Assessing phosphorus management among organic farming systems: a farm input, output and budget analysis in southwestern France

Nesme, Thomas; Toublant, Maxime; Mollier, Alain; Morel, Christian; Pellerin, Sylvain

doi:10.1007/s10705-012-9486-0

Cited by 23 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Originally, an objective of this work was to review data on farmgate P balances: information which would have complemented the soil test results, however, very little data on this is currently available at the farm scale. Watson et al (2002) conducted a review of published studies on farm scale nutrient budgets on organic farms reporting on results for P budgets from 71 farms in nine different temperate-zone countries; Nesme et al (2012) covered 23 farms in the Dordogne region of France. But neither of these studies are on a scale that allows a comprehensive assessment of how P balances affect soil P levels.…”

Section: Database On Soil P On Organic Farmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phosphorus availability on many organically managed farms in Europe

Cooper

Reed

Hörtenhuber³

et al. 2017

Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst

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Maintaining sufficient soil phosphorus (P) levels for non-limiting crop growth is challenging in organic systems since off-farm inputs of P are restricted. This study assessed the status of P on organic farms in Europe using soil test results for extractable P. Data was obtained from published literature, unpublished theses, and various national and regional databases of soil test values. Most of the data (15,506 observations) came from field scale soil tests, but in some cases (1272 observations) values had been averaged across a farm. Farm scale and field scale data were analysed separately and the impact of farm type (arable, dairy, grassland, horticulture, mixed, poultry, unknown) was assessed. Soil test results were assigned to P classes from very low (P class 1) to very high (P class 5). The farm scale data came primarily from Norway, Sweden and Switzerland and did not indicate deficiencies in extractable P; 93% of farms fell into class 3 or above. The majority of the field scale data came from Germany and indicated 123Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst (2018) 110:227-239 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-017-9894-2 sufficient or higher levels of P availability for arable and grassland systems on 60% of fields; the remaining fields had low or very low available P. Adaptations in organic systems may improve P uptake and utilization efficiency allowing yields to be maintained in the short-term, nevertheless there is cause for concern about the long-term P sustainability of some organic farming systems in Europe. This highlights the need to reassess allowable P inputs in organic farming systems to improve overall sustainability.

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Section: Database On Soil P On Organic Farmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phosphorus availability on many organically managed farms in Europe

Cooper

Reed

Hörtenhuber³

et al. 2017

Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst

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“…They may be of critical importance in the event that organic farming develops dramatically in the coming decades. Several authors have already pointed out that organic farms partially import nutrients from conventional farming through material exchanges (Kirchmann et al 2008, Oelofse et al 2010, Nesme et al 2012. However, to our knowledge, these inflows have not been quantified.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

To what extent does organic farming rely on nutrient inflows from conventional farming?

Nowak¹,

Nesme²,

David

et al. 2013

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Organic farming is increasingly recognized as a prototype for sustainable agriculture. Its guidelines ban the use of artificial fertilizers. However, organic farms may import nutrients from conventional farming through material exchanges. In this study, we aimed at estimating the magnitude of these flows through the quantification of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium inflows from conventional farming to organic farming. Material inflows and outflows were collected for two cropping years on 63 farms. The farms were located in three French agricultural districts distributed over a gradient of farming activity defined by both the stocking rate and the ratio of the farm area under arable crops. Our results showed that on average, inflows from conventional farming were 23%, 73% and 53% for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, respectively. These inflows were strongly determined by the farm production systems. However, for farms similar in terms of production systems, the inflows also depended on the local context, such as the proximity of organic livestock farms: the reliance of organic farming on conventional farming was lower in mixed than in specialized districts. These results highlight the necessity to quantify the contribution of nutrient inflows from conventional farming when assessing organic farming and development scenarios.

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“…The P status of long-term organically managed farms is currently becoming an issue of increasing concern (Nesme et al 2012;Kolbe 2015). Phosphorus balances for organically managed arable cropping systems indicate that often more P is removed with the products than recycled via external inputs (Watson et al 2002;Berry et al 2003;Kolbe 2015;Ohm et al 2017), leading to decreasing soil status in plant available soil P (Løes and Ogaard 1997;Kolbe 2015) which threatens the long-term sustainability of organic farming systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term soil accumulation of potentially toxic elements and selected organic pollutants through application of recycled phosphorus fertilizers for organic farming conditions

Weissengruber

Möller

Puschenreiter

et al. 2018

Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst

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The pollutant input and the risk of contamination by long-term application of recycled P fertilizers (RPFs) in European agricultural soils were estimated by a mass balance approach. Calculations based on literature data were carried out for the potentially toxic elements (PTEs) Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn and for the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) PCBs, PAHs and polychlorinated dibenzo-dioxins and -furans. The PTE accumulation estimation during 200 years of fertilizer application, equivalent to 11 kg P ha -1 year -1 , the mean P export via harvested products on European stockless organic farms, regarded soil background concentrations and proposed threshold concentrations. For PTEs, inputs were fertilizer application, atmospheric deposition and liming, output processes were leaching and crop harvest. The effect of varying site conditions was assessed by considering two precipitation excess (F) values and two soil pH values. For POPs, fertilizer application and the half-life time were considered. The PTE accumulation risk was low for most RPFs. For the analysed POPs no accumulation was found. The highest accumulation was found for all PTEs at pH 7 and F = 0.1 m year -1 , the lowest at pH 5 and F = 0.3 m year -1 . A high P concentration in fertilizers resulted in a low PTE flow per unit of P. Composts had the highest PTE accumulation risk due to lowest P contents. Struvite, meat and bone meal, digestate of catering waste, ash and biosolids would be better suited as P fertilizers. The use of fertilizers should be regulated based on their pollutant-to-nutrient ratio.

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Assessing phosphorus management among organic farming systems: a farm input, output and budget analysis in southwestern France

Cited by 23 publications

References 32 publications

Phosphorus availability on many organically managed farms in Europe

Phosphorus availability on many organically managed farms in Europe

To what extent does organic farming rely on nutrient inflows from conventional farming?

Long-term soil accumulation of potentially toxic elements and selected organic pollutants through application of recycled phosphorus fertilizers for organic farming conditions

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