Phytosanitary monitoring, soil condition and yield of wheat and einkorn in a field for biodynamic farming

Vasilina Maneva, Dina Atanasova, Marina Stoyanova

Abstract: In the field of biodynamic farming, cereals have been grown after peas as a predecessor. Phytosanitary monitoring was made and the change in the condition of the soil and the yield from the plants at the beginning of the creation of the field and after 4 years was reported. When monitoring the changes in soil parameters in the biodynamic field, there is a slight increase in digestible nutrients and humus over the years. The only exception is phosphorus. The differences are minimal and unproven, however. Significant is the increase in nitrogen compounds, from 7.4 to 21.3 mg/kg. Variety of weed species depends on the agro-meteorological conditions of the year and the culture. In 2015 we have a greater species diversity of weeds than in other years of research. Einkorn has significantly less weed species diversity during the study period than wheat. The species diversity of the pests is greater in wheat than in einkorn. Wheat plants with the appearance of reticulate spots, powdery mildew and root rot have been reported in the diseases. The registered diseases are of fungal nature. No diseases have been found on einkorn. The trend in phytosanitary monitoring - a greater variety of weeds, pests and diseases in wheat than in einkorn, has persisted over the years. When analyzing the data from the yield of wheat and einkorn in biodynamic farming, it was found that the yield differs by year due to weather conditions, but increases after the first year, i.e. the influence of the inserted biodynamic preparations is taken into account.

Keywords: biodynamic agriculture; cereals; phytosanitary status; soil; yield

Date published: 2023-06-27