Rearing dairy calves with nurse cows has been increasingly adopted by French farmers especially in organic farming and is characterized by a fostering of two to four calves during the first month of ...life by an unmilked lactating cow. This type of rearing remains poorly documented regarding its impact on calf health, such as cryptosporidiosis. The objectives of our study were to describe practices related to rearing dairy calves with nurse cows and to evaluate the prevalence, intensity and risk factors for Cryptosporidium infection in calf neonates. Between January and September 2019, the rearing practices of calves were described in 20 organic French farms and faeces were sampled once from 611 animals aged between 5 and 21 days. Cryptosporidium oocyst shedding was identified by modified Ziehl-Neelsen technique and scored semi-quantitatively (score 0–4). The risk of excretion (score 0 versus 1–4) was analysed using multivariate logistic regression models.
This cow-calf rearing system usually consisted of a first phase with the dam, followed by an optional phase of artificial milk feeding (calves being fed with whole milk of the farm) and a final phase of fostering by a nurse cow. Each nurse was suckled from one to five calves of close age with a fostering age of 8 days on average. The oocyst shedding prevalence was 40.2 % and similar to classically reared calves, but the intensity of shedding and the prevalence of diarrhoea appeared to be lower. The identified six risk factors for oocyst shedding were: born in the last two thirds of the birth order, born between January and July versus August and September, calf with its dam in the barn versus on pasture, having an artificial milk feeding phase versus being with the dam only, and contact between peer calves and notably the presence of an oocyst excretory calf fostered by the same nurse. These results emphasize the role of the environment for the direct and indirect contamination, particularly that related to the accumulation of oocysts from previous or peer calves facilitating the faecal-oral route of transmission. This highlights the crucial role of the premises used intensively during the winter and spring months with higher densities of calves in the barn compared to outdoor situations promoted by this rearing.
•Maize based farming systems were compared for 6 years in Chuka and Thika in Kenya.•High input organic system yields equal to conventional except in year 1 at Thika.•Maize-bean intercrop in low input ...organic systems yielded as conventional one.•High and low input organic production costs were higher than conventional ones, but.•From year 5 organic was more profitable than conventional in the high input systems.•Conventional systems exported more nutrients than organic systems.
In 2007 two long-term trials were established in Kenya to contribute research-based evidence to the global debate on the productivity, economic viability and sustainability of different agricultural production systems. These trials compare conventional (Conv) and organic (Org) farming systems at high and low input levels at two locations, i.e. Chuka, with Humic Nitisols, high inherent soil fertility and rainfall, and Thika, with Rhodic Nitisols with low soil fertility and rainfall. The high input systems (High) represent commercial-scale, export-oriented production that uses the recommended amounts of fertilisers, pesticides and irrigation water to generate high yields, whilst the low input systems (Low) represent local smallholder practices, using relatively few fertilisers and pesticides and operating under rain-fed conditions. The conventional systems received synthetic fertilisers and organic manure, whilst the organic systems only received organic inputs. The trials so far have consisted of a 6-season, 3-year, crop rotation with maize (Zea mays L.) planted in the long rainy seasons (March-September), and vegetables in the short rainy seasons (October – February). Generally, there were no significant differences in the dry matter yields and nutrient uptake by maize, baby corn or beans between the conventional and organic systems at either site. Similar maize grain and baby corn yields were also obtained at Chuka. However, at Thika, maize grain yields in Org-High in 2007 (at conversion) were lower than the yields in Conv-High, but the yields became similar in 2010 (after conversion). At the same site the yields of maize grain under sole cropping in Org-Low were 3.2 times lower than the yields in Conv-Low in 2007 and 1.7 times lower in 2010. When intercropped with beans the yields of the two systems were similar. In the first two years profits from Conv-High were 0.5–1.8 times and 0.2–2.4 times higher than in Org-High when selling the produce at local (Chuka and Thika) and regional markets (Nairobi), but thereafter the profit from the two was similar, even when organic produce was sold at regular market prices. From the fifth year onwards Org-High attracted a price premium of 20 to 50% and this made it 1.3 to 4.1 times more profitable than Conv-High when selling on local and regional markets (in Chuka, Thika and Nairobi). Compared to Conv-High, partial N and K balances at the two sites were positive and higher in Org-High, except for N at Chuka. Our findings demonstrate that Org-High is productive, economically viable, resource-conserving and can contribute to sustainable agriculture production in Kenya depending on regional conditions and the crops cultivated.
Organic farming and high-quality fruit production promote human and environmental health.Organic farming has properties that positively affect fruit quality and can be transferred to other ...agricultural settings.Organic farming is not free of drawbacks that should be considered, such as microbial and heavy metal contamination.Fruit quality is a multifactorial parameter that should be approached by applying a holistic perspective to the underlying physiological mechanisms.Although many challenges remain, there is evidence that the convergence of sustainability, yield, and quality in agriculture is possible.
Fruit quality is essential for nutrition and human health and needs urgent attention in current agricultural practices. Organic farming is not as productive as conventional agriculture, but it can provide higher quality in some fruit crops, thanks to the absence of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, enhanced pollination, and the reduction of protection treatments, hence boosting antioxidant compound production. Although organic farming does not always provide healthier food than conventional farming, some lessons from organic farming can be extrapolated to new sustainable production models. Exploiting natural resources and an adequate knowledge transfer will undoubtedly help improve the quality of climacteric and nonclimacteric fruits in new agricultural systems.
Fruit quality is essential for nutrition and human health and needs urgent attention in current agricultural practices. Organic farming is not as productive as conventional agriculture, but it can provide higher quality in some fruit crops, thanks to the absence of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, enhanced pollination, and the reduction of protection treatments that boost antioxidant compound production. Although organic farming does not always provide healthier food than conventional farming, some lessons from organic farming can be extrapolated to new sustainable production models. Exploiting natural resources and an adequate knowledge transfer will undoubtedly help improve the quality of climacteric and nonclimacteric fruits in new agricultural systems.
One of the primary challenges of our time is to enhance global food production and security. Most assessments in agricultural systems focus on plant yield. Yet, these analyses neglect temporal yield ...stability, or the variability and reliability of production across years. Here we perform a meta-analysis to assess temporal yield stability of three major cropping systems: organic agriculture and conservation agriculture (no-tillage) vs. conventional agriculture, comparing 193 studies based on 2896 comparisons. Organic agriculture has, per unit yield, a significantly lower temporal stability (-15%) compared to conventional agriculture. Thus, although organic farming promotes biodiversity and is generally more environmentally friendly, future efforts should focus on reducing its yield variability. Our analysis further indicates that the use of green manure and enhanced fertilisation can reduce the yield stability gap between organic and conventional agriculture. The temporal stability (-3%) of no-tillage does not differ significantly from those of conventional tillage indicating that a transition to no-tillage does not affect yield stability.
Background: Natural farming (NF) is a farming system that uses environmentally friendly pest and disease management practices. In contrast to chemical farming, it avoids use of synthetic fertilizers, ...pesticides and fungicides and hence, offers an alternative way for the eco-friendly pest management for the sustainable crop production. French bean crop is ravaged by wide array of insect pests wherein, sucking insect-pests like aphids, leaf miner and pod borer causing considerable damage. To manage these pests, farmers are spraying both recommended and non-recommended synthetic chemical pesticides having adverse effects on environment and human beings. Methods: Field experiment was conducted to evaluate the pest management strategies against sucking insect-pests and pod borer infesting French bean over a period of three years from 2019-20 to 2021-22 at College of Horticulture, Sirsi, Uttar Kannada (Hill Zone of Karnataka) during summer season. Four pest management modules viz., farmers practice, organic farming, natural farming (NF) and recommended package of practices (RPP) were evaluated to manage the pests in an eco-friendly manner. The field experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with five replications comprising of four treatments. The standard protocol was followed for recording observations. Result: Among the different modules tested, farmers practice recorded lowest population of aphids, leaf miner and pod borer and was at par with recommended package of practices. Whereas, Organic farming and natural farming recorded moderate level of pest infestation and quite safe for maintaining the predators like Coccinellids, Chrysoperla carnea and spider population for natural predation. The cost of plant protection measures was also least in these modules which indicates the socially and economically acceptable farming practices which may be adopted for safer French bean production.
This study aims to investigate the effect of a mixture of winter wheat varieties on grain rheological characteristics and the quality of wheat flour analyzed by Mixolab. In the 2019-2020 growing ...season, a small plots experiment was carried out in an organically certified field in the Czech Republic. The experiment was conducted by randomized complete block design with three replicates, four winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties with four mixtures of the same varieties in equal proportions. Based on the results, the expected grain yield was not achieved. The quality of wheat productivity was significantly different among treatments in terms of protein content, wet gluten, sedimentation value, and falling number (P < 0.001). Protein content ranged between 8.04% and 9.85%, mixtures of Butterfly + Lorien and Illusion + Lorien were higher in protein than Illusion and Vanessa varieties and their combination. The highest wet gluten was found under mixtures of Butterfly + Lorien varieties (19.34%) while sowing Butterfly variety gave the highest Zeleny test and falling number compared to other treatments. Butterfly + Lorien and Butterfly + Vanessa mixtures obtained good results for falling number at 250.67 and 272.67 seconds. There were significant differences in rheological quality parameters of winter wheat varieties analyzed by Mixolab including stability, weakening of protein, and starch (P < 0.01 and P < 0.001, except slope gamma). Although the observed benefits were limited to grain yield, mixtures of individual cultivars appear to be a potential tool to improve overall crop performance (grain quality).
Chitosan is an organic compound derived from the shells of sea shells, and has wide application in agricultural production. The main effect of chitosan is a biofungicidal effect on many plant ...diseases. In addition, chitosan has a good effect against stressful conditions during plant growth and development. Applying chitosan increases the quality of fruits and increases storage life, which is especially important for small fruits (strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry). As chitosan is a natural compound, it is licensed for use in organic agricultural production and is an important preparation for use in organic farming. At EU level it is designated as a preparation based on a basic substance, in accordance with EC standard 1107/2009.
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