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International audience; Organic farming may contribute substantially to future agricultural production worldwide by improving soil quality and pest control, thereby reducing environmental impacts of conventional farming. We investigated in a comprehensive way soil chemical, as well as below and aboveground biological parameters of two organic and two conventional wheat farming systems that primarily differed in fertilization and weed management strategies. Contrast analyses identified management related differences between “herbicide-free” bioorganic (BIOORG) and biodynamic (BIODYN) systems and conventional systems with (CONFYM) or without manure (CONMIN) and herbicide application within a long-term agricultural experiment (DOK trial, Switzerland). Soil carbon content was significantly higher in systems receiving farmyard manure and concomitantly microbial biomass (fungi and bacteria) was increased. Microbial activity parameters, such as microbial basal respiration and nitrogen mineralization, showed an opposite pattern, suggesting that soil carbon in the conventional system (CONFYM) was more easily accessible to microorganisms than in organic systems. Bacterivorous nematodes and earthworms were most abundant in systems that received farmyard manure, which is in line with the responses of their potential food sources (microbes and organic matter). Mineral fertilizer application detrimentally affected enchytraeids and Diptera larvae, whereas aphids benefited. Spider abundance was favoured by organic management, most likely a response to increased prey availability from the belowground subsystem or increased weed coverage. In contrast to most soil-based, bottom-up controlled interactions, the twofold higher abundance of this generalist predator group in organic systems likely contributed to the significantly lower abundance of aboveground herbivore pests (aphids) in these systems. Long-term organic farming and the application of farmyard manure promoted soil quality, microbial biomass and fostered natural enemies and ecosystem engineers, suggesting enhanced nutrient cycling and pest control. Mineral fertilizers and herbicide application, in contrast, affected the potential for top-down control of aboveground pests negatively and reduced the organic carbon levels. Our study indicates that the use of synthetic fertilizers and herbicide application changes interactions within and between below and aboveground components, ultimately promoting negative environmental impacts of agriculture by reducing internal biological cycles and pest control. On the contrary, organic farming fosters microbial and faunal decomposers and this propagates into the aboveground system via generalist predators thereby increasing conservation biological control. However, grain and straw yields were 23% higher in systems receiving mineral fertilizers and herbicides reflecting the trade-off between productivity and environmental responsibility.

Organic farming systems often comprise crops and livestock, recycle farmyard manure for fertilization, and preventive or biocontrol measures are used for plant protection. We determined indicators for soil quality changes in the DOK long-term comparison trial that was initiated in 1978. This replicated field trial comprises organic and integrated (conventional) farming systems that are typical for Swiss agriculture. Livestock based bio-organic (BIOORG), bio-dynamic (BIODYN) and integrated farming systems (CONFYM) were compared at reduced and normal fertilization intensity (0.7 and 1.4 livestock units, LU) in a 7 year crop rotation. A stockless integrated system is fertilized with mineral fertilizers exclusively (CONMIN) and one control treatment remained unfertilized (NOFERT). The CONFYM system is amended with stacked manure, supplemental mineral fertilizers, as well as chemical pesticides. Manure of the BIOORG system is slightly rotted and in BIODYN it is composted aerobically with some herbal additives. In the third crop rotation period at normal fertiliser intensity soil organic carbon (Corg, w/w) in the plough layer (0–20 cm) of the BIODYN system remained constant and decreased by 7% in CONFYM and 9% in BIOORG as compared to the starting values. With no manure application Corg-loss was severest in NOFERT (22%), followed by CONMIN together with the systems at reduced fertiliser intensity (14–16%). Soil pH tended to increase in the organic systems, whereas the integrated systems had the lowest pH values. At the end of the third crop rotation period in 1998 biological soil quality indicators were determined. Compared to soil microbial biomass in the BIODYN systems the CONFYM soils showed 25% lower values and the systems without manure application were lower by 34%. Relative to the BIODYN soils at the same fertilization intensity dehydrogenase activity was 39–42% lower in CONFYM soils and even 62% lower in soils of CONMIN. Soil basal respiration did not differ between farming systems at the same intensity, but when related to microbial biomass (qCO2) it was 20% higher in CONFYM soils and 52% higher in CONMIN as compared to BIODYN, suggesting a higher maintenance requirement of microbial biomass in soils of the integrated systems. The manure based farming systems of the DOK trial are likely to favour an active and fertile soil. Both, Corg and biological soil quality indicators were clearly depending on the quantity and quality of the applied manure types, but soil microbial biomass and activities were much more affected than Corg.

An understanding of agroecosystems is key to determining effective farming systems. Here we report results from a 21-year study of agronomic and ecological performance of biodynamic, bioorganic, and conventional farming systems in Central Europe. We found crop yields to be 20% lower in the organic systems, although input of fertilizer and energy was reduced by 34 to 53% and pesticide input by 97%. Enhanced soil fertility and higher biodiversity found in organic plots may render these systems less dependent on external inputs.