The Science Beneath Organic Production

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A groundbreaking book that addresses the science that underpins organic agriculture and horticulture and its impact upon the management of organic systems

With contributions from noted experts in the field, Organic Agriculture explores the cultural context of food production and examines the historical aspects, economic implications, and key scientific elements that underpin organic crop production. The book shows how a science-based approach to organic farming is grounded in history and elements of the social sciences as well as the more traditional areas of physics, chemistry and biology.

Organic Agriculture offers a detailed explanation of the differences between organic systems and other approaches, answering questions about crop production and protection, crop rotations, soil health, biodiversity and the use of genetic resources. The authors identify current gaps in our understanding of the topic and discuss how organic farming research may be better accomplished in the future. This important book:

Explores the science that underpins organic farming
Contains illustrative case studies from around the world
Examines organic agriculture’s philosophical roots and its socio-economic context

Written for scientists and students of agriculture and horticulture, this book covers the issues linked to the use of science by organic producers and identifies key elements in the production of food.

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Title Page 6
Copyright Page 7
Contents 8
List of Contributors 14
Preface 16
Chapter 1 Science and Organic Agriculture: An Introduction 20
- 1.1 What is the Role of this Volume? 20
- 1.2 What is Organic Agriculture? 21
- 1.3 So What is Distinctive About its Science Base? 24
- 1.4 The Ecological Roots of Organic Production 25
- 1.5 Key Elements in the Science Context of Organic Agriculture 27
- 1.6 Some Areas of Different Science 29
- 1.7 Production Systems Compared 32
- 1.8 A Science Base for All Production 34
- 1.9 The Changing Context of Farming 37

Title Page 6
Copyright Page 7
Contents 8
List of Contributors 14
Preface 16
Chapter 1 Science and Organic Agriculture: An Introduction 20
- 1.1 What is the Role of this Volume? 20
- 1.2 What is Organic Agriculture? 21
- 1.3 So What is Distinctive About its Science Base? 24
- 1.4 The Ecological Roots of Organic Production 25
- 1.5 Key Elements in the Science Context of Organic Agriculture 27
- 1.6 Some Areas of Different Science 29
- 1.7 Production Systems Compared 32
- 1.8 A Science Base for All Production 34
- 1.9 The Changing Context of Farming 37
- References 40
Chapter 2 Science, Research and Organic Farming 44
- 2.2 The Roots of the Approach 44
  - 2.2.1 Is it a philosophical or political movement and cannot therefore be scientific? 45
  - 2.2.2 Does it lack coherence except as a marketing exercise? 46
  - 2.2.3 Is it inherently unscientific because it is based on concepts that are not explicable in rational scientific terms? 47
- 2.1 Introduction 44
- 2.3 Agricultural Science: Some Reflections 49
- References 51
- 2.4 Conclusion 51
Chapter 3 Framing and Farming: Putting Organics in a Societal Context 52
- 3.1 Introduction 52
- 3.2 The Origin of Organics 53
- 3.3 The Argument from Economics: Is More Better? 54
- 3.4 The Argument from the Environment: Externalities Matter 56
- 3.5 The Argument from Ethics: There’s Something Wrong with the System 56
  - 3.5.1 What is the Place of Humans in Nature? 57
  - 3.5.2 What is Farming For, and What Makes for Good Farming? 59
  - 3.5.3 How can the way we produce food promote social justice? 60
- 3.6 Aligning Organics with Social Justice 61
- Further Reading 62
- 3.7 Conclusion 62
- References 62
Chapter 4 Soil Health and Its Management for Organic Farming 64
- 4.1 Introduction 64
- 4.2 Soil Components 66
  - 4.2.1 Soil Parent Material and Profile Formation 66
  - 4.2.2 Soil Organic Matter 67
  - 4.2.3 Soil Organisms 67
- 4.3 Key Soil Processes in Agricultural Systems 70
  - 4.3.1 Decomposition 70
- 4.4 Soil Structure Formation and Stabilisation 72
- 4.5 Below‐Ground Ecological Interactions 73
- 4.6 Nutrient Cycling and Management 75
  - 4.6.1 Potassium (K) and Other Cations (Mg, Ca) 75
  - 4.6.2 Nitrogen (N) 76
  - 4.6.3 Phosphorus (P) 78
- 4.7 Impact of Agricultural Management Practices on Soil Function and Health 80
- 4.8 Cropping Systems 82
- 4.9 Intensive Grassland 84
- 4.10 Conclusion 85
- References 87
Chapter 5 Cropping Systems and Crop Choice 98
- 5.1 Farming Systems 98
- 5.2 Land Capability and Cropping System Choice 100
  - 5.2.2 Temperature 100
  - 5.2.1 Rainfall 100
  - 5.2.3 Altitude and Topography 101
  - 5.2.5 Markets 102
  - 5.2.6 Traditions 102
  - 5.2.4 Soil 102
  - 5.2.7 Government Policy 103
- 5.3 How Land Capability is Used in Practice 103
- References 104
- 5.4 Conclusion 104
Chapter 6 Crop Rotations: The Core of Organic Production 106
- 6.1 Introduction 106
- 6.2 The History of Crop Rotations 107
- 6.3 Rotations in Organic Production 110
- 6.4 The Ecological Science Base of Organic Production 113
- 6.5 Impact of Rotations on Soil Properties 114
  - 6.5.1 Impact of Rotations on Soil Condition 114
  - 6.5.2 Impact of Rotations on Nutrient Availability 117
  - 6.5.3 Nitrogen Supply in Rotations 118
  - 6.5.4 Phosphorus Supply in Rotations 119
- 6.6 Impact of Rotations on Crop Protection 122
- 6.8 Conclusion 124
- 6.7 Stockless Rotations 124
- References 126
Chapter 7 What Can Organic Farming Contribute to Biodiversity Restoration? 130
- 7.1 Why Conserve Farmland Biodiversity? 130
- 7.2 What Can Organic Farming Contribute to Biodiversity Conservation? 135
- 7.3 Effects of Organic Farming Vary with Taxa 137
- 7.4 How Rapid is the Effect of Conversion to Organic on Biodiversity? 139
- 7.5 Landscape Context and Species Traits 140
- 7.6 Wider Considerations 142
- Acknowledgements 145
- References 145
Chapter 8 Optimising Crop Production in Organic Systems 152
- 8.1 Introduction 152
- 8.2 Basic Issues 153
- 8.3 Light Interception: The Basis of All Production 155
  - 8.3.1 Energy Capture 155
  - 8.3.2 Canopy Duration 156
  - 8.3.3 Stomatal Functioning 157
  - 8.3.4 Crop Species 157
  - 8.3.5 Crop Growth and Resource Partitioning 159
  - 8.3.6 Soil‐Related Factors 160
  - 8.3.7 Consequences 161
- 8.4 What Current Issues Affect Choice of Crop Production System? 161
- 8.5 What Options Exist for Regulating Yields? 163
- 8.6 How Different are Conventional and Organic Yields? 164
- 8.7 The Environmental Impact of Organic Systems 166
- References 167
- 8.8 Conclusion 167
Chapter 9 Crop Production: Meeting the Nutrient Needs 170
- 9.1 Introduction 170
- 9.2 Getting Nutrients into Organic Crops 171
- 9.3 What is the Impact of Differences in Soil Nutrient Supply? 173
- 9.4 Organic Manures: Recycling of Nutrient Sources 174
- 9.5 Crop Rotations 176
- 9.7 Legumes 177
- 9.6 Cover Crops 177
- 9.8 Soil Microbial Populations and Inoculation 178
- 9.9 The Impact of Different Soil Nutrients 179
  - 9.9.1 Nitrogen: How Much N Does a Crop Need? 179
  - 9.9.2 Phosphorus 181
  - 9.9.3 Potassium 182
  - 9.9.4 Sulphur 183
- 9.10 Conclusion 183
- References 184
Chapter 10 Crop Attributes Facilitating the Use of Soil Resources 188
- 10.1 Introduction 188
- 10.2 Nutrient Capture and Utilisation 190
  - 10.2.1 Basic Issues 190
  - 10.2.2 Nutrient Availability 191
- 10.3 The Functional Requirements of a Root System 191
  - 10.3.2 Relation of Root Activity to Soil Processes 191
  - 10.3.1 Basic Issues 191
  - 10.3.3 The Impact of Root System Form 193
  - 10.3.4 Variation Between Crop Species 194
  - 10.3.5 Variation Within Crop Species 197
- 10.4 Case Studies 199
  - 10.4.1 Case Study 1: Betula pendula 199
  - 10.4.2 Case Study 2: Spring Barley 201
- 10.5 Root Dynamics and Carbon Inputs to the Soil 202
  - 10.5.1 Root Dynamics 202
  - 10.5.2 Root Longevity 203
- 10.6 Variation in Root Systems in Practice 204
  - 10.6.1 Variation in Root Systems with Functional Significance 204
  - 10.6.2 The Ability of the Crop Plant to Extract Nutrients from the Soil 207
- 10.7 Case Study 3: Apple 207
- 10.8 So How Much Root Does a Plant Need? 210
- 10.9 Conclusion 211
- References 212
Chapter 11 Mycorrhizal Activity, Resource and Microbial Cycles 218
- 11.2 Mycorrhizal Establishment 218
- 11.1 Introduction 218
- 11.3 Mycorrhizal Effects 220
- 11.4 The AMF Association 221
- 11.5 Effects on Plant Nutrition: Basic Mechanisms 222
- 11.7 The Impact of AMF on Soil Structure 223
- 11.8 Carbon Flows into the Soil 223
- 11.6 Impact on Crop Nutrition 223
- 11.9 The Impact of AMF on Adaptation to the Soil Physical Environment 224
- 11.10 The Impact of AMF on Plant Pathogens 225
- 11.11 Impact of AMF on Roots 225
- 11.12 Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and the Management of Soils 228
- 11.13 Conclusions: AMF and Root Functioning 228
- References 228
Chapter 12 Crop Protection and Food Quality: Challenges and Answers 232
- 12.1 Introduction 232
- 12.2 Crop Protection Against Pests, Weeds and Diseases 233
- 12.3 Weed Control 234
- 12.4 Living with Crop Diseases 238
  - 12.4.1 The Impact of AMF on Plant Pathogens 239
  - 12.4.2 Plant Varietal‐Based Resistance 241
- 12.5 Pest Control 243
- 12.6 The Quality of Organic Crops and Crop‐Based Foods 245
  - 12.6.1 Varietal Selection 246
  - 12.6.3 Inputs Used as Part of the Cultural System 247
  - 12.6.2 The Production System 247
  - 12.6.4 Inherent Attributes 249
  - 12.6.5 Microbial Content and Chemical Contamination 250
- 12.7 Conclusion 250
- References 251
Chapter 13 Plant Breeding and Genetics in Organic Agriculture 256
- 13.1 Introduction 256
- 13.2 Plant Diversity in Agro‐Ecosystems 257
  - 13.2.1 Genetic Diversity 258
  - 13.2.2 Species and Ecosystem Diversity 260
  - 13.2.3 Effects of Crop Diversity: Types of Mechanisms 261
- 13.3 Crop Genetics in Complex and Dynamic Environments 263
  - 13.3.2 The Ecology of G × E Interactions 263
  - 13.3.1 The Organic Principle of Ecology 263
  - 13.3.3 Implications of G × E Interactions for Testing Varieties for Organic Agriculture 264
  - 13.3.4 Genetic Properties of Crops for Suitability in Organic Systems 267
  - 13.3.5 Crop Genetics for Ecological Cropping Systems Design 268
  - 13.3.6 Limitations of Crop Genetics and the Role of Plant Genetic Diversity 269
- 13.4 Crop Genetics for Health 269
  - 13.4.1 The Organic Principle of Health 269
  - 13.4.3 Connections Between Crop Genetics and Health 270
  - 13.4.2 What is Health? 270
  - 13.4.4 The Role of Plant Genetic Diversity for Health 275
- 13.5 Socioeconomics, Policies and Regulations 276
  - 13.5.1 The Organic Principle of Fairness 276
  - 13.5.2 Traditional Landraces and the Protection of Plant Genetic Resources 277
  - 13.5.3 Sharing the Costs and Benefits of Plant Breeding 278
  - 13.5.4 Hybrid Varieties in Organic Farming 278
- 13.6 Indeterminism and Crop Genetics 279
  - 13.6.1 The Organic Principle of Care 279
  - 13.6.2 Implications of the Care Principle for Crop Breeding 279
  - 13.6.3 The Role of Plant Genetic Diversity for the Care Principle 280
- 13.7 Conclusion 280
- References 281
- Acknowledgements 281
Chapter 14 Exploring the Systems Concept in Contemporary Organic Farming Research 292
- 14.1 Introduction 292
- 14.2 The Importance of the Systems Concept in Organic Farming 293
- 14.3 How are Systems Reflected in Regulation? 294
- 14.4 Applying the Systems Concept to Organic Production 294
- 14.5 How is the Systems Concept Reflected in Organic Farming Research? 296
  - 14.5.1 Example 1. Comparison of Production Systems 299
  - 14.5.2 Example 2. Food Quality and Its Relation to Production Systems 300
  - 14.5.3 Example 3. Weed Control 301
  - 14.5.4 Example 4. Plant Breeding 301
- 14.6 Cautionary Tales 302
- 14.7 Are the Research Needs of Organic Farming Different from Conventional Farming? 302
- References 303
Chapter 15 Science Base of Organic Agriculture: Some Conclusions 308
- 15.1 Introduction 308
- 15.2 Increasing the Contribution of Organic Agriculture to Global Food Production 310
- 15.3 Challenges to Organic Production 314
- References 316
- 15.4 Conclusion 316
Index 318
EULA 326

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