TY - JOUR

T1 - Sustainable growth of organic farming in the EU requires a rethink of nutrient supply

AU - Reimer, Marie

AU - Oelofse, Myles

AU - Müller-Stöver, Dorette

AU - Möller, Kurt

AU - Bünemann, Else K.

AU - Bianchi, Silvia

AU - Vetemaa, Airi

AU - Drexler, Dóra

AU - Trugly, Bence

AU - Raskin, Ben

AU - Blogg, Hugh

AU - Rasmussen, Anton

AU - Verrastro, Vincenzo

AU - Magid, Jakob

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s).

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - The European Commission recently set a target of increasing the area of organic agriculture to 25% by 2030. To achieve this, it is imperative to understand current nutrient use patterns and identify sustainable nutrient supply opportunities. To that end, this study assessed the sustainability of the current nutrient origin and supply of 71 arable organic farms in 8 European regions. Deficient nutrient supply was found on 24%, 66%, and 56% of farms for nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, respectively. On average, we show a moderate surplus for nitrogen (28 kg ha−1), while phosphorus and potassium balances were close to zero (− 1 and 2 kg ha−1, respectively). Large variation between countries and farm types shows a divide between more intensive systems relying on external inputs, and less intensive systems facing nutrient deficits and lower outputs. We show, for the first time, the extent of current use of external input types, where conventional manures supplied 17–26% of external nutrients and inputs from non-agricultural origin supplied 31–41%. A large proportion of nutrient sources within the last group are materials derived from urban wastes. The sustainable expansion of the organic sector will require increased use of locally available recycled fertilizers from urban wastes, and acceptance of such sources by organic farmers is shown to be high, provided they are considered safe.

AB - The European Commission recently set a target of increasing the area of organic agriculture to 25% by 2030. To achieve this, it is imperative to understand current nutrient use patterns and identify sustainable nutrient supply opportunities. To that end, this study assessed the sustainability of the current nutrient origin and supply of 71 arable organic farms in 8 European regions. Deficient nutrient supply was found on 24%, 66%, and 56% of farms for nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, respectively. On average, we show a moderate surplus for nitrogen (28 kg ha−1), while phosphorus and potassium balances were close to zero (− 1 and 2 kg ha−1, respectively). Large variation between countries and farm types shows a divide between more intensive systems relying on external inputs, and less intensive systems facing nutrient deficits and lower outputs. We show, for the first time, the extent of current use of external input types, where conventional manures supplied 17–26% of external nutrients and inputs from non-agricultural origin supplied 31–41%. A large proportion of nutrient sources within the last group are materials derived from urban wastes. The sustainable expansion of the organic sector will require increased use of locally available recycled fertilizers from urban wastes, and acceptance of such sources by organic farmers is shown to be high, provided they are considered safe.

KW - Contentious inputs

KW - Efficiency

KW - Farming systems

KW - Nutrient demand

KW - Nutrient use

KW - Organic agriculture

KW - Recycling

KW - Sustainable nutrient management

U2 - 10.1007/s10705-023-10297-7

DO - 10.1007/s10705-023-10297-7

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85164930242

JO - Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems

JF - Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems

SN - 1385-1314

ER -