Assessing the ecological soundness of organic and conventional agriculture by means of life cycle assessment (LCA) - a case study of leek production

Purpose – Sustainable agriculture implies the ability of agro-ecosystems to remain productive in the long-term. It is not easy to point out unambiguously whether or not current production systems meet this sustainability demand. A priori thinking would suggest that organic crops are environmentally favourable, but may ignore the effect of reduced productivity, which shifts the potential impact to other parts of the food provision system. The purpose of this paper is to assess the ecological sustainability of conventional and organic leek production by means of life cycle assessment (LCA). Design/methodology/approach – A cradle-to-farm gate LCA is applied, based on real farm data from two research centres. For a consistent comparison, two functional units (FU) were defined: 1ha and 1?kg of leek production. Findings – Assessed on an area basis, organic farming shows a more favourable environmental profile. These overall benefits are strongly reduced when the lower yields are taken into account. Related to organic farming it is therefore important that solutions are found to substantially increase the yields without increasing the environmental burden. Related to conventional farming, important potential for environmental improvements are in optimising the farm nutrient flows, reducing pesticide use and increasing its self-supporting capacity. Research limitations/implications – The research is a cradle-to-farm gate LCA, future research can be expanded to comprise all phases from cradle-to-grave to get an idea of the total sustainability of our present food consumption patterns. The research is also limited to the case of leek production. Future research can apply the methodology to other crops. Originality/value – To date, there is still lack of clear evidence of the added value of organic farming compared to conventional farming on environmental basis. Few studies have compared organic and conventional food production by means of LCA. This paper addresses these issues

Correlação entre os métodos Mehlich 1, Melich 3 e resina para análise de P e K em solos dos tabuleiros Csoterios.

A pesquisa apresenta os resultados da comparação entre o Mehlich-3 (M3) e a resina com o Mehlich-1 (M1) em solos dos tabuleiros costeiros.bitstream/CPATC/20018/1/bp_33.pd

Bactérias promotoras de crescimento isoladas da rizosfera do feijoeiro.

Várias condições ambientais limitam a fixação simbiótica do N2 pelo feijoeiro. Por ser uma cultura muito utilizada por pequenos agricultores, as adubações nitrogenada e fosfatada não são feitas de forma adequadas, resultando na maioria das vezes em queda da produtividade. A utilização de rizobactérias promotoras do crescimento de planta (RPCP) tem surgido como técnica promissora para aumentar a produtividade do feijoeiro. Este trabalho teve como objetivo isolar RPCPs com capacidade para solubilizar fosfato e também como antagônicas a determinadas doenças do feijoeiro. Das 172 bactérias isoladas apenas 23 mostraram-se capazes de solubilizar fosfato em meio de cultura. No teste de antagonismo, somente o isolado T62 mostrou potencial para controle da antracnose (C.lindemuthianum) e da murcha do fusarium (Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. phaseoli)

Estudo de solos do município de Esperança do Sul - RS

bitstream/item/30800/1/Circular-49.pdf; bitstream/item/33471/1/aptidao.pdf; bitstream/item/33473/1/vegetacao.pd

Estudos de Solos do Município de Aceguá, RS

bitstream/item/130155/1/Circular-157.pd