Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 5.1
Description of the Study Sites in the DOK (Biodynamic, Organic, and Conventional
Farming Systems) Trial in Therwil, Switzerland
Biodynamic
Bioorganic
Conventional
Mineral
(a) Farming system
Abbreviation
BIODYN
BIOORG
CONFYM
CONMIN
Organic fertilizer
Composted FYM
Rotted FYM
Stacked FYM
—
Mineral fertilizer
—
—
NPK
NPK
Weed control
Mechanical
Mechanical and
herbicides
Disease control
Indirect methods
Chemical
(thresholds)
Pest control
Plant extracts,
biocontrol
Chemical
(thresholds)
Special treatments
Biodynamic
preparation
—
Plant growth
regulators
(b) Soil properties
Soil pH
5.8
5.4
5.2
4.5
Soil water content
0.24
0.24
0.25
0.24
C
org
(% dw soil)
1.6
1.4
1.3
1.2
N
tot
(% dw soil)
0.19
0.17
0.16
0.15
(c) Ecosystem functions
N mineralization
(mg kg
−1
wk
−1
)
4.8
4.9
5.4
3.7
Grain yield (dt ha
−1
)
42
43
55
54
Grain protein content
(N g kg
−1
dw)
23
24
28
28
(d) Nutrients (kg ha
−1
y
−1
)
C
organic
1,818
2,272
2,272
0
N
total
99
102
157
122
N
mineral
31
35
101
122
P
23
27
41
40
K
165
157
258
250
Note:
(a) Farming system, (b) measured soil properties, (c) estimated ecosystem functions, and (d) fertilizer
(farmyard manure, FYM; mineral, NPK) and mean annual nutrient amendments between 1978 and 2005
to all systems during four crop rotation periods. For more details, see Birkhofer et al. (2008a).
Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL). It has been established to compare selected con-
ventional agricultural practices to organic agriculture over relevant temporal scales and
under identical soil type and climatic conditions. The soil is a haplic luvisol on deep
deposits of alluvial loess. Mean precipitation is 785 mm per year, with an annual average
temperature of 9.5°C. We sampled wheat plots of two organic farming systems (BIODYN,
BIOORG); one conventional (CONFYM) system, receiving farmyard manure and mineral
fertilizer; and a second conventional system mimicking stockless farming (CONMIN,
receiving mineral fertilizers only) in May 2005 after all plots were managed according to
the respective system for 27 years. The BIODYN system differs from the BIOORG system
by the application of composted farmyard manure instead of rotted farmyard manure
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