© 2016 FiBL, Bio Suisse
Organic Farming Today
Soil
Organic Farming
Compost
Soil Life
Organic Farming
Soil Tillage
© BLE 2003
Schönebeck
Organic Farming Labels
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Economic cycle of organic farming
operational self
animal feed
operational self
organic fertilizer
CrobAnimal
husbandry
Legumes
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Basic princibles of organic farming
Use of ecologically produced seeds and seedlings
No use of pickling agents
Nitrogen fertilization only with organic substances
Phosphorus, Potassium, Magnesium if necessary with
mineral substancen
Legumes as catch crops
No sythetic pesticides to control pests, diseases and
weeds
Targed crop rotation to preserve fertility and soil health
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Schönebeck
Organic Farming in Germany
Farmers and area of organic farming in
Germany
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Organic Farming in Germany
Share of organic farming in Germany
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Shopping frequency of organic food
exclu
sivly
often
some
times
never
actually future
Shopping frequency of organic food – actually and future
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The Soil
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Compost
Humus Nurients …
Compost
Organic fertilizer
Harvest
Straw
Crops
Humus
Nutrients
12
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Schönebeck
Soil Fertility
«ferztilize the soil, not the plant!»
Bild: FiBL
Soil is a productive Ökosystem
Soil organisms are releasing nutrients from earth, air nitrogen and
organic matter
Adventage of organic fertilizer
Nutrients in good balance
Less plant parasites(because of less
nitrogen in the plants)
Less energy needed for
manufactoring mineral fertilizer
Nutrient pool in
the soil
Available nutrients
to plants
Soil organisms
© BLE 2003
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Compost
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Schönebeck
Composition of Compost (2017)
Nitrogen
Soil partikels
Water
Alkaline
effective
matter
© BLE 2003
Schönebeck
Evaluation of compost nitrogen in the fertilizer model
calculation
Quelle: Verband der Humus- und Erdenwirtschaft e.V., HuMuss Land Nr.6, 2018
1. year
2. year
3. year
10 % application losses
© BLE 2003
Schönebeck
FERTILIZER
Slow release fertilizer
N P K Mg
Compost 0,8 0,4 0,7 0,5
Cow dung 0,5 0,3 0,7 0,2
Feather flour 2 0,4 1,6 (NK)
Poultry manure 3,5 3,5 3 0,9 (NPK)
Blood flour 3 3,6 0,6 (NP)
Vinasse 9 0,3 7,3 (NK)
Melasse 8 2 1 0,5 (NPK)
Horn flour 13 0,4 0,3 (N)
Champion substr. 0,9 0,9 1,4 0,3
Legumes___________________________________
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Schönebeck
The Soilwater
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„Humus has a high water holding capacity;
Humus can store 3 to 5 times of his own weight
The organic matter has through its aggregating effects a direct influence
on the pore size distribution and the water balance. In sandy soils the
humus is determining the water holding capacity.“
Quelle: Scheffer / Schachtschabel: Lehrbuch der Bodenkunde,
16. Auflage, S. 69
Water holding capacity of Compost / Humus
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Water holding capacity of Compost / Humus
Quelle: agrarheute Heft August 2018: „Wasser halten mit Kompost“
Water holding capacity of Compost / Humus
5 times
water
storage
Further
decay Humus Water
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Schönebeck
Soil Life
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Schönebeck
• The basis for life and a habitat for people,
animals, plants and soil organisms
• A part of natural system, especially by
means of its water and nutrient cycles
• A medium for decomposition, balance
and restoration as a result of its filtering,
buffering and substance-converting
properties, and especially groundwater
protection
Soil Fertility
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Schönebeck
Soil Fertility
Biomass in 1 Hektare Soil (10.000 m²)
Bild: FiBL
1 Hektare Soil
(Grasland) feeds
on top
up to 2.5 Cows (total weight ca. 1.5t)
in soil
up to 3 Mio. earthworms (total weight ca.1t)
in soil
other soil organismens (total weight up to 5t)
© BLE 2003
Schönebeck
Soil Fertility
Soil organisms in a handful garden soil
0,2 mm bis
wenige cm
100 Insekts und Mites
20 –180 mm 110 Earthworms
0,3 – 9 mm 250 Springtails
bis 2 mm 25’000 Nematodes
bis 200 m 7’500’000 Protozoen
5 – 50 m 12’500’000 Algue
5 – 50 m 100’000’000 Fungi
1 – 2 m 125’000’000 Bakterias
© 2016 FiBL, Bio Suisse • Foliensammlung •
7. Pflanzenbau • Folie 7.27
© BLE 2003
Schönebeck
Soil Fertility
Soil organisms
© 2016 FiBL, Bio Suisse • Foliensammlung •
7. Pflanzenbau • Folie 7.28
Larves
2.000/m²
Springtails
40.000/m²
Mites
100.000/m²
© BLE 2003
Schönebeck
Soil Fertility
Earthworms: Creator of fertile soil
Fotos: L. Pfiffner, FiBL.
Three
ecological
types
© 2016 FiBL, Bio Suisse • Foliensammlung •
7. Pflanzenbau • Folie 7.29
1
1
2
2
3
3
Grafik: L. Pfiffner, C. Kirchgraber, FiBL
© BLE 2003
Schönebeck
Soil organisms
forming
tube systems
ca. 600 m tubes in
one m³ of soil
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Soil Tillage
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Soil Fertility
Protect the earthworms
Grafik: L. Pfiffner, C. Kirchgraber, FiBL
© 2016 FiBL, Bio Suisse • Foliensammlung •
7. Pflanzenbau • Folie 7.32
Intensive soil tillageearthworm losses up to 70 %
Medium intensive soil tillageearthworm losses up to 25 %
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Manual weed control
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Mechanical weed control
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Comparison of Plow – reduced soil tillage
Fotos: H. Dierauer, FiBL
Influence of
weeds
Influence on soil
fertility
© 2016 FiBL, Bio Suisse • Foliensammlung •
7. Pflanzenbau • Folie 7.36
plow Reduced
plow Reduced
© BLE 2003
Schönebeck
Plant growing: soil fertility
Rooting the soil
Zeichnungen: J. Braun, auf Grundlage der Wurzelbilder von L. Kutschera, 2006
Purpose of rooting the soil
Break up soil layers in different depths
Humus forming (root excreations and dying plant roots)
«feeding soil organisms»
Root picture: clover-mix Root picture: grains
© 2016 FiBL, Bio Suisse • Foliensammlung •
7. Pflanzenbau • Folie 7.37
gandum rye oats oyot kentang gula saka jagung
lucerne bibernelle
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Schönebeck
Organic Farming
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Industrial Farming
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Industrial Farming
OrganicFarming
2019
© BLE 2003
Schönebeck
Thank you for your
attention!
Verband der Humus- und Erdenwirtschaft e.V.
Michael Schneider
Go for Organic Farming