Conventional Farming Systems Research Articles

Pelatihan dan penerapan agrosilvo konservasi mendukung pertanian organik berkelanjutan di Desa Aunupe Kabupaten Konawe Selatan Provinsi Sulawesi Tenggara [Training and application of agrosilvo conservation supports sustainable organic farming in Aunupe Village, South Konawe Regency, Southeast Sulawesi

The agricultural practices carried out by the people of Aunupe Village have been going on for several generations, but the agricultural system used is not optimal because they still use a conventional farming system, namely monoculture. Apart from that, the agricultural input used is chemical fertilizer which of course does not meet the organic aspect and is not sustainable, because high chemical input and long use can damage the texture and nutrients of the soil. For this reason, community empowerment through training in the application of organic farming techniques in the form of agrosilvo conservation in an agroforestry pattern needs to be encouraged so that local communities who use land in forest areas not only obtain agricultural products but can also benefit from environmental and economic services so that they can be sustainable. Thus, the appropriate alternative that can be implemented is to utilize a non-timber farming system combined with maintaining wood trees, known as an agroforestry system, namely agrosilvo conservation. This service aims to provide knowledge and examples to the farming community regarding how to cultivate agriculture using a combination of non-timber plants and woody plants, namely with the conservation agrosilvo system. The method used is descriptive qualitative. The results of the PKMI program activities are the socialization of agro-silvoconservation activities and increased knowledge and capacity of the community in carrying out farming using the agrosilvo-conservation method.

Long-term organic farming impact on soil nutrient status and grain yield at the foothill of Himalayas

This study aimed to document the effects of the long-term organic farming (OF) on soil quality, agronomical parameters, crop productivity, and food grain yield compared to the conventional farming (CF) system. The crop used in this study is chickpea (Cicer arietinum), and the field was located at Pantnagar, India, in the foothills of Himalayas. The organic farming approach involved utilizing a blend of farmyard manure and vermicompost, combined with a biopesticide comprising neem oil and cow urine. Chickpea grain micronutrient analysis was done via atomic absorption spectrophotometry. It was found that the physicochemical properties of soil in the organic plot were improved compared to the conventional counterpart. At the post-harvesting stage, the organically managed field had higher soil organic carbon than the conventional field (OF-0.93± 0.05%, CF-0.75 ± 0.12%), higher available nitrogen (OF-317 ± 11 kg/ha, CF-240 ± 22 kg/ha), and more available phosphorus (OF-37.4 ± 1.3 kg/ha, CF-25.2 ± 2.5 kg/ha). The agronomical parameters of the chickpea crop were better under organic cultivation, with a significantly high nodule number, nodule dry weight, and grains per pod. Hence, the grain yield of the crop was better under organic cultivation, with the yield of 1,048 kg ha−1, whereas it was 896.5 kg ha−1 for conventional cultivation. The Fe and Zn contents of organically produced chickpea grains were almost double of their conventional counterpart. Therefore, organic cultivation led to better soil fertility, chickpea grain yield, and nutrient status of the crop. It will be beneficial for the nutritious and sustainable production of chickpeas in Himalayan regions.

Effect of Farming System Type on Broilers’ Antioxidant Status, Performance, and Carcass Traits: An Industrial-Scale Production Study

The global demand for improvement in the welfare conditions of broilers has generated the necessity to implement alternative rearing systems as well as less intensive growth hybrids. The majority of the data on alternative farming methods, notwithstanding their abundance, are the result of small-scale experiments. The present extended field study examined the effect of two different industrial farming systems on broilers’ antioxidant status, performance, and meat quality, including 13 replicates of each industrial breeding system (intensive conventional; free range) and two different chicken genotypes (fast growth; slow growth). The duration of the study was 51 months, and the total number of broilers was 260.000 for the conventional and 78.000 for the free-range system. The results showed that fast-growth chicks demonstrated a more satisfactory performance (in terms of body weight gain (BWG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) with p ≤ 0.001), reduced serum lipid oxidation (p ≤ 0.05), and more tender meat. Contrarily, slow-growth chickens presented significantly higher total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in serum and thigh muscle (p ≤ 0.001), significantly lower (p ≤ 0.05) thigh muscle oxidation (in terms of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, TBARS), increased protein and decreased fat content (p ≤ 0.05), and better smell, taste, color, and texture. In conclusion, the free-range farming system for slow-growth chickens may result in an overall higher nutritional value, sensory score, and serum and thigh muscle antioxidant profile than the conventional farming system for fast-growth broilers. However, fast-growth broilers exhibit better performance and might undergo less stress.

Relationship between chlorophyll and yield of two rice varieties in different farming systems

Abstract Rice is the staple food of Indonesian society which continues to increase in demand due to population growth. Currently, there are 3 agricultural systems in rice cultivation, namely organic, semi-organic, and conventional. The three systems provide changes in soil physical, chemical, and biological properties, but there is not much information related to chlorophyll levels in plants. This study aims to assess chlorophyll levels and their relationship with the yield of two rice varieties in various farming systems, especially the IR64 and Mentik Wangi varieties. This research is a field survey study followed by laboratory analysis. Determination of sampling locations by purposive sampling on organic, semi-organic, and conventional rice fields with two varieties of rice. Observation parameters include chlorophyll content, harvest dry grain weight, and milled dry grain weight. The results showed that the levels of chlorophyll A in IR64 and Chlorophyll B in IR 64 and Mentik Wangi varieties with organic farming systems were higher than in semi-organic and conventional farming systems. There was a positive correlation between chlorophyll levels and the yield of two rice varieties in different farming systems.

Organic farming practices increase weed density and diversity over conventional practices: A meta-analysis

Population growth and climate change challenge our food and farming systems and provide arguments for an increased intensification of agriculture. Organic farming has been seen as a promising option due to its eco-friendly approaches during production. However, weeds are regarded as the major hindrance to effective crop production which varies depending on the type of crop and spacing. Their presence leads to reduced yield, increase in harvest cost and lower the qualities of some produce. Thus, weed management is a key priority for successful crop production. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis from published studies to quantify possible differences on weed density, diversity and evenness in organic and conventional farming systems and best intervention for weed management in organic farming system. Data included were obtained from 32 studies where 31 studies with 410 observations were obtained for weed density, 15 studies with 168 observations for diversity, and 5 studies with 104 observations for evenness. Standard deviation of mean was obtained from the studies, log transformed using natural logarithms and the effect size pooled using standardized mean difference (SMD). Publication bias was determined through funnel plot. Results showed that organic farming has significant higher weed density (P < 0.01), diversity (P = 0.01), and evenness (P < 0.05) compared to conventional farming. Despite so, diversified crop rotation has been proved to reduce weed density in organic farming by up to 49 % while maize-bean intercropping decrease densities of Amaranthus ssp, Cyperus ssp and Cammelina ssp compared with monocropping. Use of mulch after one hand weeding was found to control up to 98 % of weeds and use of cover crop between 24 % and 85 % depending on the type of the cover crop. The study results show that organic farming encourages high weed density, diversity and evenness but use of the integrated approaches can help to maintain weed density at a manageable level.

Genetic variation in Zea mays influences microbial nitrification and denitrification in conventional agroecosystems

Abstract Background and Aims Nitrogenous fertilizers provide a short-lived benefit to crops in agroecosystems, but stimulate nitrification and denitrification, processes that result in nitrate pollution, N2O production, and reduced soil fertility. Recent advances in plant microbiome science suggest that genetic variation in plants can modulate the composition and activity of rhizosphere N-cycling microorganisms. Here we attempted to determine whether genetic variation exists in Zea mays for the ability to influence the rhizosphere nitrifier and denitrifier microbiome under “real-world” conventional agricultural conditions. Methods To capture an extensive amount of genetic diversity within maize we grew and sampled the rhizosphere microbiome of a diversity panel of germplasm that included ex-PVP inbreds (Z. mays ssp. mays), ex-PVP hybrids (Z. mays ssp. mays), and teosinte (Z. mays ssp. mexicana and Z. mays ssp. parviglumis). From these samples, we characterized the microbiome, a suite of microbial genes involved in nitrification and denitrification and carried out N-cycling potential assays. Results Here we are showing that populations/genotypes of a single species can vary in their ecological interaction with denitrifers and nitrifers. Some hybrid and teosinte genotypes supported microbial communities with lower potential nitrification and potential denitrification activity in the rhizosphere, while inbred genotypes stimulated/did not inhibit these N-cycling activities. These potential differences translated to functional differences in N2O fluxes, with teosinte plots producing less GHG than maize plots. Conclusion Taken together, these results suggest that Zea genetic variation can lead to changes in N-cycling processes that result in N leaching and N2O production, and thereby are selectable targets for crop improvement. Understanding the underlying genetic variation contributing to belowground microbiome N-cycling into our conventional agricultural system could be useful for sustainability.

Insights on soil biological properties and crop yields under natural farming in western Himalaya

Sustainability of agricultural production systems is a major concern in context to present environmental conditions. Natural farming (NF) is being promoted as low-cost environment friendly option. A study was carried out to investigate the effects of NF vis-a-vis organic farming (OF) and conventional farming (CF) systems on soil microbial population, enzymatic activity, and microarthropod population under tomato crop in the mid-hill zone of Himachal Pradesh, India. The results showed that bacterial population under NF increased by 42.8% and 24% in comparison to CF and OF, respectively. Similarly, the population of soil fungi and actinomycetes under NF increased by 80.5 and 67.7% over CF, and by 47.9 and 39.6% over OF, respectively. The soil dehydrogenase activity under NF (22.5µg TPF/g soil/h) was 150.6% higher than CF and 85.2% higher than OF. Similar trend was found for phosphatase and urease activity. Soil micro arthropod population after two years of experiment was also highest under NF followed by OF and CF. The system yield was statistically at par to each other, among different farming systems. All the soil biological parameters were significantly correlated with each other (P&lt;0.001, N=42). However, the correlation of these parameters was not significant for crop yield.

Enzyme activities and microbial nutrient limitations in response to digestate and compost additions in organic matter poor soils in the Marches, Italy

Digestate and its derived composts are valuable organic fertilizers for growing vegetables and field crops. However, the impacts on enzymatic activities and microbial resources acquisition pattern are not well addressed. This study investigated ecoenzymatic activities and microbial resource acquisition patterns following these organic fertilizations for sunflower cultivation. The experiment involved applying digestate, five compost types derived from digestate, and inorganic N fertilizer (NINORG), with a control plot having no treatment. Activities of nine enzymes related to C-, N-, P-, and S- acquiring were measured at three development stages: seedling, pre-blooming, and harvest. Across all treatments, resource allocations, especially for C-, N-, and P- acquisitions, increased with plant development, correlating positively with microbial biomass, soil organic carbon, and soil nutrients contents, showing the heightened energy and nutrient sources stimulated microbial growth, prompting increased resource allocation to meet elevated demands, particularly in later crop developmental stages. Stoichiometric analysis revealed greater investments in P compared to N and C, persisting throughout the study period, with P acquisitions at least four-fold greater than N and at least seven times greater than C. This pattern was greatly impacted at harvest for all treatments except NINORG and control, with a reduced investment rate for P- acquisition compared to that of C-, N-, albeit the C: N:P ratio was still far short of the global mean 1:1:1 ratio. The strong negative correlation between available P and vector angle (p<0.001) indicated that the addition of bioavailable P through organic amendments helped reduce the gap towards the ideal ratio. In summary, on soils with imbalanced microbial nutrient and energy demands, organic amendments intensified microbial growth, resulting in heightened nutrient acquisition. However, the declining trend in P acquisition rates compared to C and N over the cropping period suggests possible adjustments with the help of organic fertilizations. Organic fertilizers, by addressing energy-nutrient imbalances, can contribute to a healthier soil ecosystem under conventional farming systems.

Biodiversity assessment of segetal flora, earthworms and terrestrial invertebrates in various agricultural production systems and crops

The functioning of societies depends on a number of goods and services provided by the natural environment. Knowledge about the benefits that humans derive from it is an important issue in the era of current environmental and climate changes. Agricultural systems and management methods (e.g. tillage, weed and pest control, fertilization, field consolidation, crop specialization and monoculture) are important for biodiversity, the presence of which is of great importance for people and the environment. The aim of this study was to assess bioenvironmental indicators such as weed flora, earthworms and terrestrial invertebrates biomass, in selected crops in an organic, integrated and conventional farming systems in southern Poland. The results showed the highest biodiversity weeds, earthworms, and terrestrial invertebrates in crops grown in the organic system in comparison to the conventional or sustainable ones, where chemical herbicides were applied. Species diversity of weeds was, on average, twice as high in the organic system (21 species) compared to the integrated and conventional systems (10–11 species). In the organic system, the highest number of weeds (average 71 pcs m–2) accompanied spring wheat and the lowest number of weeds was observed in legume-grass mixture in the first year of use (average 28 pcs m–2). The highest biomass of earthworms in the soil was estimated under winter wheat and legume-grass mixtures. This indicator was half as much in the soil under plants grown in integrated and conventional systems. Terrestrial invertebrates were also most abundant in crops grown in the organic system, indicating that this agricultural production system is conducive to maintaining high biodiversity in agroecosystems. For winter wheat cultivated in the conventional and integrated systems, the invertebrate richness index was 2.5–3 times lower than in the organic system.

Comparative Effect of Seed Coating and Biopriming of Bacillus aryabhattai Z-48 on Seedling Growth, Growth Promotion, and Suppression of Fusarium Wilt Disease of Tomato Plants.

Beneficial plant microbes can enhance the growth and quality of field crops. However, the benefits of microbes using cheap and efficient inoculation methods are still uncommon. Seed coating with biocontrol agents can reduce the amount of inocula along with having the potential for large-scale application. Hence, in this research work, the comparative potential of tomato seed coating and biopriming with Bacillus aryabhattai Z-48, harboring multiple plant-beneficial traits, to suppress Fusarium wilt disease along with its beneficial effect on seedling and plant growth promotion was analyzed. Among two bacterial strains, B. aryabhattai Z-48 was able to antagonize the mycelial growth of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici in vitro and its application as a seed coating superiorly benefited seedling traits like the germination percentage, vigor index, and seedling growth index along with a reduced germination time. The seed coating with B. aryabhattai Z-48 resulted in significant increases in the shoot length, root length, dry biomass, and total chlorophyll contents when compared with the bioprimed seeds with the same bacterial strain and non-inoculated control plants. The seed coating with B. aryabhattai Z-48 significantly reduced the disease index (>60%) compared with the pathogen control during pot trials. Additionally, the seed coating with B. aryabhattai Z-48 resulted in a significantly higher production of total phenolics, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, and phenylalanine ammonia lyase enzyme in tomato plants. The GC/MS-based non-targeted metabolic profiling indicated that the seed coating with B. aryabhattai Z-48 could cause large-scale metabolite perturbations in sugars, sugar alcohols, amino acids, and organic acids to increase the fitness of tomato plants against biotic stress. Our study indicates that a tomato seed coating with B. aryabhattai Z-48 can improve tomato growth and suppress Fusarium wilt disease effectively under conventional agricultural systems.

Integrated assessment of the impact of conventional and organic farming systems on soil biochemical indicators

Integrated assessment of the impact of conventional and organic farming systems on soil biochemical indicators

Extracting Insoluble Inorganic Phosphorus from Organic Farm Soils in Mountains: Identifying Effective Organic Acid Extractants

Phosphorus, among others, is quite a vital nutrient for the life of a plant. Because of the dominance of iron and aluminium oxides in acidic soils, they facilitate the fixation of phosphorus which results into phosphorus deficiency in large amounts. Hence, proper replenishment of the soil phosphorus (P) is very much important to cater the need of plant P requirement for better yield and development. The agricultural soils of Meghalaya (India) are by default rich in organic contents and organic P pool contributes 15-80% of the total plant P nutrition. Moreover, a different nature of nutrient pools is present in organic farming system compared to the conventional farming system. Lack of knowledge of these pools results in an imbalanced manuring plan, which hinders successful production system. The dynamic fraction of P cannot represent the correct status of phosphorus in soils under organic production systems, as the conventional soil testing protocols do not take into account the potentially available inorganic pools of phosphorus. Hence, a different extractant that can extract such potentially available P in an acidic soil under organic production system is highly required. The mineralization, solubilization and extraction (of the potentially available P pool) by using various organic acids produced through the beneficial soil microorganisms can serve this purpose. Therefore, the present research work was carried out to identify the best suitable P extractant to extract such potentially available inorganic P pool. The result of the present investigation revealed that out of 6 different extractants selected, 2% citric acid and double lactate extractants were found to be strongly correlated to the total P of the selected sites. Conventional Bray 1 extractant was taken as a check extractant. The outcome of the research is to develop a proper recommendation of fertilizer dose and an appropriate soil testing protocol for phosphorus being used in organic cultivation.

Bioactive compounds and apoptotic effects of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) in different fertilizer conditions

In this study, the qualitative traits of stigma (crocin, picrocrocin and safranal content) and the apoptotic effects of stamen and petal extracts (real-time PCR analysis for evaluating the expression of Bax, Bcl2, CAS3 and CAS6 genes) of saffron were investigated under organic and conventional conditions at the Agricultural Research Field of the University of Birjand, Iran over three years. The treatments included field age (one, two, and three-year-old farm) and also organic and conventional cultivations with different levels (low, moderate, and high levels) of cow manure and chemical fertilizers, respectively. The results indicated that the crocin, picrocrocin and safranal contents were considerably increased using organic and chemical fertilizers compared to the control. The highest crocin, picrocrocin and safranal contents were obtained under applying a high level of manure in organic farming system (OFS-H), that safranal content in this level have no significant difference with applying a moderate level of manure in organic farming system (OFS-M), and applying a high level of chemical fertilizers in conventional farming system (CFS-H). Among the field ages, the three-year-old farm resulted in the highest qualitative yield of saffron compared to the one-year-old farm and the two-year-old farm. The real-time PCR analysis also showed that petal and stamen extracts led to up-regulation of Bax, CAS3 and CAS6 (Pro-apoptotic genes) and down-regulation of Bcl2 (Anti-apoptotic gene) in both cultivation ways. The highest and the lowest bioactive compounds and the expression of Pro-apoptotic genes belonged to stamen extract at organic farming system and petal extract at conventional farming system, respectively. The findings of this study could significantly contribute to identification of the best crop management strategy for increasing the qualitative and medicinal properties of Saffron.

A Comparative Study of Soil Fertility in Organic, Semi-Organic, and Conventional Rice Field Farming Systems (Case Study: Nguntoronadi District, Wonogiri, Indonesia)

The soil fertility of rice fields is closely related to rice crop production. The research aims to identify soil fertility under different rice field farming systems, find the key factor of soil fertility, and recommend strategies to improve soil fertility based on the key factor. The research was conducted in Nguntoronadi District, Indonesia, on conventional, semi-organic, and organic rice fields. The research was an exploratory descriptive survey through a field survey approach and soil chemistry and physics analysis. Soil sampling was conducted in 12 Land Map Units (LMUs) with three replicates using purposive sampling methods. Observation indicators include soil pH, organic C, total N, C/N ratio, available P, available K, exchangeable Ca, exchangeable Mg, Cation Exchangeable Capacity (CEC), Base Saturation (BS), Aluminum saturation, soil texture, and worm population density representing soil chemical, physical, and biological properties. Soil fertility is determined using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and scoring based on the category. The research results show that the level of soil fertility under various rice field farming systems was included in the moderate with ranges of 0.53-0.70, and organic farming has the highest soil fertility. The key factors of soil fertility include pH, organic C, available P, available K, Ca-dd, CEC, and Aluminum saturation. The appropriate management direction is the addition of organic fertilizer in the planting period.

Economic feasibility study of organic and conventional fish farming systems of Indian major carps

Organic aquaculture is a new approach in the modern farming system. As the capital investment is higher for setting up the organic aquaculture, it is essential to conduct an economic feasibility study with compare the conventional farming system. In the current study, economic feasibility of culturing Indian major carps (IMC) using conventional culture system and organic culture system (OCS) were evaluated. IMC was cultured for three consecutive years from 2017 to 2019 in experimental ponds of 0.015 hectare (ha) area each. The crude protein content of the organic and conventional feed was maintained at the same iso-nitrogenous level (32% crude protein) but the highest production to the tune of 19 tons per ha was obtained in OCS. Further, in case of OCS, apart from fish production, vermicomposting to the tune of 45,000 kg ha−1 in the first year, and 90,000 kg ha−1 from second year onward is achievable by installing a vermicomposting unit of 200 tons annual capacity. Economic analysis of the culture systems assuming a project period of 10 years showed that the highest net present value (NPV) of 1.06 million USD, a payback period of one year and nine months and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 51% are achievable per ha of fish culture pond for OCS. Sensitivity analysis of various costs performed for OCS revealed that profitability of the organic fish farming investment is most sensitive to the total fish production and sale price of the organic fishes. In terms of production of fish and economics of organic culture system is proved to be the best available technique.

Sustainable food metabolome: Discrimination of agroecological, organic, and conventional pinto beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) through the volatile organic compounds profile

Recently, the United Nations indicated the conventional agricultural system is unsustainable and could even threaten food security in the coming decades. Different sectors of society are employing efforts to promote sustainable agriculture, and the improvement of consumers awareness about this new class of food is a reality. Consequently, the evaluation of sustainable food composition has recently emerged. In the present study, a foodomics strategy was applied to discriminate pinto beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cultivated by conventional, organic, and permaculture agriculture systems. For that purpose, headspace solid phase microextraction combined with gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS) and chemometrics were applied to analyze 36 samples. Permaculture beans presented the highest number of statistically significant annotated VOCs in comparison to the other cultivars. The main differential VOC class obtained was oxygenated terpenoids, which has potential to add value to the permaculture cultivated samples. Conventional and organic beans presented as major VOC classes aromatic compounds and alcohols, respectively.

Comparative evaluation of strawberry cultivars under Subhash Palekar natural farming and conventional farming regimes in Doaba region of Punjab conditions

Natural farming, a recent agricultural innovation emphasizing minimal inputs, helps boost crop production. While strawberries are conventionally cultivated, their natural farming potential remains untapped. In this regard, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the influence of Subhash Palekar natural farming (SPNF) and conventional farming (CF) systems on the vegetative growth and yield performances of five different strawberry cultivars viz. Capri, Winter Star, Winter Dawn, Camarosa, and Nabila under field trials in the Doaba region of Punjab conditions. The experiment included ten treatments and was laid out in the factorial randomized block design employing five distinct strawberry cultivars (Capri, Winter Star, Winter Dawn, Camarosa, and Nabila) as factor I, and farming techniques - SPNF and CF - as factor II. The results confirmed the supremacy of CF for vegetative growth and SPNF system for yield and yield attributing characters. Under the CF, cultivar Capri greatly outgrew other cultivars in terms of increased plant height (5.60 and 12.10 cm) and plant spread (14.87 and 23.63 cm EW; 13.00 and 24.59 cm NS) at 45 and 90 DAP, respectively. Contrarily, under the same farming method, the cultivar Camarosa displayed larger numbers of trifoliate leaves (4.80 and 14.50 at 45 and 90 DAP, respectively), chlorophyll index (56.90 SPAD), leaf area (45.84 cm2), and stem girth (2.45 cm). However, cultivar Capri produced the maximum fruits per plant (26.14) and yield per plant (328.53 g), while cultivar Camarosa resulted in the maximum average berry weight (16.53 g) and the greater yield efficiency (0.77 kg/cm2) under the SPNF technique.

Dampak Pertanian Organik dan Konvenional pada Biodiversitas dan Sifat Kimia Tanah pada Budi Daya Tanaman Padi Sawah

The phenomenon of leveling off and environmental degradation that occurs as a negative impact of the excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides encourages the development of organic farming systems that can produce crop yields that are not contaminated and free from synthetic chemicals and maintain a healthier environment. The research was conducted from October to December 2022 by taking soil samples from farmers' paddy fields in Tegal Regency using an organic (Cawitali Village) and conventional or non-organic (Jembayat Village) farming system. Composite soil samples were taken from a soil depth of 0 to 20 cm from the soil surface using a soil drill on lowland rice fields with organic farming systems and conventional farming after harvest. The analysis of the chemical properties of the soil carried out was C-organic (Walkley and Black), N-total (Kjeldahl), CEC and soil bases (exch-Ca, exch-Mg, exch-K, and exch-Na), total P (25% HCl) and available P (Bray I), while the observed soil biological properties were the total number of microbial and fungal populations. The results showed that organic paddy soil's chemical and biological properties were relatively higher than conventional paddy soil's. Total fungi in organic lowland soils were lower than in conventional paddy fields. The nutrient status of C-organic and N-total in organic rice fields tended to increase compared to conventional rice fields, namely from very low to low and low to moderate, respectively. In contrast, the other nutrient statuses observed tended to remain relatively unchanged. Generally, soil biological and chemical properties were better in organic farming than in conventional farming systems. Keywords: leveling off, organic farming, conventional farming, nutrient status

Farm gate profitability of organic and conventional farming systems in the tropics

ABSTRACT Systematic studies on the economic competitiveness of organic farming systems compared to conventional farming systems are particularly lacking in tropical environments. In tropical regions, the evaluation of organic production systems typically concentrates on main cash crops earmarked for export markets. Consequently, crops grown in rotation or in association with these main crops have been largely overlooked, with their contribution to farm profitability is often considered negligible due to perceived challenges in securing premium organic prices. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted an analysis of twelve years of economic data from four long-term farming system comparison trials in tropical regions. Our objective was to delve into the economic competitiveness of both organic and conventional production systems at the system level, considering not only the main cash crops but also the associated and rotational crops. The outcomes of our analysis revealed that in three out of four systems, the gross margins of organic and conventional systems were comparable. In the fourth system, the gross margins of the organic system were 13.13% lower, equivalent to $169.8 per hectare per year compared to the conventional system. Furthermore, the contribution of crops grown in rotation with these main crops remains similar even when premium prices are not obtained. In instances where premium prices for non-cash crops are secured, their profitability can even surpass that of cash crops. Additionally, in the case of agroforestry, companion plantings serve as valuable additions for both dietary and income diversity. These findings suggest that the profitability of an agricultural system is not solely dependent on whether it is organic or conventional but is instead influenced by various system components. The emphasis should shift from a singular focus on main cash crops to a more comprehensive understanding that considers the entire spectrum of crops within a farming system.

Comparative Analysis of Organic and Conventional Tomato cultivation in North-Western Himalayas

The present study was carried out in Sirmour district of Himachal Pradesh. Primary data have been collected through survey method for the agricultural year 2018-19. Using the purposive sampling technique, the districts and villages were selected based on the highest area under organic farming. By using simple random sampling, a sample of 80 farmers were selected, out of which 40 were organic growers and 40 were conventional growers, who were further categorized as marginal, small and medium farms. The cost incurred was higher for the cultivation of tomato in conventional farming, whereas returns and output-input ratio was higher in organic tomato cultivation. In organic farming system, farmyard manure (44.70 per cent) constituted highest share in Cost A1 followed by plant protection (17.09 per cent), human hired labour (10.37 per cent), seed/plant (6.53 per cent), bio-fertilizers (4.72 per cent), stalking (2.33 per cent) and hired machinery labour (1.53 per cent). In conventional farming, farmyard manure (33.37 per cent) constituted highest share in total variable Cost A1 followed by plant protection (28.92 per cent), human hired labour (8.46 per cent), fertilizers (6.23 per cent) and seed/plant (6.20 per cent), stalking (2.29 per cent) and owned machinery labour (1.34 per cent). It was also found that human labour was more employed in organic farming as compared to conventional farming system. Education of farmers for scientific management of crops and provision of improved tools for efficient use of labour have also been suggested to lower production costs and make the organic vegetable cultivation more beneficial to farmers, particularly to the small and marginal farmers in the state.