Slide 2 Systems Comparison Trial Reilly, K., Finn. L., Valverde,
J., Grant, J., Gaffney, M., Brunton, N. OGI Farm Walk 10 th July
2012 email: [email protected] Irish Phytochemical Food Network
Slide 3 A FIRM funded project set up in 2008 to study
phytochemicals in Irish grown fruit and vegetables from farm to
fork. It is made up of researchers from Teagasc Kinsealy and AFRC,
UCC, UCD, UCL, DIT and UCC. Funding body : Members : phytochemicals
= non-nutrient compounds produced by plants that have biological
activity against chronic disease. AKA plant bioactives Slide 4
Teagasc Kinsealy : Work-package 3 Variety Plant nutrition Plant
maturity Tissue type Plant spacing Conventional vs. Organic
Production Practices Broccoli Field Trial 2008 Onion quercetin
Broccoli- glucosinolates Carrot - polyacetylenes Slide 5 Types of
study: 1)Basket survey e.g. Meyer et al. 2008 2)Paired Farm Survey
e.g. Lester et al. 2007 3) Field trial e.g. Soltoft et al. 2010
Suggested criteria (Dangour et al. 2009) 1) specification of the
cultivar of crop or breed of livestock 2) a statement of which
nutrient or other nutritionally relevant substance was analyzed 3)
a description of the laboratory analytic methods used 4) a
statement of the methods used for statistical analyses 5) a clear
definition of the organic production methods, including the name of
the organic certification body. Slide 6 Systems Comparison Trial:
Slide 7 Why is the systems trial important? Public Good: Producing
healthy food Producing sustainable food Encourage awareness of
F&V as healthy food Academic: Understand factors that affect
phytochemicals in vegetables Provide evidence for farming inputs or
practices Generate peer reviewed publications Grower and Industry:
What inputs are important? Encourage consumption of F&V
Marketing Slide 8 Systems Comparison trial Objective: To
investigate the effect of, and interaction between, production
system components - a) soil management and b) pest control
measures, that differ between organic and conventional systems, on
phytochemical accumulation in 2 varieties each of carrot, broccoli
and onion. 2x2x2 factorial split plot design with 4 replicates
Main-plot: 2 varieties of each crop (V1, V2) Sub-plot: 2 Levels of
soil treatment a) Organic Soil treatment (OS) b) Conventional Soil
treatment (CS) Sub sub plot: 2 levels of pest control a) Organic
pest control (OP) b) Conventional pest control (CP) This gives 8
experimental treatments for each crop 1) V1 OS OP5) V2 OS OP 2) V1
OS CP6) V2 OS CP 3) V1 CS OP7) V2 CS OP 4) V1 CS CP8) V2 CS CP
Slide 9 Split plot design: CP OP V1 V2 CS OS CS Slide 10 Soil
Treatments: : Organic (OP)Conventional (CP) certified organic or
untreated seed mechanical weeding refuge area to encourage
beneficials bionet, collars, certified treatments e.g. garlic spray
chemically treated seed chemical weed control chemical pest control
Pest Control Treatments: : Organic (OS)Conventional (CS) 4 year
rotation (ley broccoli onion carrot) additional organic
fertilization as indicated by soil test * winter cover crop no set
rotation (IPM) other crop in place of ley no winter cover crop
*Based on soil test equivalent levels of N, P, K added to CS and OS
treatments Slide 11 Varieties: : CropV1V2 CarrotFlyawayNairobi
BroccoliFiestaBelstar OnionHyskinRed Baron Ley crop: red clover
Othercrop: wheat Amaretto in 2009; lettuce Design in 2010, Design
and Tusca in 2011, Tonata in 2012 Winter cover crop: rye + phacelia
Refuge: sunflower, borage, buckwheat, vetch, coriander, fennel,
cornflower, corn marigold, cocksfoot grass, phacelia, nasturtium,
Slide 12 Slide 13 Factorial Systems Comparison Trial Spring 2009 OS
+ OPOS + CP Refuge 2009 Harvested carrots Slide 14 Lab Analyses:
AFRC - Polyacetylenes in carrot - Glucosinolates in broccoli -
Phenolic compounds in onion Kinsealy - Yield - Total phenolics +
flavonoids - Taste panel test - Soil ecology Slide 15 Systems
trial: Onion (2009 data) Bulb weight was higher under CP treatment
(p
