Sentences with phrase «organic crop yields»

Similar to previous work, organic crop yields in our analysis were lower than conventional crop yields for most crops.

On the other hand, organic crop yields in developing countries may be considerably higher than the national average, which has implications on organic matter return and carbon sinks102.

But according to one of the most comprehensive research reviews yet, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and based on 162 studies over 50 years, there is no strong evidence to suggest that organic crops yield more nutritious fare.

Prior research from England suggests there are complex drivers and impacts of spatial clustering of organic farms that may or may not relate to organic crop yield gaps [39, 40].

Not exact matches

Crowder, lead author and assistant professor of entomology at Washington State University, says he and Reganold became interested in the topic after reading a study several years ago that indicated that organic farming produces a lower crop yield than conventional agriculture.

«We knew going into this that organic agriculture is less productive in terms of crop yields than conventional agriculture,» Crowder says.

The researchers say their interest was piqued after seeing a study that positioned organic agriculture as less productive than conventional, with lower crop yields.

Watch and learn about how producers and researchers are experimenting with organic apples, cranberries, tomatoes, strawberries, cucumbers, hops and nutraceuticals to protect these crops from weeds and get good yields.

There are many studies showing that after three or four years of organic farming farms can equal, if not better the yield of conventional crops, depending on the sector.

Because organics are more vulnerable to crop failure, we work with a team of agronomists and researchers to help nurture growing practices that result in better yields and ensure a consistency of supply.

Nathan believes there is massive potential for the organic industry to develop, but the more demanding crops and the ability to achieve higher yields is holding the industry back.

Crop yields are generally lower on organic farms when compared with high input agricultural systems, especially during conversion years.

As livestock generally provides a lower return per hectare than crops, organic cereal / livestock producers are doubly disadvantaged as they have lower yields, especially during conversion, and a less favourable output mix.

The study authors looked at wheat — a crop that the Nature paper identified as one that badly lags in yield for organic producers.

At Clif Bar, the company is tackling the yield gap by investing in plant breeding, contributing to an agriculture fund that helps provide technical assistance to educate growers and investing in infrastructure that will help reduce the distance that organic producers must transport their crops from the farm gate to the aggregator or processor, which is a significantly longer distance than for most conventional producers, Dillion said.

He added that many US crops transitioning to organic have a yield drag of about 30 - 40 % below conventional crop yields, which «is not really acceptable to farmers long - term when you look at their economics.»

But the study went a step further, comparing crop yields on conventional farms to those on organic farms where cover crops were planted and crops were rotated to build soil health.

Because organic agriculture produces on average only half the yield of crops per unit of land as conventional farming, any mass conversion to organic would end up using much more land.

Over 2 decades, the average crop yield was about 20 % lower in the organic plots, the team reports in the 31 May issue of Science.

The best - performing organic crop was winter wheat, which yielded just 10 % less than the conventional harvest.

He said his organic seeds produced the highest yields by far, which is the opposite of what you hear when reading about the benefits of GMO crops.

We support our organic farmers by paying for 100 % of their crop upfront, regardless of yield.

Caolan Woods from Natural World Products said «We employ 40 people locally to help recycle Belfast's food and green waste into a high quality organic soil conditioner, used across a range of applications — from local farmers looking to improve crop yields to local Councils seeking to help our parks and greenways flourish.»

While organic agriculture practices result in higher soil organic matter (SOM) contents and, in turn, higher nutrient - and water - supplying potential to crops, transition to organic farming typically involves a lag time of several years in which yields can suffer and input demands increase as rebuilding soil microbial communities compete with crops for nitrogen and other available nutrients (Simmons and Coleman, 2008).

Savage's methodology couldn't have been simpler: He lined up and charted organic and conventional yield data for the same crop and state in which they were harvested.

The USDA / NASS studies tracked harvested acres without differentiating between irrigated and non-irrigated acreage; it gathered data on planted vs. harvested acres for some crops but not others; it did not account for systems in which «baby vegetable» crops (usually organic) are grown in short rotations on the same plot (such as spinach, lettuce, and carrots) and thus have lower yields; and it omitted some data that would have revealed too much information about individual farmers, in cases where very few growers produce a particular crop.

Rodale Institute's Research Department investigates a number of scientific and regenerative farming issues, including cover crop practices, organic weed management, organic no - till systems, compost use, influences of agricultural practices on water quality, and effects of mycorrhizae and other soil biota on crop and soil health, and yields.

Canola was the only row - crop with greater yields with organic farming.

The research compared soil fungi activity, crop yields, energy efficiency, costs, organic matter changes over time, nitrogen accumulation and nitrate leaching across organic and conventional agricultural systems.

However, several crops had no significant difference in yields between organic and conventional production, and organic yields surpassed conventional yields for some hay crops.

Insect and disease damaged fruits and vegetables can quickly become unmarketable, and this might explain the relatively low organic yields of fruit and vegetable crops compared to their conventional counterparts.

The organic to conventional yield ratio varied widely among crops, and in some cases, among locations within a crop.

Averaged across all crops, organic yield averaged 80 % of conventional yield.

Even so, a dramatic, sustained reduction in crop yield could be devastating to food security, even in developed countries, making a rapid and complete switch to organic agriculture unwise.

The opposite trend was observed for barley (Hordeum vulgare), wheat (Triticum aestevum), and hay crops, however, suggesting the geographical yield potential has an inconsistent effect on the organic yield gap.

Meta - analyses comparing yields of organic and conventionally grown crops have repeatedly demonstrated a yield gap between the two systems.

Last week, the open - access journal PLoS ONE published a paper by Andrew Kniss, Steven Savage, and Randa Jabbour measuring the difference in crop yields between organic and conventional farms in the US.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS • Formulated an organic pesticide, the use of which resulted in high organic content and crop yield • Saved 23 farm animals from an impending disease (discovered on the adjacent farmland) by quickly isolating and vaccinating them • Devised a novel irrigation system to provide water to all crop lines, without the use of sophisticated and expensive machinery • Suggested using the age old method of hand seeding, resulting in increased crop growth