Browsing by Subject "Nutrient use"

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    Sustainable growth of organic farming in the EU requires a rethink of nutrient supply
    (2024) Reimer, Marie; Oelofse, Myles; Müller-Stöver, Dorette; Möller, Kurt; Bünemann, Else K.; Bianchi, Silvia; Vetemaa, Airi; Drexler, Dóra; Trugly, Bence; Raskin, Ben; Blogg, Hugh; Rasmussen, Anton; Verrastro, Vincenzo; Magid, Jakob; Reimer, Marie; Institute of Crop Science, Fertilization and Soil Matter Dynamics, University of Hohenheim, Fruwirthstr. 20, 77593, Stuttgart, Germany; Oelofse, Myles; Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871, Frederiksberg, Denmark; Müller-Stöver, Dorette; Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871, Frederiksberg, Denmark; Möller, Kurt; Institute of Crop Science, Fertilization and Soil Matter Dynamics, University of Hohenheim, Fruwirthstr. 20, 77593, Stuttgart, Germany; Bünemann, Else K.; Department of Soil Sciences, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Box 219, Ackerstrasse 113, 5070, Frick, Switzerland; Bianchi, Silvia; Department of Soil Sciences, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Box 219, Ackerstrasse 113, 5070, Frick, Switzerland; Vetemaa, Airi; Estonian Organic Farming Foundation (EOFF), Kungla 1a, 50403, Tartu, Estonia; Drexler, Dóra; Hungarian Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, Miklós Tér 1, 1033, Budapest, Hungary; Trugly, Bence; Hungarian Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, Miklós Tér 1, 1033, Budapest, Hungary; Raskin, Ben; Soil Association, Spear House, 51 Victoria Street, BS1 6AD, Bristol, UK; Blogg, Hugh; Soil Association, Spear House, 51 Victoria Street, BS1 6AD, Bristol, UK; Rasmussen, Anton; Innovation Centre for Organic Farming, Agro Food Park 26, 8200, Aarhus, Denmark; Verrastro, Vincenzo; Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari, Valenzano (IAM-B), Italy; Magid, Jakob; Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871, Frederiksberg, Denmark
    The European Commission recently set a target of increasing the area of organic agriculture to 25% by 2030. To achieve this, it is imperative to understand current nutrient use patterns and identify sustainable nutrient supply opportunities. To that end, this study assessed the sustainability of the current nutrient origin and supply of 71 arable organic farms in 8 European regions. Deficient nutrient supply was found on 24%, 66%, and 56% of farms for nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, respectively. On average, we show a moderate surplus for nitrogen (28 kg ha −1 ), while phosphorus and potassium balances were close to zero (− 1 and 2 kg ha −1 , respectively). Large variation between countries and farm types shows a divide between more intensive systems relying on external inputs, and less intensive systems facing nutrient deficits and lower outputs. We show, for the first time, the extent of current use of external input types, where conventional manures supplied 17–26% of external nutrients and inputs from non-agricultural origin supplied 31–41%. A large proportion of nutrient sources within the last group are materials derived from urban wastes. The sustainable expansion of the organic sector will require increased use of locally available recycled fertilizers from urban wastes, and acceptance of such sources by organic farmers is shown to be high, provided they are considered safe.