Comparative study of growing winter small grain cereals in organic and conventional production systems

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to compare the yields and yield components of 3 winter small grain cereals (wheat ('NS 40S'), oat ('NS Jadar') and rye ('NS Savo')) grown in conventional and organic production systems. The experiment was conducted as a block design with three replicates at the Bački Petrovac experiment field of the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops in 2016/2017. The fertilization of conventional cereals examined was based on mineral fertilization, whereas foliar fertilizers with green microalgae (Chlorella vulgaris) were applied in the organic production system. The results obtained indicate differences in the number of organic and conventional plants per m2 , particularly in the instance of winter wheat (277/m2 in the organic production system and 545/m2 in conventional production system). Relative to all the cereals observed, significantly higher grain yields per ha were determined in the conventional production system as a result of the mineral nitrogen addition. The research has shown that soil fertility and cultural practices play a decisive role in realizing the full yield potential of winter small grain cereals cultivated in the organic farming system.

Keywords

• winter cereals
• yield components
• organic agriculture