Companion cropping for organic field vegetables (OF0181)

Typical organic crop rotations are extensive with at least one year in four as a fertility building crop. However, the economic viability of organic systems may be compromised by having 75% or less of the farm productive at one time, limited further by the absence of the Arable Area Payments Scheme, particularly Set-aside, for vegetable crops. In addition, the system gives rise to a high fertility/low fertility sequence which is inefficient in terms of nutrient management (particularly nitrogen). To try to address this, the use of permanent beds of companion crop grown alongside the vegetable crops has been developed under various conditions around the world and is perceived as a possible alternative in organic husbandry. Companion crops also have the potential to reduce the impact of pests and weeds. A potential disadvantage of companion crops is competition with crop plants for space, light, water and nutrients. The companion crop, therefore, is likely to have to be mown or grazed to control competition and encourage nutrient transfer. On the positive side, companion crops have the potential to reduce the impact of pests, and weeds. The challenge is, therefore, to develop appropriate crop layouts and machinery to balance these interactions and result in profitable crop production. Project OF0181 was delivered with Elm Farm Research Centre and was guided by a Steering Group. The core of the project was the further development and evaluation of a seven-crop companion crop system initially developed by Professor Martin Wolfe at Wakelyns Agroforesty, Fressingfield, Suffolk, a Soil Association registered organic farm. The system was based on 1.5 m beds, with three 20 cm vegetable rows alternating with 30 cm leguminous companion strips. Within each bed, there was a seven-course crop rotation: potatoes, alliums, Umbellifers, spring oats, legumes, brassicas and spring wheat. To establish and manage this system, Martin Wolfe and his co-workers (P. J. & M. J. Wards) had by spring 1999 developed a range of purpose-built machinery including a strip rotavator, 3 row precision seed drill, straight tine or L-blade strip cultivator with/without discs, rotary strip mower, strip irrigator and a strip compost spreader. Two large experiments were established at Wakelyns in spring 1999; it was planned that these be continued for the full three years of the project. One experiment compared a factorial combination of a) three companion crops: white clover, vetch and nil, b) companion crop mowings left to fall, or deflected onto the vegetable rows, and c) the presence or absence of added composted manure. A second experiment compared factorial combinations of winter cover crops of rye and vetch grown in the vegetable rows with additional approved inputs of phosphorus and potassium. All seven crops were grown but assessments were made only on brassicas, alliums and carrots. Conclusions Companion cropping has the potential to improve economic viability, and pest, disease and annual weed control in organic cropping systems, particularly in field vegetables which are not supported by the Arable Area Payment Scheme. However, in practice, in project OF0181 these benefits were not realised: • Grass weeds were favoured and were difficult to control once established. • There were problems with seedbed preparation and crop establishment; these may be less on lighter soils. • Some crop species were better suited to companion cropping. In 2000 and 2001, there was: - a high yield in both years from beetroot, spinach, chard and kale; - a high yield in one year from Brassicas (some cabbage, swede, turnip), endive, lettuce, parsley and parsnip; - a low yield in both years from Allium crops (leeks, onions), Brassica (sprouts, some cabbage, calabrese), carrots, celeriac, broad and dwarf beans. • Clover used soil available nitrogen in preference to fixed nitrogen, starving less competitive crops such as alliums of the nutrient and resulting in very low yields. • Even with reliable yields, companion cropping in the form tested may only be suited to small-scale labour-intensive production. A system with greater spatial separation of companion and vegetable crops, with vegetables and companion crops grown alone in separate beds or strips, may give the reported benefits of companion cropping with less competition and be practical for large scale production

Evolutionary breeding of healthy wheat: from plot to farm

Genetically diverse Composite Cross Populations (CCPs) may be useful in environmentally variable low-input systems as an alternative to pure line varieties. They are formed by hybridising lines with diverse evolutionary origins, bulking the F1 progeny, and allowing natural selection of the progeny in successive crop environments. CCPs derived from 10 high yielding parents (YCCPs), 12 high quality parents (QCCPs), or all 22 parents (YQCCPs), were grown at four sites (2 organic, 2 conventional) in the UK; they are currently (2006) in F5. The YCCPs out yielded the QCCPs, which had better quality characteristics. Although the CCPs performed within the range of the parents, the values obtained were often better than the mean of the parents. Some population samples are now being grown on farms and other sites in England, France, Germany and Hungary

The identification and production of varieties that increase the value of oats as a profitable component of organic production

Two experiments, one comprising husked, and the other naked, oats were established at Wakelyns Agroforestry, Suffolk in October 2004 to determine traits and varieties of oats suited to organic systems, and whether growing variety mixtures conferred any advantage. Unselected F2 breeding lines were also included for selection. Husked varieties had relatively higher yields; this may have been partly the result of poor establishment in the naked varieties. Variety height was found to be an important characteristic; tall oat varieties out-yielded the dwarfs. Two of the three variety mixtures containing the naked oat variety Expression yielded 8 and 9 % higher than the average of the component varieties. The data will be verified in the second year of replicated trials (2005/06), which will include the best performing husked and naked varieties, and a mixture of superior IGER-bred F2 breeding lines

Developing modern multifunctional agroforestry systems for sustainable intensification

Agroforestry is a land-use system that integrates trees and shrubs with crops and/or livestock production. It has been identified by the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD, 2008) as a ‘win-win’ approach that balances the production of commodities (food, feed, fuel, fibre, etc.) with non-commodity outputs such as environmental protection and cultural and landscape amenities. This paper will review the potential of agroforestry as part of a multifunctional working landscape in temperate regions, and will consider management and policy implications of widespread adoption of this form of land-use

Sustainable production of organic wheat

The aim of the project is to use an ecological approach to analyse the interactions of a range of key agronomic variables in organic wheat production (wheat genotype, spatial arrangement of seed, seed density and wheat/white clover bi-cropping) to determine an optimal approach to improved and stabilised production. The fi rst set of data revealed that seedling competition was infl uenced by seed rate and drilling arrangement. Furthermore, the variety Hereward had increased emergence and establishment to Aristos. An interaction exists between wheat variety, seed rate and drilling arrangement on the level of canopy cover at different developmental stages – these factors are important for the suppression of weeds. The input of farmers in the selection of trial variables ensures results have a direct application to the industry. The results of yield and quality at harvest will provide further insights into the interaction of agronomic variables

Asteroid and comet flux in the neighborhood of the earth

Significant advances in the knowledge and understanding of the flux of large solid objects in the neighborhood of Earth have occurred. The best estimates of the collision rates with Earth of asteroids and comets and the corresponding production of impact craters are presented. Approximately 80 Earth-crossing asteroids were discovered through May 1988. Among 42 new Earth-crossing asteroids found in the last decade, two-thirds were discovered from observations at Palomar Observatory and 15 were discovered or independently detected in dedicated surveys with the Palomar Observatory and 15 were discovered or independently detected in dedicated surveys with the Palomar 46 cm Schmidt. Probabilities of collision with Earth have been calculated for about two-thirds of the known Earth-crossing asteroids. When multiplied by the estimated population of Earth-crossers, this yields an estimated present rate of collision about 65 pct higher than that previously reported. Spectrophotometric data obtained chiefly in the last decade show that the large majority of obvserved Earth-crossers are similar to asteroids found in the inner part of the main belt. The number of discovered Earth-crossing comets is more than 4 times greater than the number of known Earth-crossing asteroids, but reliable data on the sizes of comet nuclei are sparse. The flux of comets almost certainly was highly variable over late geologic time, owing to the random perturbation of the Oort comet cloud by stars in the solar neighborhood

Asteroid flux and impact cratering rate on Venus

By the end of 1990, 65 Venus-crossing asteroids were recognized; these represent 59 percent of the known Earth-crossing asteroids. Further studies, chiefly numerical integrations of orbit evolution, may reveal one or two more Venus crossers among the set of discovered asteroids. A Venus crosser was defined as an asteroid whose orbit can intersect the orbit of Venus as a result of secular (long range) perturbations. Venus crossers revolving on orbits that currently overlap the orbit of Venus are called Venapol asteroids, and those on orbit that don't overlap are called Venamor asteroids; 42 Venapols and 23 Venamors were recognized. Collision probabilities with Venus for 60 of the known Venus crossers were determined

Understanding the measurement of hunger and food insecurity in the elderly

The elderly are one of the population subgroups at greatest risk for hunger and food insecurity. To date, no accurate measures of this problem have been developed. What is needed are a thorough understanding of the phenomenon, and an assessment of how the elderly perceive and answer items commonly used to measure hunger and food insecurity in other subgroups. In-depth, open-ended interviews were conducted with forty-one low-income urban black and rural white residents of upstate New York. Results suggest a conceptual framework of food insecurity in the elderly with two significant differences from frameworks proposed for younger families: the major role of health problems and physical disabilities, and the impact of personal history on perceptions of food insecurity. In a telephone follow-up (approximately six months after the initial interviews) twenty-four respondents were asked commonly used food insecurity questionnaire items from six different sources. Results suggest that hunger and food insecurity among the elderly can be measured directly. The commonly used measures tested here will help categorize the stages of food insecurity. However, these direct measures might underestimate the prevalence of food insecurity because of a perceived reluctance to report problems with food.

Crisis Neopatrimonialism: Russia’s New Political Economy and the 2018 World Cup

The economic crisis since 2010 has affected Russia’s political economy by reducing the income available to fund political loyalty—the key mechanism of neopatrimonialism. Through an investigation of key infrastructure development projects, we examine how this crisis has affected the preparations for the 2018 Football World Cup. In so doing we introduce the concept of crisis neopatrimonialism, referring to the political and economic adaptations of a neopatrimonial system in response to economic crisis. Our research uncovered three major adaptations of neopatrimonialism in the context of World Cup preparations: a retreat of private money and concomitant rise in public funding, a reordering of favored elites, and higher costs of loyalty. © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis.FIGURE 1 Russian GDP and GNI/PPP, 2010 – 2015, with predictions through 2017 (indicated by the letter "e"). Adjusted for inflation. Sources: World Bank, Russian Ministry of Economic Development, Vedomosti, Russian Federal State Statistics Service, International Monetary Fund.This work was supported by a Swiss National Science Professorship under grant number PP00P1_144699