Assessing Grain Yield and Achieving Enhanced Quality in Organic Farming: Efficiency of Winter Wheat Mixtures System

Abstract

Organic agriculture is gaining prominence nowadays; however, the quantity and quality of organic products are still a matter of discussion, and various methods are being tested to fill these gaps. A three-year field experiment was conducted to evaluate the response of winter wheat varieties and their mixtures in grain yield and quality. Four single croppings of winter wheat cultivars and eight mixed cropping systems sown with mixed or alternative rows of two cultivars were compared. There was no significant difference between different mixtures with regard to grain yield, but the protein content (PC) was increased in the mixture for a low-quality variety, such as Vanessa. The highest wet gluten (WG) (18%) and falling number (FN) (268 s) were obtained in Butterfly-Lorien and Butterfly-Vanessa, respectively. Water absorption (WA) in Butterfly solely and all of its combinations showed the best results. The Illusion-Vanessa mixture showed the highest stability (7.19 min). The difference in the sowing method in mixtures did not influence the grain yield and grain quality, except for the dough stability. The potential for grain quality improvement elucidated in this study may apply to further research; however, one needs to consider if it depends on greater wheat variety, input materials, and their interaction, simultaneously with the expected overall benefits from this approach.