Search results for "organic farming"
showing 10 items of 54 documents
Are alternative food networks winning strategies to increase organic SMEs profitability? Evidence from a case study
2020
The aim of this study was to understand how and how much alternative food networks (AFNs) contribute to increasing the profitability of the organic SMEs, compared to traditional organic sales channels. For this purpose, an economic analysis and an in-depth interview were carried out in a case study located in the Sicilian northern coast. Findings showed a clear convenience of the participation to alternative food networks compared to the case in which all farm production was conferred to traditional sales channels, highlighting an increase both of farm profit (+76.9%) and net income (+72.1%). However, the in-depth interview revealed that AFNs are a mean, not only to have economic benefits, …
Using the GENESYS model quantifying the effect of cropping systems on gene escape from GM rape varieties to evaluate and design cropping systems.
2004
Gene flow in rapeseed is a process taking place both in space and over the years and cannot be studied exclusively by field trials. Consequently, the GENESYS model was developed to quantify the effects of cropping systems on transgene escape from rapeseed crops to rapeseed volunteers in neighbour plots and in the subsequent crops. In the present work, this model was used to evaluate the risk of rape harvest contamination by extraneous genes in various farming systems in case of co-existing GM, conventional and organic crops. When 50 % of the rape varieties in the region were transgenic, the rate of GM seeds in non-GM crop harvests on farms with large fields was lower than the 0.9 % purity t…
Improving scientific rigour in conservation evaluations and a plea deal for transparency on potential biases
2020
Abstract The delivery of rigorous and unbiased evidence on the effects of interventions lay at the heart of the scientific method. Here we examine scientific papers evaluating agri‐environment schemes, the principal instrument to mitigate farmland biodiversity declines worldwide. Despite previous warnings about rudimentary study designs in this field, we found that the majority of studies published between 2008 and 2017 still lack robust study designs to strictly evaluate intervention effects. Potential sources of bias that arise from the correlative nature are rarely mentioned, and results are still promoted by using a causal language. This lack of robust study designs likely results from …
The Sulfated Laminarin Triggers a Stress Transcriptome before Priming the SA- and ROS-Dependent Defenses during Grapevine's Induced Resistance agains…
2018
Grapevine (Vitis vinifera) is susceptible to many pathogens which cause significant losses to viticulture worldwide. Chemical control is available, but agro-ecological concerns have raised interest in alternative methods, especially in triggering plant immunity by elicitor treatments. The β-glucan laminarin (Lam) and its sulfated derivative (PS3) have been previously demonstrated to induce resistance in grapevine against downy mildew (Plasmopara viticola). However, if Lam elicits classical grapevine defenses such as oxidative burst, pathogenesis-related (PR)-proteins and phytoalexin production, PS3 triggered grapevine resistance via a poorly understood priming phenomenon. The aim of this st…
Lesser kestrel diet and agricultural intensification in the Mediterranean: An unexpected win-win solution?
2018
Abstract Farmland bird species have suffered dramatic declines in recent decades, especially in Mediterranean areas. The intensification of agricultural practices has led to reduced invertebrate prey, which represent the bulk of the diet of many farmland birds. In this study, we investigated the spatial and temporal variation in the diet of the lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni) during the breeding season, monitored over a five-year period between 2006 and 2013 in the Gela Plain (Sicily). Our aim was to understand whether, and to what extent, farming practices affected the reproductive outputs of this predominantly insectivore bird in order to find a profitable compromise between conservation …
Eighteen-Year Farming Management Moderately Shapes the Soil Microbial Community Structure but Promotes Habitat-Specific Taxa
2018
Soil microbes have critical influence on the productivity and sustainability of agricultural ecosystems, yet the magnitude and direction to which management practices affect the soil microbial community remain unclear. This work aimed to examine the impacts of three farming systems, conventional grain cropping (CON), organic grain cropping (ORG), and grain cropping-pasture rotation (ICL), on the soil microbial community structure and putative gene abundances of N transformations using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene and ITS sequencing approaches. Two additional systems, a forest plantation (PF) and an abandoned agricultural field subject to natural succession (SUC), were also included for bet…
Motives for buying local, organic food through English box schemes
2018
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explain the growing interest of English consumers in local organic food sold through box schemes, by providing insights into the motives of customers of such schemes and examining the relationship with their awareness about problems of the agro-food system. Design/methodology/approach A mixed methods approach combined in-depth interviews with 22 box scheme customers with a quantitative survey of 416 consumers, analysed by means of principal component analysis and an ordered logit model. Findings Consumers of small local organic box schemes in England are both altruistically and hedonistically motivated. This includes a strong political motivation to …
Nutritional characterization of Butternut squash (Cucurbita moschata D.): Effect of variety (Ariel vs. Pluto) and farming type (conventional vs. orga…
2019
Farming systems and cultivar types are two of the main factors able to affect the nutritional quality of plant foods for human nutrition. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the impact of two unexplored variety (namely Ariel and Pluto) and farming type (conventional and organic) on physicochemical parameters, chemical and mineral composition, water- and fat-soluble vitamins, amino acid profile and antioxidant bioactive components of butternut squashes (Cucurbita moschata). In order to achieve this purpose, a multivariate statistical discrimination of the different parameters was carried out using the unsupervised principle component analysis (PCA). The most important differences…
Breeding For Organic Farming : Obtaining And Evaluation Of Flax Somaclonal Families
2015
Plant calli culture could be used as a source of genetic changes (somaclonal variation). There are known several flax varieties, bred on the basis of somaclonal variation, with improved resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, plant height, seed yield and other traits. This method is useful for obtaining the new initial material for flax breeding, including for intensification of breeding for organic farming. Goal of the study was to obtain plants-regenerants from the calli culture of the fibre flax variety ‘Vega 2’ and to evaluate their agronomical traits and resistance to powdery mildew. For obtaining plants-regenerants was used early elaborated protocol of somatic calli cultivation. Ag…
Cost-benefit analysis: A comparison between conventional and organic olive growing in the Mediterranean Area
2015
The conversion from conventional to organic management of olive growing has many benefits, such as increase of biodiversity, reduction of soil erosion and lower environmental impact. Since olive represents a main crop in the Mediterranean area, from a social, economic as well as environmental point of view, the aim of this paper has been to determine if the conversion from conventional to organic olive growing can increase the profitability of the farmer in Sicilian farms. Economic analysis has been carried out by means of cost-benefit analysis and financial indicators (NPV, B0/C0, IRR) show that organic growing would allow a better profitability for organic olive farms respect to conventio…