Designing and testing crop rotations for organic farming. Proceedings from an international workshop

Summary

Organic farming aims at establishing stable and harmonic farming systems, which integrate livestock and crop production. No industrial fertilisers, pesticides or growth regulators are used. The nutrient management is based on the use of animal manure, green manure, crop residues and on nitrogen fixation by legumes. Weeds, pests and diseases are controlled through the use of versatile crop rotations, mechanical weed control and a proper choice of varieties.
The multifunctional crop rotation is thus a key component in organic farming. The design of these crop rotations is a major challenge for farmers as well as for agronomic research.
The different aspects of crop rotations have been investigated by a range of methods, including long-term trials, factorial experiments and on-farm monitoring. However, there has been little effort into bringing these results and experiences together into a common understanding of the functioning of crop rotations and the methods by which they are best explored.
In this context, there is a great need for international co-operation. A workshop on crop rotations for organic farming was therefore organised in Denmark in June 1999. The workshop aimed at bringing together researchers working with different aspects of crop rotations for organic farming.
This proceeding presents the lectures given at the workshop, as well as summaries of the discussions. The desire is to contribute to the development of research in crop rotations in organic farming, and to promote the international co-operation in the area.