Newsletter from Danish Research Centre for Organic Farming • March 2005 • No 1

Intercropping pea with barley reduces Ascochyta blight on pea

Intercropping pea with barley reduced the level of Ascochyta blight on pea leaves and in the harvested seed. Significant disease reductions were obtained with 25 pct barley in the mixture and higher disease reductions were obtained by increasing the amounts of barley.

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High yield and low N leaching with barley as a green crop for silage after grass-clover

Barley as a green crop with undersown Italian ryegrass produced 5000 and 7600 Scandinavian Feed Units (SFU) per ha without application of manure when grown after 3-yr or 5-yr grass-clover, respectively. With 120 kg ammonium-N per ha in slurry, 8200 and 10100 SFU per ha were produced. And the Italian ryegrass undersown in barley reduced N leaching by more than 90 percent after ploughing of the grass-clover.

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Leaching of organic N and C after cultivating grass-clover pastures

Organic N and C can be lost by leaching. And the loss depends upon crop and management. At low leaching of nitrate as for example under a well-developed catch crop relatively more organic N is leached than at high levels of nitrate leaching under a bare soil treatment. An opposite situation occurred for leaching of organic C, which was higher under a catch crop than under a bare soil.

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News briefs

  • Joint European Organic Congress in 2006
  • Revision of organic rules and principles

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Organic diet enhanced the health of rats

The immune response was enhanced when rats were fed on organically grown or minimally fertilised plant diets. This was shown in a study of the health of rats that were fed plant diets grown according to organic or conventional conditions. The study also indicated the rats fed on organically grown diets accumulated less adipose tissue and rested better during daytime.

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Low temperature handling will delay but not hinder ochratoxin A formation in wet grain

New experiments have shown that grain moisture is more important than temperature for the formation of the mycotoxin Ochratoxin A (OTA). OTA is one of the most important mycotoxins on Danish grain. A fast and efficient drying procedure that avoids pockets of wet grain is crucial in preventing OTA formation. Read the article

Ridge planting of maize shows promising yield increase

Ridge planting of maize increased yield on both sandy and sandy loam soil in 2003-2004. The yield increase was up to 60 percent. Ridge planting also shows promising results in protein crops such as faba bean and soybean and is currently being tested in winter rape.

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Three new systems for recycling of urban organic waste to agriculture

Composting of urban waste by three new source separation and composting systems was studied to improve the carbon and nutrient cycling between urban and rural districts. Implementation of these new systems may promote recycling of organic waste to agriculture. At the same time, the tangible systems may strengthen the public's idea of recycling and serve as a platform for the public debate.

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Subsoil loosening eliminated plough pan but had variable effect on crop yield

Paraplow treatment effectively loosened the plough pan of two sandy loam soils. Yet, a clear positive plant response was absent. Detrimental effects of mechanical soil loosening on the existing network of soil macropores probably contribute to the missing plant response. The results suggest that biological, rather than mechanical soil loosening could be recommendable under Danish conditions.
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High damage potential of seed-borne spot blotch in organically grown spring barley in Denmark

Spot blotch infection levels were about twice as high in barley seeds from organically cultivated plots than from conventionally cultivated plots. Thus, the importance of spot blotch for organic barley production in Denmark, which entirely depends on organically produced seeds, may be underestimated. Variety resistance could play an important role in spot blotch control. Read the article