International Congress BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS - Gruppo di ...

15
ORGANIC WHEAT QUALITY AND PRODUCTION: THE RESULTS OF THREE YEARS OF TRIALS
Fabio Fusari, Antonella Petrini
The relevant increasing of farms and areas interested in organic productions in Italy draws attention to the need of an
experimentation which can help this sector for an equilibrate growth. CERMIS (Research and Experimental Centre for
Plant Improvement “N. Strampelli”), in collaboration with ASSAM (Agency for Food and Agriculture Services in
Marche region), has begun in 1998 an experimental project in the sector of autumn-vernal cereals in which the main
objectives are identifying the varieties to employ and optimizing the cultivation techniques. A correct varietal choice is
essential, in organic agriculture, in order to obtain acceptable productive and qualitative results. The morphological and
physiological characteristics which make cultivars suitable for this kind of cultivation are: rusticity, resistance or
tolerance to the main phytopathies, ability of competition with weeds and greater efficiency in the use of nitrogen. An
other aspect to consider, especially in the case of bread wheat, is the qualitative one, because the milling industry
requires distinct technological characteristics of the stocks according to the different kinds of product (bread, biscuits,
‘panettone’, etc.). Qualitative characteristics, intrinsic in a specific variety, are also affected by pedological, climatic
and agronomic factors; so the evaluation of each single variety within a cultivation system is fundamental, especially
when the external inputs are reduced as in the case of organic agriculture.
The activity within the project
Since from 1998 a parcel trial for the varietal comparison of bread wheat has been carried out by an organic farm
situated along the valley of Potenza river (Macerata, Italy) on a medially fertile, tendentially clayey, soil. The
cultivation techniques which have been adopted are the ones usually employed by that farm, admitted by the EC Reg.
2092/91. The main agronomic and qualitative attributes have been taken and statistically analysed in accordance with
the methodologies adopted by the wheat national network in Italy. The twenty bread wheat varieties that have been
evaluated have been chosen, between the ones registered to the national catalogue, on the basis of their agronomic,
merchandise (qualitative classes) and commercial characteristics. Also the old cultivar Abbondanza has been inserted in
the trial, in order to verify its behaviour in the case of an organic method of cultivation.
Table 1 - Production indexes (*) of the tested varieties
Variety name 1999 2000 2001 average
ABBONDANZA 108 101 134 114
EUREKA 101 109 135 115
SERIO 113 104 108 108
CENTAURO 109 111 97 105
BOLERO 93 110 94 99
COLFIORITO 107 92 90 96
SAGITTARIO 86 99 101 95
ENESCO 91 101 87 93
MIETI 109 95 63 89
PANDAS 103 113 36 84
SIBILLA 87 98 73 86
VALLEROSA 95 86 67 83
SANGIACOMO 98 81 61 80
ETECHO 157 157
GUADALUPE 140 140
TREMIE 128 128
TIBET 124 124
GENIO 118 118
BILANCIA 109 109
SIRMIONE 78 78
Field average (t/ha) 3,39 2,75 2,11 2,65
(*) 100= field average
YEAR
Results
From the analysis of mean results of the thirteen varieties common to the three years of trials, it’s evident that a
progressive loss of yields over the years (graph 1), due mainly to the anomalous meteorological trend during the two
last grain seasons, has taken place.
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Graph 1 - Average yield (t/ha) of the 13 varieties
common to the three years of trials
1999 2000 2001
Graph 2 - Mean alveographic parameters (W
and P/L) during the three years of trials
w P/L
1999 2000 2001
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