MoLTE - Montepaldi Long Term Experiment

Design period: (1991—)

Description

In the conventional fields nitrogen and phosphorous are applied by synthetic-chemical fertilizers while in the two organic systems the nutrients are supplied by legumes included in the rotation. In the organic systems weeds are controlled by an appropriate rotation and only occasionally weed hoeing and false beds for maize and sunflower crops. In the conventional fields herbicides are applied after the sowing.

Design description

The experiment has two organic managed systems called “Old Organic” (OO) and “New Organic” (NO) and one “Conventional” system (CO). The organic systems differ in the time they were converted to organic. The Old Organic section was converted into organic in 1991 (EC reg. 2092/91 and following regulations), while the New Organic was managed under EC regulations 2078/92 (integrated farming) from 1992-2000 and converted into organic management in 2001. The two organic systems are each split into 4 plots, each plot growing a different phase of a four year rotation. The conventional system is split into 2 plots each growing a different phase of a two year rotation.

Number of plots

10

Number of harvests per year

1

Crops

Crop	Years grown
maize
sunflower
legumes
wheat
barley

Crop Rotations

organic

• 1
  sunflower

  or maize
• 2
  legumes
• 3
  wheat

  or barley
• 4
  legumes

conventional

• 1
  sunflower

  or maize
• 2
  wheat

  or barley

Factor

Factor name

Factor levels

farming system

organic agriculture

1991—

Old organic

organic agriculture

2001—

New organic

conventional agriculture

1991—

Measurements

Variable	Material	Units	Frequency	Scale	Comment
grain yield trait	Not specified
grain quality traits	Not specified
soil organic matter	Not specified
biodiversity	Not specified