Organic Vs. Conventional Farming: No clear answers

The population and diversity of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in agricultural soils varies more according to what crop was previously farmed than with whether those soils are organically or conventionally farmed, according to a paper in the February 2011 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

This study was conducted as part of the ongoing and long-standing Nafferton Factorial Systems Comparison study in Northumberland in northeast England, UK. The Nafferton study has conventional and organic plots side by side, enabling precise comparisons between the two methods.

In the study, the researchers analysed soil samples from both sets of plots, once each in March, in June, after application of fertiliser (manure to organic plots, chemical fertiliser to conventional), and in September, following application of pest control measures. Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine from Perendale Publishers.