Organic Agriculture and Innovative Crops under Mediterranean Conditions

Authors

  • Dimitrios BILALIS Agricultural University of Athens, School of Agriculture, Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Department of Crop Science, Laboratory of Agronomy, 75 Iera Odos str., 118 55 Athens (GR)
  • Ioannis ROUSSIS Agricultural University of Athens, School of Agriculture, Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Department of Crop Science, Laboratory of Agronomy, 75 Iera Odos str., 118 55 Athens (GR)
  • Francisco FUENTES Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Macul, Santiago (CL)
  • Ioanna KAKABOUKI Agricultural University of Athens, School of Agriculture, Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Department of Crop Science, Laboratory of Agronomy, 75 Iera Odos str., 118 55 Athens (GR)
  • Ilias TRAVLOS Agricultural University of Athens, School of Agriculture, Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Department of Crop Science, Laboratory of Agronomy, 75 Iera Odos str., 118 55 Athens (GR)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15835/nbha45210867

Abstract

Climate change is the greatest environmental threat facing humanity worldwide. Areas of South-East Europe and Mediterranean basin are expected to be among the most vulnerable countries to climate change. As a result of climate change, new species and crops have been introduced and may be introduced in the coming years. In addition, FAO considers that Organic Agriculture is an effective mitigation strategy to climate change and can build robust soils that adapt better to weather extremes associated with climate change. This review provides an overview of the growth performance of new innovative crops, including chia, camelina, quinoa, teff and nigella and retrovative crops such as flax and emmer wheat, based on experimental investigations conducted under Mediterranean conditions and organic cropping system. Several studies, performed under organic system, have proved that innovative crops can also be grown for alternative uses. Quinoa and chia could be successfully used in animal feed. Moreover, quinoa could be exploited as a medicinal plant due to saponins extracted from seed coats. Nigella and camelina seeds contain oils which can have several uses in pharmaceutical and food industries. Flax seed oil is rich in omega-3 fatty acids and can be accepted in the diets designed for specific health benefits. According to the literature, it is observed that innovative crops cultivated under organic system present better quality and similar yields as with those cultivated under conventional system, and in some cases, even higher. Taking all these into account, organic agriculture could also be characterized as innovative and not only as traditional.

Downloads

Published

2017-09-15

How to Cite

BILALIS, D., ROUSSIS, I., FUENTES, F., KAKABOUKI, I., & TRAVLOS, I. (2017). Organic Agriculture and Innovative Crops under Mediterranean Conditions. Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca, 45(2), 323–331. https://doi.org/10.15835/nbha45210867

Issue

Section

Review Articles
CITATION
DOI: 10.15835/nbha45210867

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 3 4 > >>