2. Systems Comparison Trial Reilly, K., Finn. L., Valverde, J., Grant, J., Gaffney, M., Brunton, N. OGI Farm Walk 10 th July 2012 email: kim.reilly@teagasc.ie Irish Phytochemical Food Network

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”

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

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.

6. Systems Comparison Trial:

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

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

9. Split plot design: CP OP V1 V2 CS OS CS

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

11. Varieties: : CropV1V2 Carrot‘Flyaway’‘Nairobi’ Broccoli‘Fiesta’‘Belstar’ Onion‘Hyskin’‘Red Baron’ Ley crop: red clover ‘Other’crop: 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,

13. Factorial Systems Comparison Trial Spring 2009 OS + OPOS + CP Refuge 2009 Harvested carrots

14. Lab Analyses: AFRC - Polyacetylenes in carrot - Glucosinolates in broccoli - Phenolic compounds in onion Kinsealy - Yield - Total phenolics + flavonoids - Taste panel test - Soil ecology

15. Systems trial: Onion (2009 data) Bulb weight was higher under CP treatment (p<0.05) Total Phenolics – higher in ‘Red Baron’ (p<0.05) and under OS treatment (p<0.01) Total Flavonoids – higher in ‘Red Baron’ (p<0.01) and under OS treatment (p<0.01) Total Flavonoids higher under fully organic (OSOP) than fully conventional (CSCP) (p<0.05)

16. Systems trial – broccoli (2009 data) Floret weight was higher under CS treatment (p<0.01) Total Phenolics – higher under OS treatment (p<0.05) Total Flavonoids – higher under OS treatment (p<0.05)

17. Glucosinolates (2009 and 2010 data) Dr Juan Valverde AFRC 2009 Effect NeoGBSGBS yearns blockns Varns Soilns Var*Soilns Pestp<0.05p<0.06 Var*Pestp<0.05ns Soil*Pestns Var*Soil*Pestns OSOP vs CSCPp<0.01 2010

18. Systems trial - Carrot (2009 and 2010 data) Higher yield from cv. Nairobi both years (p<0.05) Higher yield with CS both years (p<0.01) Higher yield with CP treatment in 2009 (p<0.05)

19. Systems trial - Carrot (2009 and 2010 data) Total Flavonoids: Higher in 2010 Significantly higher under OS soil treatment in 2009 but not 2010 Variety x pest control interaction in both years (higher in Flyaway CP) Total phenolics Total flavonoids Total Phenolics: Slightly lower in 2010 No significant main effects Variety x pest control interaction in 2009 (higher in Flyaway CP)

20. Significant effect of year (p<0.05) Falcarinol significantly higher in cv. Nairobi (p<0.01) Interaction effects… Overall conventional not different to organic Polyacetylene content (2009 and 2010 data) - Falcarinol Dr Juan Valverde AFRC

21. Soil Microbial Community *in collaboration with Dora Lola-Luz, Bryan Griffiths, Dorothy Stone, Eileen Cullen Higher under OS p<0.001 Pest control treatment n.s. Organic (OSOP) higher than conventional (CSCP) Biolog Eco Plates - CLPP

22. Soil Microbial Community Culturable Microbial and total nematode populations Fungal/bacterial ratio

23. Soil Microbial Community DGGE Fungal primers:Bacterial primers: Excised and sequencing 22 fungal bands and 8 bacterial

24. Thank you! Acknowledgements: Christy Roberts, Leo Finn, Philip Dunne, FETAC students