Occurrence of pesticide residues in indoor dust of farmworker households across Europe and Argentina.

Pesticides are widely used as plant protection products (PPPs) in farming systems to preserve crops against pests, weeds, and fungal diseases. Indoor dust can act as a chemical repository revealing occurrence of pesticides in the indoor environment at the time of sampling and the (recent) past. This in turn provides information on the exposure of humans to pesticides in their homes. In the present study, part of the Horizon 2020 funded SPRINT project, the presence of 198 pesticide residues was assessed in 128 indoor dust samples from both conventional and organic farmworker households across Europe, and in Argentina. Mixtures of pesticide residues were found in all dust samples (25-121, min-max; 75, median). Concentrations varied in a wide range (<0.01 ng/g-206 µg/g), with glyphosate and its degradation product AMPA, permethrin, cypermethrin and piperonyl butoxide found in highest levels. Regarding the type of pesticides, insecticides showed significantly higher levels than herbicides and fungicides. Indoor dust samples related to organic farms showed a significantly lower number of residues, total and individual concentrations than those related to conventional farms. Some pesticides found in indoor dust were no longer approved ones (29 %), with acute/chronic hazards to human health (32 %) and with environmental toxicity (21 %).

Bird occupancy in intensively managed agroecosystems under large-scale organic and conventional farming in Argentina: A multi-species approach.

Several studies in European and North American agroecosystems conclude that organic farming benefits birds compared to conventional farming. Nevertheless, there are some biases toward these geographic regions and farm size. Argentinian agroecosystems are particularly homogeneous with large arable fields and sparse uncultivated field margins (i.e. large-scale homogenous cropping systems). In Argentina only 0.55% of the total farmland is under organic farming. Thus, our aims were to assess differences in bird occupancy between organic versus conventional farming regimes, and whether bird occupancy varied in relation to annual crop proportion in both farming regimes in central Argentina agroecosystems. We surveyed 156 points in farms under conventional and 154 in organic farming regimes during two bird-breeding seasons. We used multi-species occupancy models with a Bayesian approach to estimate bird occupancy. We observed that the type of farming regime (organic in relation to conventional) had a weak effect on avian occupancy, varying by species and groups. Probability of occupancy was higher for a few insectivorous and omnivorous species but lower for carnivores in organic farms in relation to conventional ones. The proportion of annual crops was positively correlated with occupancy of an insectivore aerial forager, some insectivore foliage gleaners, a granivore, and some omnivorous species in organic farms, but not conventional farms. This work contributes to reducing geographic and small-scale heterogeneous cropping system biases in the avian agroecological literature. Our results, together with future studies needed to assess landscape configuration and composition, and resource availability for birds in each farming regime, will allow the evaluation of organic farming as a tool for the conservation of bird species in large-scale homogeneous cropping systems in temperate regions.

Classification of Brazilian roasted coffees from different geographical origins and farming practices based on chlorogenic acid profiles.

Sixty-seven roasted coffee samples from different regions of Brazil cultivated using organic, conventional and biodynamic farming practices were analysed and quantified using high performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, and treated with supervised (PLS-DA) and unsupervised (PCA) multivariate statistical tools. The profile of the chlorogenic acids constituents were analysed by high resolution and tandem mass spectrometry, which allowed the identification of mono- caffeoyl-, feruloyl-, para-Coumaroylquinic acids and their respective regio-isomers. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of absolute quantitative data set of chlorogenic acids constituents (CQA, FQA and pCoQA isomers) in Brazilian coffee beans produced from different regions of the country. Variations in the chlorogenic acids compositions were observed if organic and conventional roasted coffee beans were compared. The use of multivariate statistical tools allowed the identification of suitable biomarkers for determining significant differences between the three coffee agricultural practices, while coffees produced from the diverse geographical regions showed no significant difference.

The landscape complexity relevance to farming effect assessment on small mammal occupancy in Argentinian farmlands.

The responses of organisms to organic farming depend on the taxonomic group and landscape complexity. Following the intermediate landscape complexity hypothesis, organic farming can compensate for the lack of complexity in simple landscapes. Argentinian farmlands are simple with large fields and scarce linear habitat array, and conventional agriculture is almost the only agriculture practice. We hypothesize that there is an interaction effect of landscape complexity and farming practices on occupancy and species richness of small mammals in farmland of central Argentina. We selected circular landscapes under organic farming and low- and high-intensity conventional farming and quantified heterogeneity in each landscape considering different cover types (crops, resting plots, fallow land, border habitats, grasslands and man-made structures). We used multi-species occupancy models accounting for multiple seasons with a Bayesian approach to make the estimates. Landscapes under organic farms had the highest level of landscape heterogeneity. In simple Argentinian farmlands, organic farming benefited species richness and occupancy of all small mammal species. Some management strategies used in organic farming (wide and vegetated border habitats, diversity in types of production, winter cover crops, natural or semi-natural patches) should be taken into account to increase landscape complexity in conventional farming.

Evaluation of genotoxicity and coumarin production in conventional and organic cultivation systems of Mikania glomerata Spreng.

Mikania glomerata Sprengel, popularly known as "guaco," is used in Brazilian folk medicine for several inflammatory and allergic conditions. Besides, the popular use "guaco" is indicated by the Brazilian Ministry of Health as a safe and effective herbal medicine. The biological activity of M. glomerata extracts is due to the presence of the coumarins, a large family of phenolic substances found in plants and is made of fused benzene and α-pyrone rings. Considering that there are few data on the biological effects of the extracts of M. glomerata, mainly in genetic level, this work aims to evaluate, in vitro, the genotoxicity and coumarin production in M. glomerata in conventional and organic growing. The data showed that the organic culture system showed double the concentration of coumarin being significantly more productive than the conventional system. Besides, the results of comet assay suggest that extracts of M. glomerata cultivated in a conventional system was genotoxic, increased DNA damage levels while the organic extracts seem to have antigenotoxic effect possibly due to the concentration of coumarins. Additional biochemical investigations are necessary to elucidate the mechanisms of action of M. glomerata extracts, which were found to have a role in protection against DNA damage.

Productivity in seeds of the green bean produced under conventional and organic systems / Produtividade de sementes de feijão-vagem produzidas sob sistemas convencional e orgânico

Two experiments were carried out during 2016 at the Anápolis Experimental Station of EMATER in the State of Goiás, with the aim of studying the yield of seeds of 18 strains and two indeterminate cultivars of the green bean, one experiment under a conventional system and the other under an organic system. A randomized block experimental design was used, with twenty treatments and three replications, to evaluate the mean number of seeds per pod (NSP), 100-seed weight (100SW) and productivity (PROD). Under the conventional system, the 100SW ranged from 19.3 to 25.0 grams. The highest productivity was achieved with the UEG 0212, UEG 0212, UEG 0712 and UEG 3014 strains, which were superior to the other strains, including the controls. Under the organic system, there was a range of 6.66 to 8.33 for the NSP, while for the 100SW, the range was from 23 to 32 grams. The UEG 0212, UEG 1012, UEG 2014 and UEG 3014 strains, all with cylindrical pods and white seeds, can be used as alternatives for planting, being superior to the ‘Favorito cultivar and equal to the ‘Macarrão Bragança cultivar, whereas UEG 1112 and UEG 0714, with cylindrical pods and cream-colored seeds, can be used as dual-adapted cultivars, with green pods and dry grain that can be used as end-of-cycle pods if there are defects that are not accepted by the market.(AU)

Com o objetivo de estudar o rendimento de sementes de 18 linhagens e duas cultivares de crescimento indeterminado de feijão-vagem, dois experimentos foram conduzidos em 2016, na Estação Experimental de Anápolis, EMATER-Goiás, sendo um em sistema convencional e outro em orgânico. Utilizou-se o delineamento experimental de blocos casualizados, com vinte tratamentos e três repetições, avaliando, número médio de sementes por vagem (NSV), massa de 100 sementes (M100S) e produtividade (PROD). No sistema convencional a M100S teve amplitude de 19,3 a 25,0 gramas. As maiores produtividades foram alcançadas pelas linhagens UEG 0212, UEG 0212, UEG 0712e UEG 3014 superando as demais, inclusive, as testemunhas. No sistema orgânico, houve uma amplitude de 6,66 a 8,33 para NSV; para M100S a amplitude foi de 23 a 32 gramas. As linhagens UEG 0212, UEG 1012, UEG 2014 e UEG 3014, todas com vagens cilíndricas e sementes brancas podem ser indicadas como alternativa de plantio, pois superaram a cultivar Favorito e igualaram com Macarrão Bragança, enquanto que UEG 1112 e UEG 0714, com vagens cilíndricas e sementes creme, podem ser utilizadas como cultivares de dupla aptidão, vagens verdes e grãos secos, principalmente utilizando-se as vagens de final de ciclo que, em qualquer cultivar, apresentam defeitos que não são aceitos, como hortaliça, pelo mercado.(AU)

Productivity in seeds of the green bean produced under conventional and organic systems / Produtividade de sementes de feijão-vagem produzidas sob sistemas convencional e orgânico

Two experiments were carried out during 2016 at the Anápolis Experimental Station of EMATER in the State of Goiás, with the aim of studying the yield of seeds of 18 strains and two indeterminate cultivars of the green bean, one experiment under a conventional system and the other under an organic system. A randomized block experimental design was used, with twenty treatments and three replications, to evaluate the mean number of seeds per pod (NSP), 100-seed weight (100SW) and productivity (PROD). Under the conventional system, the 100SW ranged from 19.3 to 25.0 grams. The highest productivity was achieved with the UEG 0212, UEG 0212, UEG 0712 and UEG 3014 strains, which were superior to the other strains, including the controls. Under the organic system, there was a range of 6.66 to 8.33 for the NSP, while for the 100SW, the range was from 23 to 32 grams. The UEG 0212, UEG 1012, UEG 2014 and UEG 3014 strains, all with cylindrical pods and white seeds, can be used as alternatives for planting, being superior to the ‘Favorito’ cultivar and equal to the ‘Macarrão Bragança’ cultivar, whereas UEG 1112 and UEG 0714, with cylindrical pods and cream-colored seeds, can be used as dual-adapted cultivars, with green pods and dry grain that can be used as end-of-cycle pods if there are defects that are not accepted by the market.

Com o objetivo de estudar o rendimento de sementes de 18 linhagens e duas cultivares de crescimento indeterminado de feijão-vagem, dois experimentos foram conduzidos em 2016, na Estação Experimental de Anápolis, EMATER-Goiás, sendo um em sistema convencional e outro em orgânico. Utilizou-se o delineamento experimental de blocos casualizados, com vinte tratamentos e três repetições, avaliando, número médio de sementes por vagem (NSV), massa de 100 sementes (M100S) e produtividade (PROD). No sistema convencional a M100S teve amplitude de 19,3 a 25,0 gramas. As maiores produtividades foram alcançadas pelas linhagens UEG 0212, UEG 0212, UEG 0712e UEG 3014 superando as demais, inclusive, as testemunhas. No sistema orgânico, houve uma amplitude de 6,66 a 8,33 para NSV; para M100S a amplitude foi de 23 a 32 gramas. As linhagens UEG 0212, UEG 1012, UEG 2014 e UEG 3014, todas com vagens cilíndricas e sementes brancas podem ser indicadas como alternativa de plantio, pois superaram a cultivar Favorito e igualaram com Macarrão Bragança, enquanto que UEG 1112 e UEG 0714, com vagens cilíndricas e sementes creme, podem ser utilizadas como cultivares de dupla aptidão, vagens verdes e grãos secos, principalmente utilizando-se as vagens de final de ciclo que, em qualquer cultivar, apresentam defeitos que não são aceitos, como hortaliça, pelo mercado.