Roots and Compost, - organic crop production under reduced nutrient availability

Abstract

With plans to phase out manure import from conventional farms, it will become increasingly difficult to secure plant nutrients for organic crops. In the RoCo project we will address this problem through three approaches: 1) study variation in root growth and root hair formation among cultivars of wheat, onion and lettuce, to identify superior cultivars and critical root traits which can be used as breeding objectives for new cultivars for organic farming, 2) study recirculation of urban nutrient sources through composting, to make them good fertilizers and study what make them acceptable for consumers and organic farmers, and 3) with wheat baking quality as example, study whether we can solve some of the quality problems caused by nutrient limitation by the way we use the product rather than by increasing nutrient supply in the field. We will do research within all three main themes and interactions between them, i.e. whether genotypes with superior root traits are better at using nutrients from the composts, and whether some wheat genotypes vary in their ability to utilize compost to achieve god baking quality. We will develop and test improved compost products, and develop bread baking including the use of natural additives to enhance backing quality. Demonstration activities will be related to all parts of the project. Composts will be tested for different wheat types at organic farms and differences in root traits or baking quality will be demonstrated at open field days