits compared to when grown after ley in both the conventional and the biodynamic farming system.
Highlights
Are there differences between produce from Organic Agriculture (OA) in comparison to the corresponding produce originating from Conventional Agriculture (CA)? Ever since the dawn of OA almost one hundred years ago, this question has attained a great deal of attention
Like other OA systems, Biodynamic Agriculture (BA) relies on nitrogen fixation by leguminoses, a crop rotation comprising more than four seasons and the use of organic, mostly composted, manure
All 29 potato harvest occasions included in the principal component analyses indicated a similar pattern: potato samples cultivated according to conventional principles exhibited a variance more related to higher amounts of crude protein, higher yield, more cooking discoloration, and faster extract decomposition
Summary
Are there differences between produce from Organic Agriculture (OA) in comparison to the corresponding produce originating from Conventional Agriculture (CA)? Ever since the dawn of OA almost one hundred years ago, this question has attained a great deal of attention. Several reviews have been published on the topic [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11] Despite these efforts, the question of the quality of food originating from OA still remains open. The question of the quality of food originating from OA still remains open One reason for this is perhaps that comparing farming systems is a complex task, and often demands several years until significant differences appear. Biodynamic Agriculture (BA) is one of the oldest OA farming systems. What makes BA different to most other OA is its spiritual approach to agriculture [17] and special biodynamic preparations used both in the manure and on the field [18,19]. Being one of the oldest, and at the same time a somewhat controversial OA system, has caused BA to be included in several studies and field trials [1,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34]
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