Ecological concepts in organic farming and their consequences for an organic crop ideotype

Abstract

Currently, organic farmers largely depend on varieties supplied by conventional plant breeders and developed for farming systems in which artificial fertilizers and agro-chemicals are widely used. The organic farming system differs fundamentally in soil fertility, weed, pest and disease management, and makes higher demands on product quality and yield stability than conventional farming. Organic farming systems aim at resilience and buffering capacity in the farmecosystem by stimulating internal self-regulation through functional agrobiodiversity in and above the soil, instead of external regulation through chemical protectants. For further optimization of organic product quality and yield stability new varieties are required that are adapted to organic farming systems. The desired variety traits include adaptation to organic soil fertility management, implying loweer) and organic inputs, a better root system and ability to interact with beneficial soil micro-organisms, ability to suppress weeds, contributing to soil, crop and seed health, good product quality, high yield level and high yield stability. In the short run, organic crop ideotypes per crop and per market segment can help to select the best varieties available among existing (conventional) ones. However, until now many of the desired traits have not received enough priority in conventional breeding programmes. Traits like adaptation to organic soil fertility management require selection under organic soil conditions for optimal results. The limited area of organic agriculture will be the bottleneck for economic interest in establishing specific breeding programmes for organic farming systems. The proposed organic crop ideotypes may benefit not only organic farming systems, but in the future also conventional systems that move away from high inputs of nutrients and chemical pesticides.

Phenotypic Changes in Different Spinach Varieties Grown and Selected under Organic Conditions

“…In the following, we will refer to organic agriculture (OA) for simplicity, but what is said of OA also applies to low-input agriculture in which limited quantities of chemical inputs are used. To achieve coherence with IFOAM principles, many organic farmers are interested in varieties that can be re-sown, that also have intrinsic genetic diversity because (i) diversity may buffer the variability of cultivation conditions [3], (ii) genetic diversity enables the farmer to select within the variety to adapt it to the specific requirements of its farm (specific markets for example) and (iii) such varieties allow farmers to achieve seed self-sufficiency, especially for allogamous species. Figure 1 illustrates the strategies used to optimize organic and conventional systems: the first one is based mainly on the choice of plants and the other is mainly based on the proper use of inputs.…”

The role of molecular markers and marker assisted selection in breeding for organic agriculture

“…The low-input management of OA results in a larger influence of varying environmental conditions (in time and geographically) on crop performance. To cope with varying environmental conditions, adaptive and robust varieties are required (Lammerts van Bueren et al 2002, Wolfe et al 2008. Specific for organic, low-input farming methods is the need for an adapted plant architecture above and below ground resulting in e.g.…”

Nutritional Quality of Triticale (×Triticosecale Wittm.) Grown under Different Cropping Systems

“…fertilisers and pesticides) and/or tillage, while increasing crop diversity and intensity (Benaragama, 2016). The core of sustainable organic production is systemic prevention of weeds, pests, and diseases, combined with nutrient selfsufficiency (Lammerts van Bueren et al, 2002).…”