Biodiversity management of organic orchard enhances both ecological and economic profitability.

ABSTRACT: Organic farming has been regarded as an alternative solution for both agricultural sustainability and human health maintenance. Few researches have concentrated on the differences of biodiversity and eco-economic benefits between organic and conventional orchards. Organic management (OM) of orchards mainly includes taking advantage of natural enemies and beneficial weeds as well as soil organisms and controlling harmful pests. Here we conducted a three-year experiment on the effects of managing biodiversity in an organic apple orchard, using cattle manure to enrich soil biota, propagating native plant to suppress weeds and applying ecological pest management to control pests. The effect was assessed against the conventional management (CM) model. We found that OM enhanced soil organic carb

SUBMITTER: Meng J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4924131 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature