Växtnäringsförsörjning i ekologisk odling utan tillförsel av animaliska gödselmedel

Abstract: The study is about plant nutrient supply for an organic, plant-based cultivation system. The purpose has been to find out whether the nutritional supply can be secured by different cultivation methods in an organic plant-based cultivation system. The reason we choose this subject is because of its relevance for the future. The Swedish Parliament has decided that livestock should be reduced in Sweden due to its impact on climate change with large greenhouse gas emissions as a result. Instead, a larger amount of the cultivated land should be used for cultivation of vegetables for human consumption as this has less climate impact than animal-based food. Increased organic production together with a decrease in livestock creates the need for alternatives to animal fertilizers. Already today, there may be difficulties in obtaining sufficient quantities of stable manure to secure the plant nutritional need in organic farming. An increasing number of growers are therefore putting in effort to build up soil fertility. In order to secure plant nutrition, methods such as crop rotation, catch crops, green manure, mulching and compost are used. For fifteen years, there has been a certification that only allows plant-based fertilizers. Stockfree-Organic Standards that originating in the UK and Biocyclic Vegan Standard from Germany are two certifications that an increasing number of growers in Europe use because they want to grow without animal fertilizers. In Sweden, plant-based cultivation is also applied.