Design of an organic farming crop rotation experiment

Abstract

A field experiment is conducted which focuses on crop rotations for cereal production in organic farming. The objective of the experiment is to explore the possibilities for both short-term and long-term increases in organic cereal production through manipulation of crop rotation design on different soil types. This paper describes the design of a rather complex experiment, and later papers will describe and discuss the results. Three factors are included in the experiment in a factorial design with two replicates: A) fraction of grass-clover and pulses in the rotation (crop rotation), B) catch crop (with or without catch crop or bi-cropped clover), and C) manure (with or without animal manure applied as slurry). All fields in all rotations are represented each year. The experimental factors are defined to allow management to be adjusted for optimisation of the individual treatment combinations. This makes the systems more realistic and the results more applicable in practical farming. The experiment is conducted at four locations representing major soil types and climate regions in Denmark. The main design criteria are related to requirements for a long-term experiment and the need of performing studies and experiments within the experiment itself