RT Journal Article
T1 Joint analysis of land, carbon and nitrogen reveals diverging trends in the sustainability of organic crops in Spain
A1 Guzmán Casado, Gloria Isabel
A1 Aguilera, Eduardo
A1 Carranza-Gallego, Guiomar
A1 Alonso, Antonio Manuel
A1 Pontijas, Beatriz
K1 Land Cost of Agrarian Sustainability (LACAS)
K1 Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE)
K1 Soil carbon sequestration
K1 Yielg gap
K1 Organic farming
AB The world's top ten Organic Farming (OF) countries by converted area include several Mediterranean countries, including Spain. Despite this, little is known about the consequences of OF on crop production and environmental sustainability in this country. In this article, we conduct an agronomic analysis of Spanish considerable conversion rate to OF, which tends to concentrate in certain provinces and crops. Indeed, in the case of various crops and in several provinces, the organic share of total agricultural land exceeds 20–30 %. This concentration makes it possible to compare information obtained from farmers through interviews and provincial statistical information. The study data consisted of information collected from interviews of a representative sample of organic farmers conducted in 2004 and 2020 as well as official statistical information. The results showed that no yield gap between OF and conventional farming was found for vegetables and fruit trees, while it showed an increasing trend in arable crops. Presumably, the reason is that fruit trees and vegetables generate and incorporate high levels of carbon (C) flows into the soil and have a low land cost per unit of incorporated nitrogen (N) (or can be paid for), allowing to meet crop needs and to increase soil organic matter (SOM). Conversely, in the case of rainfed arable crops, the soil C and N inputs are deficient due to the low crop residues and the high land cost of N. Consequently, SOM destruction and N deficit progressively broaden the yield gap, undermining the agroecosystem sustainability. To reverse the situation, among other measures, it is necessary to implement agricultural policies designed to make rotations with high legume ratios viable and to plant varieties presenting higher production of residues and roots, such as traditional varieties.
PB Elsevier
YR 2024
FD 2024-07-24
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10433/21596
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10433/21596
LA en
NO Science of the Total Environment 949 (2024) 174859
NO Proyectos de investigaciónPID2021-123129NB-C42-(Agroecological Landscapes and Food Systems Project: Past, Present and Future Transitions (AGROECOLAND)Daniel and Nina Carasso FoundationJuan de la Cierva - Incorporacion Grant (IJC2019-040699-I) funded by MICIU/AEI /10.13039/ 501100011033 and by a Ramon y Cajal Grant (RYC2022-037863-I) funded by MICIU/AEI /10.13039/501100011033 and by ESF+. E. Aguilera also acknowledges funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme (ERC StG Project 101115126 “WHEP”).Funding for open access publishing: Universidad Pablo de Olavide/CBUA.
NO Departamento de Geografía, Historia y Fiolosofía, Universidad Pablo de Olavide
NO ALIMENTTA, Think tank for the food transition
NO Institute of Economics, Geography and Demography, Spanish National Research Council
NO Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology and Ecology, Jaen University
DS RIO
RD May 9, 2026