Effect of conventional and organic farming on crop yielding and water erosion intensity on sloping farmland

Abstract

The pro-health and pro-environmental assets of organic farming are a reason why this system is now promoted in agriculture. The objective of the research was to determine the effect of conventional and organic crop production (potato, oat, and spring vetch) on the yield, water erosion, losses of NPK nutrients, LAI, infiltration, and fresh mass of earthworms. From 2019 to 2021, a two-factor field experiment was carried out at the Mountain Experimental Station located in Czyrna (Southern Poland). The first factor included farming systems: conventional and organic. The second factor consisted of 3 crops grown with the use of crop rotation: 1. potato with manure; 2. oat; 3. spring vetch. Based on the experiment performed, it was found that the yield of the organically grown crops was on average 18.8% lower compared to that grown conventionally. Under the organic farming system, the mass of sheet wash was on average 6.47% smaller than that under the conventional farming system. As regards the NPK nutrients emitted into the environment, their losses was about 50% lower than that under the conventional system of farming, where there were applied artificially synthesized fertilizers and pesticides.