Is the productivity of organic farms restricted by the supply of available nitrogen?

P.M.*, Berry; Sylvester‐Bradley, R.; Philipps, Lois; Hatch, D.J.; Cuttle, S. P.; Rayns, Francis; Gosling, Peter

doi:10.1079/sum2002129

Cited by 248 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The results confirmed the relevance of N as an important yield-limiting factor in organic farming systems (Torstensson 1998;Berry et al 2002;Möller et al 2006). Evidence that availability of N restricted productivity can be inferred from the low N concentrations of cereal grains, and by the significant improvement of yields and N concentration of crops by introducing external substrates as done in DS ?…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…FER (Tables 7-9). Berry et al (2002) reported that the concentration of grain N, which coincides with the lowest N supply giving the maximum yield, was stable at about 2.20%. In the present trials the measured grain N concentrations of winter wheat were much lower than 2.20% in all the manure systems based on the exclusive use of solid or liquid farmyard manures or effluents (Table 8), indicating the limitation of winter wheat growth by N availability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Nitrogen is commonly considered to be the key factor limiting crop growth in organic farming (Berensten et al 1998;Torstensson 1998;Berry et al 2002;Thorup-Kristensen et al 2003;Möller et al 2006). The supply of N from organic manures is difficult to synchronise with crop N demand (Pang and Letey 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of different manuring systems with and without biogas digestion on nitrogen cycle and crop yield in mixed organic dairy farming systems

Möller

Stinner

Deuker

et al. 2008

Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst

174

134

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Field trials were carried out between 2002 and 2005 to investigate the effects of biogas digestion in a mixed organic dairy farming system with arable land and grassland on nutrient cycling, nitrogen (N) uptake and crop yields within a cropping system comprising a whole crop rotation. Five treatments were carried out: (i) solid farmyard manure, (ii) undigested liquid slurry, (iii) digested liquid slurry, (iv) digestion of liquid slurry and field residues such as crop residues and cover crops, and (v) similar to iv, but with additional N inputs at the equivalent of 40 kg N ha -1 farmland through digestion of purchased substrates. The term ''manure'' is used in the present study to mean all kind of aboveground organic residues left on the field (''immobile manures'', such as crop residues and green manures incorporated directly into the soil) or added as stable wastes or effluents of biogas digestion (''mobile manures''). The total aboveground biomass growth and the overall aboveground N uptake of non-legume maincrops were higher in the liquid slurry manure treatment than in the solid farmyard manure system (?5% and ?9%, respectively). The digestion of the liquid slurry increased N uptake and crop yields only after soil incorporation of the slurry shortly after field spreading. The additional collection and digestion of field residues such as cover crops and crop residues, combined with a reallocation of the effluents, strongly increased the amounts of ''mobile'' manure, allowing a more focussed allocation of the available N. This led to an increase in the aboveground N uptake (?12%) and biomass yield (?4%) of the five non-legume crops, due to a better adapted allocation of nutrients in space and time. Results obtained with spring wheat showed that removal of cover crops in autumn, and their digestion, combined with subsequent use as manure in spring resulted in a better synchronisation of the crop N demand and the soil N availability, in comparison with a strategy where the biomass was left on the field as green (immobile) manure. The inclusion of external substrates led to a further increase of 8% in N uptake, but not to a significant increase in aboveground dry matter yields.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

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Effects of different manuring systems with and without biogas digestion on nitrogen cycle and crop yield in mixed organic dairy farming systems

Möller

Stinner

Deuker

et al. 2008

Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst

174

134

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“…Composting of manures is suggested in organic farming for human health (Berry et al 2002) because of the decrease in phytotoxic substances (Gil, Carballo, and Calvo 2008). Similarly, compost is more intense in macronutrients (Warren et al 2006) and micronutrients (Shah and Anwar 2003), narrow in carbon/N ratio (Zia et al 2003), and free from adverse characteristics (Hara, Ishikawa, and Furuichi 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Compost and Nitrogen Management Influence Productivity of Spring Maize (Zea maysL.) under Deep and Conventional Tillage Systems in Semi-arid Regions

Amanullah

Khan

Jan

et al. 2015

Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis

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On-farm research was conducted to investigate the effects of nitrogen (N) and compost (C) on yield and yield components of spring maize (Zea mays L.) under conventional and deep tillage system (T) at the research farm of the University of Agriculture, Peshawar, Pakistan, during spring 2013. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with split-plot arrangement, using three replications. Three compost levels (0, 1, and 2 t ha −1 ) and two tillage systems (conventional and deep tillage) were allotted to the main plot, whereas N levels (60, 90, 120, and 150 kg N ha −1 ) were allotted to subplots in the form of urea. Nitrogen and compost levels had significantly affected all the parameters. Plots treated with 150 kg N ha −1 increased ear length (31 cm), grains ear −1 (413), thousand-grain weight (240.2 g), grain yield (3097 kg ha −1 ), straw yield (9294 kg ha −1 ), harvest index (24.7 percent), and shelling percentage (81.7 percent). Compost applied at 2 t ha −1 increased ear length (32 cm), grains ear −1 (430), thousandgrain weight (242.3 g), grain yield (2974 kg ha −1 ), straw yield (8984 kg ha −1 ), harvest index (24.6 percent), and shelling percentage (83.2 percent). Tillage system had significant effect on all parameters except ear length and harvest index. Deep tillage system produced more grains ear −1 (365), thousand-grain weight (233.3 g), grain yield (2630 kg ha −1 ), straw yield (8549 kg ha −1 ), and shelling percentage (79.6 percent). It was concluded from the results that application of 120 kg N ha −1 + 2 C t ha −1 under a deep tillage system could improve spring maize yield and yield-contributing traits under semi-arid conditions.

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“…In organic farming, N is often a scarce and valuable resource (Berry et al 2002;Doltra et al 2011), which is likely to be the case in southeastern Norway. Subsidy policy has led to a separation of livestock and arable productions, resulting in a predominance of stockless arable farming in the southeast.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrogen dynamics in stockless organic clover–grass and cereal rotations

Borgen

Lunde²,

Bakken

et al. 2012

Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst

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We applied a mechanistic ecosystem model to investigate the production and environmental performances of (1) current agricultural practice on two fields of a stockless organic cereal farm in southeast Norway and (2) alternative cereal-ley rotations and plowing time scenarios. Scenarios were simulated using historic weather data and a climate change scenario. Measured and simulated soil mineral N concentrations were generally low (1-4 g N m -2 ) and in good agreement. Simulated nitrate leaching was similar for the two fields, except when an extended period of black fallow weeding was practiced on one of them. Scenario simulations indicated that continuous cereal cropping undersown with a clover-grass winter cover crop performed best when evaluated by wholerotation grain yield, the N yield/input-, and N loss/ yield-ratios, and greenhouse gas emissions. However, the rotation had the largest soil organic matter losses. The N use and loss efficiency indicators were especially poor when ley years occurred consecutively and under fall plowing. Total greenhouse gas emissions were, however, smaller for the fall-plowed scenarios. In conclusion, our results indicated a modest potential for improving stockless systems by management changes in plowing time or crop rotation, which was hardly different in the climate change scenarios, although nitrate leaching increased substantially in the winter. Alternative strategies seem necessary to substantially improve the N-use efficiency in stockless organic grain production systems, e.g., biogas production from green manure and subsequent recycling of the digestate. Abandoning the stockless system and reintegrating livestock should also be considered.

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Is the productivity of organic farms restricted by the supply of available nitrogen?

Cited by 248 publications

References 25 publications

Effects of different manuring systems with and without biogas digestion on nitrogen cycle and crop yield in mixed organic dairy farming systems

Effects of different manuring systems with and without biogas digestion on nitrogen cycle and crop yield in mixed organic dairy farming systems

Compost and Nitrogen Management Influence Productivity of Spring Maize (Zea maysL.) under Deep and Conventional Tillage Systems in Semi-arid Regions

Nitrogen dynamics in stockless organic clover–grass and cereal rotations

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