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| Merfield, Charles; Moller, Henrik; Manhire, Jon; Rosin, Chris; Norton, Solis; Carey, Peter; Hunt, Lesley; Reid, John; Fairweather, John; Benge, Jayson; Le Quellec, Isabelle; Campbell, Hugh; Lucock, David; Saunders, Caroline; MacLeod, Catriona; Barber, Andrew; McCarthy, Alaric. |
| Our review concludes that organic standards need to account for a broader set of criteria in order to retain claims to ‘sustainability’. Measurements of the ecological, economic and social outcomes from over 96 kiwifruit, sheep/beef and dairy farms in New Zealand between 2004 and 2012 by The Agricultural Research Group on Sustainability (ARGOS) project showed some enhanced ecosystem services from organic agriculture that will assist a “land-sharing” approach for sustainable land management. However, the efficiency of provisioning services is reduced in organic systems and this potentially undermines a “land-sparing” strategy to secure food security and ecosystem services. Other aspects of the farm operation that are not considered in the organic standards... |
| Tipo: Journal paper |
Palavras-chave: "Organics" in general; Environmental aspects; Regulation. |
| Ano: 2015 |
URL: http://orgprints.org/29260/7/29260.pdf |
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| Merfield, Charles. |
| There is a belief, going back to the foundation of organic agriculture, that nutrient replacement, i.e., the use of ‘fertilisers’, within organic agriculture is not required. Scientific theories and laws as well as practical farming evidence, now conclusively shows that this belief is incorrect, and nutrient replacement / cycling is essential for all forms of agriculture including organic. This paper is an explanation of why nutrient replacement / cycling is essential, starting at the most fundamental levels of the physical laws of nature, progressively building a holistic / systems based view of the behaviour of nutrients, and also energy, in farm systems and the biosphere as a whole. While such a view may at first appear overly detailed, even irrelevant... |
| Tipo: Conference paper, poster, etc. |
Palavras-chave: Research methodology and philosophy; Farm nutrient management. |
| Ano: 2008 |
URL: http://orgprints.org/19852/1/C.MerfieldConfPaper08.pdf |
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| Merfield, Charles; Kennedy, Tom. |
| • In 2000 an organic rotation research and demonstration experiment was set up at Teagasc (Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority) Oak Park, Co. Carlow, with an overall aim ‘to improve the yield and quality of organic arable crops in Ireland’ • A field scale, long term, stockless seven year rotation experiment was established having three replicates. The single rotation consisted of two years grass / clover pasture followed by five years of cropping, three in cereals, one potato and one legume crop. • The area was previously in long term silage pasture, which provided a good base from which to convert to organic. • Within and across the plots a range of ‘component research’ was undertaken, mainly cultivar comparison and some sowing rate... |
| Tipo: Report |
Palavras-chave: Crop combinations and interactions Cereals; Pulses and oilseeds Crop husbandry Root crops. |
| Ano: 2008 |
URL: http://orgprints.org/30936/1/Teagasc%20Organic%20Stockless%20Arable%20Rotation%20Experiment%20-%201999-2007%20Review%20and%20Analysis.pdf |
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