Assessing weed levels during conversion
Assessing weed levels during conversion


Monitoring pests and diseases in runner beans
Monitoring pests and diseases in runner beans


Annual soil sampling in Devon
Annual soil sampling in Devon


Research - Current projects

Conversion to Organic Field Vegetable Production

(Defra OF 0191 & OF 0126T)

Aims:

To provide information on the agronomic and economic performance during conversion from conventional systems to organic systems with field vegetables.

Background:

At present the domestic supply of organic vegetables in the UK is insufficient to meet consumer demand. Consequently most of the organic vegetables on the market are imported. However, despite the strong demand for organic produce, conventional growers remain reluctant to convert their land to organic production; the lack of information and advice relating to conversion to organic systems being perceived as the major barrier for individual growers to change. To address this situation, the overall aim of this project is to provide information on the physical and economic performance during conversion to field vegetable production.

Approaches:

The study involves 11 sites that are undergoing conversion. Two are on experimental farms (HRI Wellesbourne and Kirton) and the other nine are on commercial holdings. The main site is a 13 ha unit, Hunts Mill, at Horticulture Research International (HRI) Wellesbourne, which is being converted from a conventional arable system to an organic system with a mixed rotation of field vegetables, cereals and fertility building crops. This unit was converted in two stages, with half of the area going into conversion in 1995 and the second half in 1996. The first organic vegetables were grown in 1998. At this site grass/clover leys (cut and mulched), winter green manures and green waste compost are used to build and maintain soil fertility and the performance of rotations with different lengths of fertility-building periods are being compared.

The reference farms have been selected to represent different scenarios of conversion. There are farms that are converting from intensive conventional vegetable production to organic systems with field vegetables and fertility-building crops. There are also farms, like the unit at HRI Wellesbourne, which are converting from conventional cereal systems to organic systems with cereals and vegetables and from mixed conventional livestock systems to organic systems with livestock, cereals and vegetables. The farms have also been selected to include different soil types, sizes, marketing outlets and geographic locations e.g. north and south Lincolnshire, Lancashire, Devon, Cornwall Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire. On four of the reference farms the conversions were started in 1997 and on the other six farms they started in 1998 or will be starting in 1999.

For all of the farms conversion plans with details of target rotations, strategies for fertility building and weed control and projected machinery and labour requirements were prepared at the start of the conversion. These are reviewed on an annual basis. Feasibility studies projecting financial outcomes have been carried out for some of the farms. On all of the farms, agronomic performance of the conversions are monitored by assessing crop yields, removal and return of nutrients, soil nutrient status and occurrence of weeds, pests and diseases. The economic viability is also assessed evaluating parameters such as crop gross margins and net farm income.

Dissemination:

The results from the eleven case studies will be evaluated and used to provide data, advice and recommendations for farmers undergoing or considering conversion. The results have been disseminated in collaboration with the Organic Advisory Service at Elm Farm Research Centre (EFRC) and will be incorporated into the Organic Farm Management Handbook. The information will also be disseminated at Open Days and Workshops, through technical articles in the farming press as well as through publications in scientific journals.

Collaborators:

This project is led by HDRA and is carried out in collaboration with HRI, Wellesbourne and Kirton, the Organic Advisory Service at EFRC, the Institute of Rural Studies, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and nine commercial farms.


Project reports and papers



Comments

No comments at present


    Enter the large characters, or the result of the sum, from the image above



    All content © Garden Organic  |  Registered Charity No 298104

    Garden Organic is the working name of the Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA).
    We are not responsible for the content of external web sites.