RedGage

Description

Since 1981, the Rodale Farming Systems Trial (RFST) differentiated organic (org) from conventional (con) farming systems showing that org systems can have a transformative potential to increase soil quality. On the other hand, throughout the RFST history, con system never increased soil organic carbon (SOC) nor soil nitrogen, (SON). During the first 5 years, org systems were increased significantly (p = 0.05) for SOC and SON. Organic farming systems do not employ org restricted inputs i.e. synthetic fertilizers and pesticides instead they relied on biologically based inputs such as cover crops, extended legume rotation and organic amendment. Conventional system used recommended fertilizer and herbicide without biological based inputs. Both Org systems, significantly increased both SOC and SON but were not statistically different from each other. Increased SOC and SON opened a research venue supporting testing hypotheses of how soil improvement can affect i) crop nutrition ii) disease