Intensive potato cultivation affects weed species composition by selecting dominant and competitive weeds that represent a constraint of potato productivity. Field experiments were conducted during 2015 and 2016 growing seasons to examine the effects of soil tillage (plowing (PL), spading (SM), sub soiling (SS)) and fertilizer source (mineral (Min) and organic (Org)) on potato yield and weed community under Mediterranean environment. A randomized complete block design with three replications was adopted. Weed density and biomass were measured at the potato harvesting time. Weed density was highest in SS, intermediate in SM, and lowest in PL (43.8, 40.3, and 28.8 plants m⁻²). Similar trend was observed in weed biomass. Weed density and biomass were higher in Org than Min (42.1 vs. 36.4 plants m⁻² and 129.6 vs. 117.9 g m⁻², respectively). Perennial, monocot, and dicot weed species were the most abundant in subsoiling (13.1, 9.3 and 34.5 plants m⁻²). Density of perennial and dicot species were higher in Org than Min. Monocots were mostly linked with Min, while dicots were mainly associated with Org. Although tuber yield was higher in PL and Min (481.9 and 627.5 g m⁻² of DM), it was affected by growing season and might be associated to SM and Org. Although the study shows that increased weed biodiversity in the system, achieved with more sustainable practices, proves to be an obstacle to potato production, the adoption of spading machine applied in combination with mineral and organic fertilizers could be a valid alternative to plowing. Further studies are required to develop sustainable agricultural techniques able to improve the competitive capacity of crops and reduce the selection of dominant weed species.

Farming practices such as cover cropping, crop rotation systems, and soil tillage practices, along with climate conditions and soil type play important roles in determining final crop production. Numerous empirical studies have documented the heterogeneous effects of cover crops on the yield of successive crops, exhibiting variations across diverse regions, climate regimes, soil characteristics, cover crop types, and agricultural management practices. A meta-analysis was conducted to comprehensively summarize and evaluate the impact of cover crops (CCs) in the agroecosystem. The main goal of the study is to promote a transition towards more sustainable cereal crop production by exploring the potential of currently unexploited CCs in Europe. The study demonstrated that the incorporation of legume CCs resulted in the most pronounced and statistically significant increase in grain yield among cereal crops. CCs from the Brassicaceae family also demonstrated a positive impact on grain yield under southern European climates. Cover cropping had a positive effect on the subsequent cash crop under conventional tillage practice. A positive, but not significant impact, was detected under both conservation tillage practices, which include reduced tillage (RT) and no-till (NT). The result of the study suggests that NT practices are more suitable for Northern Europe, while RT practices are preferable for Southern Europe zones. This study indicates that the adoption of cover cropping represents a viable and effective agronomic strategy for enhancing grain yield in cereal crops cultivated across European agricultural systems.

There are numerous food safety aspects that must be taken into consideration by organic food producers and processors to ensure the safety and quality of their products. The application of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles, together with the implementation of good hygiene practices (GHP), ensures that food safety and process hygiene criteria are met. This study was based on a survey conducted among 316 producers and processors representing the organic food sector in five European countries (Croatia, Estonia, Germany, Italy and Poland). The knowledge and experience of organic food operators with HACCP systems were evaluated. Moreover, their needs and expectations towards assistance (training, guidance materials) that could improve the level of knowledge and compliance with respective food safety rules and regulations were assessed. The need for support on a number of issues related to food safety and guidance documents on the application of HACCP principles were also identified. This study provides highlights of the application of HACCP principles, with particular focus on identifying priorities and needs for two types of food operators (food producers and food processors). Although most of the surveyed food operators were confirmed to have basic knowledge regarding the HACCP system, there was a lack of understanding of the system principles. The needs and expectations varied among the studied countries and types of organic operators. Recognition of the full potential of the HACCP system requires assistance, particularly in the preparation of documents and records. Further research is needed to understand the implications of these findings and to identify effective strategies to improve the HACCP knowledge of food operators.

Several strategies have been proposed recently to reduce the accumulated harmful circumstances of intensive conventional farming practices. The adoption of conservation soil tillage and organic fertilization techniques could contribute to achieving this goal. The study was conducted over a three-year trial to assess the effects of soil tillage practices (plough; subsoil; spading) and fertilization management (inorganic vs. organic) on durum wheat growth dynamics and productivity in a Mediterranean environment. The chlorophyll concentration (CC) was evaluated using an MC-100 chlorophyll meter, and Green Area (GA) was extracted from red-green-blue (RGB) digital images acquired with a commercially available digital camera. These non-destructive low-cost methods were used to examine crop status and its reactions to climate conditions over three consecutive growing seasons in the field. A positive strong linear relationship between both CC and GA against grain yield in each growing season was identified. The study highlights that CC and GA methods are valuable tools to assess crop development under Mediterranean conditions. The results indicated that the applied conservation tillage systems, such as subsoil tillage and using the spading machine, along with organic fertilization with compost, are valuable choices in the Mediterranean basin for sustainable and higher crop production (13%) compared to the conventional traditional system.

At present, the role of agricultural practices on the dynamic of GHGs is being investigated worldwide. In this study, the effects of soil tillage practices (conventional vs. conservation techniques) and fertilization sources (inorganic vs. organic) on soil CO₂ emissions in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.)–potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) rotation in the Mediterranean area were evaluated. This study aimed to understand the changes in the soil carbon content and the soil CO₂ emissions under different soil tillage practices (moldboard plow (P), subsoiler (R), and spading machine (S)) and fertilization sources (mineral (M) and organic (O) with municipal organic waste). Soil CO₂ flux, soil water content, and soil temperature data were collected for both crops using a portable closed-chamber infrared gas dynamics system. Significant relationships were detected between soil CO₂ emissions and soil temperate and soil water content. However, these relationships were found only for durum wheat crops. Our findings indicate that including sustainable agricultural practices in wheat–potato rotation system could act as an appropriate alternative option to increase soil organic carbon, mitigate CO₂ emissions, and reduce the dependence on chemical inputs and energy.

The intensive use of mineral (M) fertilizers may cause harm the environment via leaching or greenhouse gas emissions, destroy soil fertility as a consequence of loss of soil organic matter, and, due to their high price, they are economically unviable for producers. It is widely accepted that organic (O) fertilizers may deal with pressing challenges facing modern agriculture, even if farmers need to improve their knowledge for applying in fertilization programs. A meta-analysis approach has been adopted to evaluate the effects on soil organic carbon (SOC) and crop yield of O fertilizers, applied alone or in combination with mineral fertilizers (MO) under conventional (CT), reduced (RT), and no-tillage (NT) regimes. The analysis was performed in different climatic conditions, soil properties, crop species, and irrigation management. Organic fertilizers have a positive influence in increasing SOC compared with M (on average 12.9%), even if high values were observed under NT (20.6%). The results highlighted the need for flexible and environment-specific systems when considering organic fertilization subjected to different tillage regimes. Similarly, MO application showed a better crop yield response in CT and RT under coarse soils when compared with M fertilizer applied alone (on average 13.4 and 12.7%, respectively), while in medium-textured soils, CT and RT yielded better than NT under O fertilizers (9.5 and 11.2 vs. 2.5%, respectively). Among the crop species, legumes performed better when O fertilizers were adopted than M fertilizers (on average 15.2%), while among the other crop species, few differences were detected among the fertilization programs. Under irrigated systems, RT and NT led to higher productivity than CT, especially under MO treatments (on average 9.2 vs. 3.4%, respectively). The results highlighted the importance of the environmental and agronomical factors and how their understanding could affect the impact of these conservation farming practices on crop productivity to improve the sustainability of the farming system in a specific region.

Intensive agronomic practices such as deep and repeated tillage and applying high mineral fertilization rates to improve crop yields have gradually determined soil resource degradation. A study was carried out over a two-year period (2015 and 2016) to assess effects of tillage (plough; subsoil; and spading) and fertilization (mineral vs. organic) on soil health relative to carbon and nitrogen dynamics in potato crop in the Mediterranean environment. Microbial indices could be successfully used as tool for assessing soil health in terms of predictors and indicators of carbon sequestration and nitrogen availability. The microbial quotients, calculated as percentage of the microbial-C to total organic C (C_mic:C_org), was significantly higher in subsoiling than in plowing and spading soil tillage, and higher in 2016 (3.19%) than 2015 (1.72%). The activity of enzymes involved in C cycle was significantly higher in subsoiling and spading than in plowing, while acid phosphatase was positively affected by spading and arylsulfatase increased with plowing. The whole enzyme activity expressed as synthetic enzymatic index (SEI) was positively affected by subsoiling and plowing in 2015 (4254) compared to spading tillage (3934). A general decrease in soil enzyme activity in 2016 than 2015 was observed. The subsoiling in potato crop favored the immobilization of carbon and nitrogen during the wet spring–summer period. Conversely, the plowing favored the mineralization process when the spring–summer period became more dried.

Crop yield under reduced tillage (RT) practices is a concern for sustainable production worldwide because it is related to different environmental and agronomic factors than conventionally tilled soils. This study aimed to evaluate how climate, soil, and farming practices could affect crop yield under RT, especially under different sources of fertilisation [mineral (M), mineral + organic (MO), and organic (O)]. Multilevel meta-analysis was adopted. The analysis was performed taking into consideration environmental conditions, soil properties, crop rotation, and crop species. Only studies that reported the interaction effect of soil tillage and nutrients management on grain yield were included. The results suggest that the impact of soil tillage and fertilisation sources on crop yield depended on crop species. Using reduced tillage practices, adopting only organic nutrient sources could produce enough grains for legume crops. However, combining both inorganic and organic fertilizers added benefits for cereal crops in terms of grain yield production. This study highlights how conservation tillage practices could be affected by environmental and agronomic factors.

Agricultural intensification may cause significant changes in weed density due to high weed competitiveness. Therefore, sustainable practices are to be designed to get maximum benefits of plant biodiversity in the agro-ecosystems. Field experiments were conducted in 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 to evaluate the impact of fertilizer source and soil tillage on weed spectrum in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.). Treatments in this study were: (i) two fertilizer sources (mineral fertilizer (MIN) and municipal organic waste (MOW)), and (ii) three tillage regimes (plowing (Plo), subsoiling (Sub) and spading (SM)). A randomized complete block design with three replications was adopted. Data on weed density and biomass were collected at the wheat tillering stage. Weed density was higher in MOW than MIN (53.8 vs. 44.0 plants·m⁻²), especially in 2014/2015, while S was the highest among tillage regimes (58.2 plants·m⁻²). Annual and monocots species were always the highest in subsoiling (43.5 and 10.1 plants·m⁻²). The density of perennial and dicots species was higher in MOW compared with MIN plots, regardless of soil tillage management. Weed community, in terms of weed species composition, varied between the two fertilizer sources, while among soil tillage regimes, it only differed between plowing and subsoiling. Based on the analysis of weed community composition, annual dicot species were mainly associated with plowing, while monocots tended to be associated with MIN fertilizer. Spading tillage may be a useful strategy for managing weed diversity under organic fertilization, where mineral soil nitrogen availability was limited. Conversely, the spading machine produced lower grain yields than plowing with mineral fertilizer application.

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the major grain crops worldwide and considered as a model plant for temperate cereals. One of the barley row-type groups, named intermedium-barley, was used in our previous study where we reported that other genetic loci rather than vrs1 and Int-c could play a role in lateral spikelet development and even in setting grains. To continue this work, we used phenotypic and genotypic data of 254 intermedium-spike barley accessions aimed at dissecting the genetic basis of development and grain traits of lateral and central spikelet using genome wide association (GWAS) analysis. After genotypic data filtering, 8,653 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) were used for GWAS analysis. A total of 169 significant associations were identified and we focused only on the subset of associations that exceeded the p < 10⁻⁴ threshold. Thirty-three highly significant marker-trait-associations (MTAs), represented in 28 different SNPs on all seven chromosomes for the central and/or lateral spikelet traits; such as kernel length, width, area, weight, unfilled spikelet and 1000-kernel weight, were detected. Highly significant associated markers were anchored physically using barley genome sequencing to identify candidate genes to either contain the SNPs or the closest gene to the SNP position. The results showed that 12 MTAs were specific for lateral spikelet traits, nine MTAs were specific for central spikelet traits and seven MTAs for both central and lateral traits. All together, the GWAS and candidate gene results support our hypothesis that lateral spikelet development could be regulated by loci different from those regulating central spikelet development.