Feasibility study for organic farming

Summary

Even though the ethos of organic agriculture concerns animal welfare and environmentally friendly production, certain undesirable inputs are permitted in organic farming by the European Commission Regulation (EC) No 889/2008. The EU Horizon 2020 project Organic-PLUS (https://organic-plus.net) has investigated the possibility to phase out a range of contentious inputs: Plant inputs: Copper, sulphur, and mineral oils; Soil inputs: Conventional manure, plastic, and peat; Livestock inputs: conventional straw, antibiotic medicine, and anthelmintic medicine (against parasites).
Organic-PLUS has performed a feasibility study to investigate advantages and disadvantages of both the current production methods with the contentious inputs and proposed alternative methods where the- inputs have been phased out or substituted. The feasibility, sustainability and environmental impact have been evaluated involving stakeholders and decision-makers (e.g., farmers, advisers, developers). In this multi-actor approach seven case farms in Denmark (Northern Europe), Germany (Central Europe) and Spain (Southern Europe) were selected, including the following organic production branches: Pig, poultry, vegetables, cereals, potato, apple, and wine.
Results of the case farm studies include:
· It is feasible to replace plastic folio for weed control with alternative products (bioplastic or paper mulching)
· It is feasible to replace conventional animal manure with alternative fertilizers, such as digestates from biogas production, green waste compost or organic bio fertilizer, combined with crop rotation with legumes
· It is not feasible to phase out antibiotics and anthelmintics completely since sick animals must be treated. However, it is feasible to reduce the consumption significantly without reducing production quantity and quality
· It is feasible to replace sulphur for apple production with organic approved fungicides
· It is not feasible to phase out copper completely for the wine varieties grown today without a very large decrease in quality and yield.