Performances of Durum Wheat Varieties Under Conventional and No-Chemical Input Management Systems in a Semiarid Mediterranean Environment

Abstract

Chemical input reduction in agricultural systems is strongly demanded with the aim to improve the quality and the safety of food/feed products in an environmental sustainable perspective. Durum wheat is the most important food crop widely grown across the Mediterranean basin. However, the choice of tailored-genotypes can represent a key strategy in resource limiting conditions. The present study investigated the performance of fourteen commercial durum wheat varieties, in terms of morphologic, productive and quality traits under two cropping systems, conventional (CH) and no-chemical input (NC), for two growing seasons. The NC cropping system affected plant phenology, grain yield, and its components (i.e., ears m−2 and test weight). However, the negative influence exerted by the NC depended by the growing season (significant interaction between growing season and cropping system), which in turn affected the production behavior of genotypes (significant interaction between growing season and genotype). The additive main effect and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) analysis showed that genotype (G) effect explained the 4.3% of the total variability, the environment (E) the 71.7% and the G × E interaction the 9.4%. The AMMI stability value (ASV) indicated that Meridiano, Claudio, Saragolla, and Normanno were the most stable genotypes among environments (combination of years and management systems). An integrated environmental assessment, including a soil nitrogen balance, can help to provide a more holistic approach to the sustainability of the no-chemical Mediterranean cropping systems based on cereal-legume rotation.

Agronomic Comparisons of Heirloom and Modern Processing Tomato Genotypes Cultivated in Organic and Conventional Farming Systems

“…In organic tomato production, the identification of elite genotypes suitable for a sustainable cultivation could represent a crucial solution to achieve eligible yield with respect to conventional production systems [3,14].…”

“…In fact, as reported by Le Campion et al [13], breeders did not take enough efforts in developing genotypes suitable to be cultivated in the OFS in the last few years. Even though this aspect could represent a key solution to achieve a higher yield and to reduce the OFS vs. CFS yield gap [14], no available reports are present in the literature. According to Lammerts van Bueren et al [15], organic farmers often use genotypes bred for conventional systems.…”

“…The exploitation of heirloom and modern genotypes and their comparison could help reach these objectives. Interestingly, Anastasi et al [14] reported that favorable alleles for traits of interest in the OFS could be found in heirloom genotypes. In a previous report, Ronga et al [3] assessed six modern genotypes of processing tomato commonly cultivated in Southern Italy and attributed the yield reduction in a lower leaf area that led to a reduction of total biomass dry weight.…”

Genetic and Morpho-Agronomic Characterization of Sicilian Tetraploid Wheat Germplasm

“…Furthermore, a renewed focus on wheat landraces could relieve some negative consequences of intensive agriculture and conventional breeding, such as the irrational and/or excessive use of auxiliary input, excessive homogeneity of cropping systems, loss of genetic diversity [ 6 ], and stagnation of yields in marginal cereal areas [ 7 ]. This is also functional for the definition of a plant ideotype suitable for low-input farming systems, mainly smallholder and organic farms [ 8 ]. In Italy, tetraploid wheats, especially durum wheat, have a long tradition of growing and breeding, and accessions collected in Southern Italy, which include rivet germplasm, now preserved ex situ, are a valuable genetic resource.…”

Tillage Versus No-Tillage. Soil Properties and Hydrology in an Organic Persimmon Farm in Eastern Iberian Peninsula

“…However, organic farming, which is becoming increasingly popular, dictates that suppression rather than the elimination of weed cover. Weed control is typically accomplished with mechanical means, and this allows a weed cover and mulch that can improve soil properties such as organic matter, soil aggregation and biota [43][44][45]. However, there is little information about the efficiency of No-Tillage and weed cover in the reduction of the soil and water losses [46,47].…”