Evaluating inputs for organic farming – a new system. Proposals of the ORGANIC INPUTS EVALUATION project

This volume contains proposals for criteria for evaluation of plant protection products, fertilisers and soil conditioners1 to be used in organic agriculture. These ideas were developed in the course of the European Union (EU) Concerted Action project ‘ORGANIC INPUTS EVALUATION’ (QLK5-CT-2002-02565). For more information on this project see the end of this volume or visit the project website www.organicinputs.org. The documents in this volume are proposals elaborated by the project consortium and external experts. They were discussed with a broader audience at a public conference held in Brussels on October 13, 2005, and have been amended accordingly. Our proposals also include a “criteria matrix”, which is in Microsoft Excel format, and therefore stands as a separate file. The criteria matrix is discussed in section 5, but we strongly recommend that you consult the original document. To illustrate the use of the matrix, we have further prepared two case studies, which are also separate Excel files. All of these files are contained on the CD, and can also be downloaded from the project website. Currently, Regulation 2092/91 is under revision. We hope that our ideas can be incorporated into the regulation during this revision! In addition, we strongly encourage national institutions to make use of our proposals at the national level

Decision support system for integrated management of mycotoxins in feed and food supply chains

Mycotoxins present a global food safety threat of our feed and food. Mycotoxins are toxic metabolites of certain fungi in agricultural products that are harmful to animal and human health. The presence of mycotoxins in these products depends on a variety of management and environmental factors in the field, during storage and/or processing of feed and food commodities. To date, information on mycotoxin management is available, but is not easy to access by supply chain actors. This study aimed to design, build and test a Decision Support System (DSS) that can help decision making on mycotoxin management by various actors along the feed and food supply chains. As part of this, available knowledge and data on mycotoxin prevention and control were collected and synthesised into easy to understand guidelines and tools for various groups of end-users. The DSS consists of four different modules: (a) static information module and (b) scenario analysis module, (c) dynamic module for forecasting mycotoxins, and (d) dynamic module for real-time monitoring of moulds/mycotoxins in grain silos. Intended end-users are all end-user groups for modules (a) and (b); growers and collectors for module (c) and; post-harvest storage managers for module (d). The DSS is user-friendly and accessible through PCs, tablets and smartphones (see https://mytoolbox-platform.com/). In various phases of the DSS development, the tool has been demonstrated to groups of end-users, and their suggestions have been taken into account, whenever possible. Also, a near final version has been tested with individual farmers on the easiness to use the system. In this way we aimed to maximise the DSS uptake by actors along the chain. Ultimately, this DSS will improve decision making on mycotoxin management; it will assist in reducing mycotoxin contamination in the key crops of Europe, thereby reducing economic losses and improving animal and human health

Evaluating inputs for organic farming - a new system

This CD contains criteria for the evaluation of plant protection products, fertilizers and soil conditioners to be used in organic agriculture. These ideas were developed in the course of the European Union Concerted Action project «ORGANIC INPUTS EVALUATION» (QLK5-CT-2002-02565). For more information visit the project website www.organicinputs.org. The editors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Commission of the European Communities, under Key Action 5 of the Fifth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (QLK5-CT-2002-02565 «ORGANIC INPUTS EVALUATION») and co-funding by the Swiss Federal Office for Education and Science (BBW 02.0113)

DON content in oat grains in Norway related to weather conditions at different growth stages

High concentrations of the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON), produced by Fusarium graminearum have occurred frequently in Norwegian oats recently. Early prediction of DON levels is important for farmers, authorities and the Cereal Industry. In this study, the main weather factors influencing myco-toxin accumulation were identified and two models to predict the risk of DON in oat grains in Norway were developed: (1) as a warning system for farmers to decide if and when to treat with fungicide, and (2) for authorities and industry to use at harvest to identify potential food safety problems. Oat grain samples from farmers’ fields were collected together with weather data (2004–2013)\ud A mathematical model was developed and used to esti-\ud mate phenology windows of growth stages in oats (til-\ud lering, flowering etc.). Weather summarisations were\ud then calculated within these windows, and the Spearman\ud rank correlation factor calculated between DON-\ud contamination in oats at harvest and the weather\ud summarisations for each phenological window. DON\ud contamination was most clearly associated with the\ud weather conditions around flowering and close to har-\ud vest. Warm, rainy and humid weather during and around\ud flowering increased the risk of DON accumulation in\ud oats, as did dry periods during germination/seedling\ud growth and tillering. Prior to harvest, warm and humid\ud weather conditions followed by cool and dry conditions\ud were associated with a decreased risk of DON accumu-\ud lation. A prediction model, including only pre-flowering\ud weather conditions, adequately forecasted risk of DON\ud contamination in oat, and can aid in decisions about\ud fungicide treatments

Decision support system for integrated management of mycotoxins in feed and food supply chains

Mycotoxins present a global food safety threat of our feed and food. Mycotoxins are toxic metabolites of certain fungi in agricultural products that are harmful to animal and human health. The presence of mycotoxins in these products depends on a variety of management and environmental factors in the field, during storage and/or processing of feed and food commodities. To date, information on mycotoxin management is available, but is not easy to access by supply chain actors. This study aimed to design, build and test a Decision Support System (DSS) that can help decision making on mycotoxin management by various actors along the feed and food supply chains. As part of this, available knowledge and data on mycotoxin prevention and control were collected and synthesised into easy to understand guidelines and tools for various groups of end-users. The DSS consists of four different modules: (a) static information module and (b) scenario analysis module, (c) dynamic module for forecasting mycotoxins, and (d) dynamic module for real-time monitoring of moulds/mycotoxins in grain silos. Intended end-users are all enduser groups for modules (a) and (b); growers and collectors for module (c) and; post-harvest storage managers for module (d). The DSS is user-friendly and accessible through PCs, tablets and smartphones (see https://mytoolboxplatform. com/). In various phases of the DSS development, the tool has been demonstrated to groups of end-users, and their suggestions have been taken into account, whenever possible. Also, a near final version has been tested with individual farmers on the easiness to use the system. In this way we aimed to maximise the DSS uptake by actors along the chain. Ultimately, this DSS will improve decision making on mycotoxin management; it will assist in reducing mycotoxin contamination in the key crops of Europe, thereby reducing economic losses and improving animal and human health