Biodynamic (BD) agriculture became the subject of research efforts during the past decades, whereas a part of the scientific community looks at the BD method with skepticism and marks it as dogmatic. ...Nevertheless, as explored in this review, a fair share of the available peer-reviewed research results of controlled field experiments as well as case studies show effects of BD preparations on yield, soil quality and biodiversity. Moreover, BD preparations express a positive environmental impact in terms of energy use and efficiency. However, the underlying natural science mechanistic principle of BD preparations is still under investigation. In addition, quality determination methods, based on holistic approaches, are increasingly being investigated and recognized. BD farming strives, as manifested in several publications, to positively impact cultural landscape design as well. Summarized data showed that further research is needed and thus encouraged in the field of food quality comparison/determination, food safety, environmental performance (e.g., footprints), and on the effects of BD farming practices on farm animals.
Productivity and growth of vegetables planted as intercrops were investigated in a three-year experiment (2007-2009) according to organic farming rules in the northeast of Slovenia. White cabbage ...(Brassica oleracea var. capitata f. alba) as the main crop was planted together with intercrops: head lettuce (Lactuca sativa var. capitata), bush bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), red beet (Beta vulgaris ssp. rubra), tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum), leek (Allium porrum), and celery (Apium graveolens). The market yield of cabbage as a sole crop (41.07 t ha-1) did not differ to intercropping production with salad and red beet; yields of cabbage in intercropping with celery, leek, beans and tomato were significantly lower. All intercrops had land equivalent ratios (LER) >1.00 and the highest LER (1.62) was reached in cabbage and tomato intercropping due to the same density of tomato as an intercrop and as a sole crop. The intercropping production of white cabbage with the studied vegetables is more productive than sole cropping in terms of land use efficiency.
As the importance of information about food quality dependent on agriculture production methods has increased among many consumers, some internal quality parameters of white cabbage were investigated ...on samples from a field experiment carried out in the northeast of Slovenia. In 2008, sensory properties, mineral composition, and content of vitamin C were investigated in the samples from the control treatment and from conventional, integrated, organic, and bio-dynamic farming systems. Farming system significantly influenced the content of iron, zinc, phosphorous, potassium, manganese, and ash in fresh and dry samples, magnesium only in fresh and sodium only in dry samples. The content of ascorbic acid was higher in samples from control and biodynamic treatments compared to other three treatments. Untrained evaluators scored their preference for four characteristics (colour, odour, taste, and overall acceptability) using a nine-point hedonic scale. Statistically significant differences were shown for all characteristics. According to the overall acceptability, samples were ranked control = integrated = organic > conventional = biodynamic.
Rheological properties of dough made from grain amaranth-cereal composite flours based on wheat and spelt Grobelnik Mlakar, S.,University of Maribor, Hoce (Slovenia). Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science; Bavec, M.,University of Maribor, Hoce (Slovenia). Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science; Turinek, M.,University of Maribor, Hoce (Slovenia). Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science ...
Czech Journal of Food Sciences,
01/2009, Volume:
27, Issue:
5
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the addition of amaranth wholegrain flour on the rheological characteristics of wheat and spelt flour doughs. Organically produced composite ...flours made from wheat (refined) or spelt (refined, wholegrain) flours and amaranth flour in the proportions of 10%, 20%, and 30% (flour basis) were compared with cereal flours. The different kinds of doughs were analysed for their amylographic, farinographic and extensographic properties. Gelatinisation temperature, water absorption, development time, and stability increased with the increasing proportion of amaranth flour in the dough. The amaranth addition strengthened the dough, mainly by decreasing its extensibility and, in spelt containing composite flours, also by increasing the resistance to extension. In conclusion, amaranth flour added in the proportion of 10-20% to cereal flours strengthened the dough and improved some of its rheological properties.
The considerable increase in sweet maize production in Europe is a direct result of the increasing demand. This review shows a lack of investigations of non-typical maize growing conditions, and also ...different research results for sweet maize, especially in Europe. The most important limiting factors in growing sweet maize under non-typical climatic conditions are soil temperature and water supply. The negative impact of lower temperatures at sowing can be mitigated by choosing appropriate cultivars (early and mid-early) and sowing times (mid-end of May, depending on the region). In temperate climates different cultivation systems are effectively used to assure warmer soils in the spring. Furthermore, different rates of mineral nitrogen (N) fertilization are advisable in different temperate climates for the highest yields, but > 120 kg N ha
−1
has no significant effect. Requirements for N should be based more on soil Nmin analyses, green manures (especially with leguminous plants) and living mulch systems to prevent environmental pollution.
Amaranth is a pseudocereal of potential economic interest in Europe, but due to its small seed size it requires shallow sowing and maintenance of optimal soil surface conditions for sufficient and ...uniform emergence. In this study, two experiments in a glasshouse, and two in a growth chamber were conducted to determine the effect of various factors on percentage of live seed emergence (PLSE) and seedling weight of four amaranth species:
Amaranthus mantegazzianus Paserini,
A. hypocondriacus L. cv. G5,
A. cruentus L. cv. G6 and
A. caudatus L. Emergence factors included soil texture (loam, silt loam, sandy loam and sand), sowing depth (0,
5,
15,
30 and 45 mm), soil water regimes (water potentials of −10 to −20, −40 to −50 and −60 to −70 kPa), temperature (from 11 to 25
°C in 2
°C increments) and light regimes (photoperiod 0,
12 and 24 h). The 15 mm sowing depth gave the highest seedling weight on sand and the highest PLSE on loam. On the sandy loam the PLSE was not affected by sowing depth up to 15 mm.
A. caudatus gave the highest PLSE whereas
A. cruentus gave the lowest PLSE but the heaviest seedlings. PLSE was severely reduced on the loam where topsoil crusting occurred after a decrease in soil moisture content from field capacity to −60 to −70 kPa, but not on the silt loam even when dry conditions were maintained throughout the experiment. PLSE was above 80% with temperatures >21
°C. Light regime with 12 h illumination gave the highest PLSE.
The most important photosynthesis acceptor – leaf area vary among cultivation measures and it is limited factor for creating exact growth models in common winter wheat. The objective of this study ...was to investigate changes of leaf area index (LAI) affected by agricultural treatments – 4 sowing rates and 9 nitrogen treatments based on fertilising rates, target values based on soil mineral nitrogen and plant sap tests target values including different varieties. Increasing sowing rates from 350 to 800 viable seeds m-2 increased LAI at EC 75 stage from 2.9 to 5.5, where LAI 4.1 at 500 seeds m-2 did not vary between lower and higher rates; also at EC 85 stage LAIs did not differ significantly. At EC 75 stage LAI differed among control and nitrogen treatments from 1.0 to 6.5 and at EC 85 stage from 0.1 to 2.4, with differences in interaction among varieties. Higher nitrogen rates for first and second top dressing increased LAI in both stages compared without dressing treatments. Due to significant differences among LAI as consequence of production system, we suggest to take this into account in every prediction and modelling of growth in winter wheat.
Maize (
Zea mays L.) growth in non-typical maize growing regions has several limitations with respect to agronomic characteristics of cultivars, and their reactions on changes of production system in ...specific climate. Two long term field experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of plant populations (PP) on the leaf area index (LAI), grain yield and cob characteristics of maize cultivars in Maribor, Slovenia. In the first experiment, an increase of PP from 4.5 to 13.5 plants per m
2 did not affect the LAI of four older maize cultivars at the 7–9-leaf stage, but significant differences between cultivars, years and PP appeared at brooming (from 1.58 to 7.07). In this stage, a strong correlation existed between LAI and grain yield (
r=0.87**). Reduction of LAI from brooming to waxy maturity averaged 9.7%. PP explained 93–99% of the variation in grain yield depending on cultivars. Some cultivars lodged at the highest PP in some years. Increased PP significantly changed the following cob characteristics, weight of 1000 kernels, cob length, number of kernel rows, and number of kernels per row. In the second experiment, 11 recent cultivars expressed a relatively small trend of grain yield increases when PP was increased from 7 to 13 plants per m
2. At high PP, the percent of plants decaying after emergence increased up to 27% during the vegetation period. Therefore, we conclude that the information on suitable PP for each maize cultivar is one of the key factors for planning maize production.
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