The grain quality of winter wheat in organic and conventional farming

Abstract

In the years 2003–2005 the field experiment was realized in the maize-barley growing region on degraded Chernozem. Two different farming systems – organic and conventional were compared. The yield and grain quality of winter wheat in organic and conventional farming system were evaluated. Winter wheat was used twice a crop rotation time – after pea and clover. The quality parameters of winter wheat (grain volume weight, protein content, Zeleny test, wet gluten content) were measured after harvest. The yield and grain quality parameters were statistically significantly affected by farming system, forecrop and weather conditions. Grain yield, grain volume weight, protein content and wet gluten content were significantly higher in conventional farming system than in organic one. Even though, grain quality of winter wheat in organic farming corresponded to elite (E) or standard (A) technological quality of wheat according to the Slovak Technological Standard STN 46 1100-2. The yield of winter wheat was increased and grain quality parameters were improved by using pea as the forecrop in comparison to clover.

Keywords: winter wheat, systems of farming, forecrop, yield, grain quality