The diploma thesis focuses on the comparison of milk quality in two different ways of farming, conventional and organic farming. Almost a hundred parameters on the set of 64 bulk milk samples were monitored. The theoretical part of the paper describes the composition of cow's milk, its technological and hygienic properties and it notes the nutritional impact of milk and milk products. It also mentions the most important legal definition of organic farming. Experimental part describes the setting of the experiment and mentions the methods used to analyze milk samples for individual parameters and it details the ten selected determination. The difference in measured values of various milk indicators depending on the dairy farm was observed by using statistical methods and an explanation was suggested in the case of the statistical significance. The thesis was based on the cooperation of the Faculty of Chemistry VUT Brno and a National reference laboratory for raw milk at the Research Institute for Cattle Breeding in Rapotin.

The focus of this diploma thesis is organic farming. Its goal is to evaluate the positives and the negatives of organic farming from the sustainable development point of view. Sustainable development is usually divided into three pillars - environmental, economic and social. However, this thesis uses the division into four pillars of sustainability, in which the social pillar is divided into socio-political and human pillar, which is more fitting in this case. This division allows a more detailed evaluation of organic farming. The thesis also deals with the question of sustainability of the researched farm in the future. The method chosen for the thesis is a case study, thanks to which a specific case was researched and answers for the stated questions could be found. Rainton farm in the South of Scotland serves as the case for the practical part of the thesis. Since the early 1990s Rainton has been in the process of conversion from the conventional to the organic way of farming. The business has been diversified and therefore the research could be focused also on the development of the visitor centre, ice-cream or cheese making. Thanks to the data from interviews, participant observation and other documents, a complex picture of the organic farm was created. The research has shown that the...

The United Nations organization for food and agriculture argues that humanity hastaken the soils of the world for granted. Due to chemical pollution, erosion,salinization, compaction, and acidification, 33 percent of the soils are moderately orhighly degraded. If humanity loses more productive soils, there is a risk that foodinsecurity and poverty would increase as well as the diminishing of severalecosystem services.This study focuses on the anthropogenic external factors that affect the agriculturalfields since the conventional and organic farmers use different methods relating tofertilizers, manure, and pesticides. A comparison of soil organic matter between soilsamples from organic and conventional farms in Sweden was carried out, throughsoil sampling and then analyzed with the combustion method. The study alsoevaluates the effect of erosion on the fields in the sampling region.According to this study’s results, there is no significant difference between theamount of soil organic matter in conventional or organic farming soil in southeastSweden, and there has been no erosion on the fields in the past seven years since theSOM content had neither increased nor decreased. This knowledge can be of furtheruse in soil science studies.

This diploma thesis provides a detailed picture of the six Czech organic farms - six Czech organic farmers, who work in different locations in the Czech Republic. It focuses on the motivation for nonconventional methods of agriculture, tells the story of their business, explores and compares the different aspects that may play an important role in bringing holistic picture of Czech organic farming after 1989. Keywords Organic farming, biodynamic agriculture, organic farm, organic farmer, motivation

Die vorliegende Broschüre gehört zu einer Trilogie im Rahmen des Dialogprozesses »Landwirtschaft in Sachsen hat Zukunft«, der im Jahr 2007 von Akteuren aus den verschiedensten Bereichen der sächsischen Landwirtschaft mit Vertretern der Forschung und der Verwaltung ins Leben gerufen wurde. Ziel war es, Strategien zu finden, wie sich Unternehmen der Branche an absehbare Veränderungen von natürlichen, wirtschaftlichen und gesellschaftlichen Rahmenbedingungen anpassen können. In acht Fachforen erfolgte über eine Analyse von bestehenden Rahmenbedingungen die Ableitung von Handlungserfordernissen für den einzelnen Betrieb, aber auch für Politik und branchenübergreifend den gesamten Sektor. Verschiedene Lösungsmöglichkeiten wurden im Rahmen von Projekten gesucht. Die Ergebnisse der Arbeit bis 2012 werden in den drei Broschüren vorgestellt.

Agricultural policies worldwide are giving an increased focus to the goal of sustainable agriculture, but there are still uncertainties around how this is performed and achieved. As small-scale farmers are a fundamental part of agricultural production worldwide, earlier scholars request deeper understanding of how these farmers perceive sustainable agriculture and how they perceive the pathway towards sustainability. In Tanzania, many small-scale farmers choose to participate in initiatives and organizations under the Organic Farming Movement. By focusing on small-scale farmers that have joined an organic initiative in the Manyara region in Tanzania, this study aims to interpret how these farmers perceive that joining the Organic initiative of a local seed trading system could contribute to sustainable agriculture for them. The study's theoretical approach was a framework where agricultural sustainability consists of an ecological, economic, and social dimension and that normative assumptions of sustainability can be divided into either an Environmentalist or Ecologist approach. Through an open-ended question survey, ten local farmers' perceptions of agricultural sustainability were collected. The result indicates that the farmers perceive that the local seed trading system to some extent will contribute to parts of all three dimensions of agricultural sustainability, and that normative assumptions in both Environmentalism and Ecologism can be identified within the farmer's answers.

L'agriculture biologique connaît un essor important en France, comme dans la plupart des pays européens. De profondes mutations traversent ce secteur, et de nouveaux modèles de production et de développement apparaissent. Cette thèse se propose d'analyser ces transformations au niveau de l'exploitation agricole, dans le cadre des sciences de gestion, par le biais de la notion de durabilité (en référence à celle de développement durable). L'étude porte sur un échantillon de 74 exploitations de la région Midi-Pyrénées représentant différentes productions. Une première approche apprécie la durabilité de façon synchronique à l'aide d'indicateurs quantitatifs, pour les dimensions agro-écologique, économique et socio-territoriale. Elle fait état de la diversité des formes de durabilité, en lien principalement avec les logiques de fonctionnement des exploitations. Une deuxième approche aborde la durabilité en tant que processus de changement, d'adaptation et d'innovation, par une étude qualitative des trajectoires d'exploitations et des modes de pilotage. Ces études de cas montrent la diversité des trajectoires d'évolution de la durabilité. En dernier lieu, l'analyse met l'accent sur la dimension émergente et incrémentale des dynamiques collectives d'amélioration de la durabilité. / Organic farming is developing strongly in France as in most European countries. The sector is facing fundamental changes, and new production and development models are appearing. This thesis proposes to analyse these transformations at the farm level, from a management perspective, via the concept of sustainability. The study concerns a sample of 74 farms in the French Midi-Pyrénées representing different types of agricultural activity. Sustainability is initially assessed synchronically using quantitative indicators, recording the different forms relating especially to the rationale behind the way farms operate. A second approach looks at sustainability as a capacity for change, adaptation and innovation, via a qualitative study of farm trajectories and management practices. These case studies demonstrate the diversity of pathways leading to the development of sustainability. Finally, the analysis stresses the group dynamics behind improving sustainability, and on the emergent and incremental nature of these developments.

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[pt] A compostagem apresenta-se como um dos principais tratamentos e destino para os resíduos orgânicos, entretanto na área urbana tem sido utilizada em pequena escala, pois grande parte desta fração é disposta diretamente em aterros sanitários. Associada à grande oferta de matéria orgânica e a fim de incentivar a adoção desta prática nas cidades, torna-se interessante aliá-la às hortas urbanas, visto que o produto gerado no processo auxilia na fertilidade e fornece nutrientes ao solo. Este trabalho pretendeu testar diferentes misturas de resíduos vegetais em um processo de compostagem em leiras estáticas com aeração passiva realizado dentro de um ambiente urbano com intuito de avaliar os compostos produzidos. A pesquisa se deu por meio de experimento de campo, o qual foi conduzido no campus da PUC-Rio, na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, entre novembro de 2018 e março de 2019. O experimento foi constituído por leiras com 3 diferentes composições e 2 repetições. As misturas foram folha + grama, folha + grama + galho e folha + galho. As matérias-primas foram pesadas no início e no fim do processo. Os compostos produzidos foram pesados e amostras foram levadas para análise em laboratório. A mistura folha + grama foi a mais produtiva; a mistura folha + grama + galho apresentou, em geral, os resultados analíticos mais altos, porém não houve grandes diferenças entre as misturas. Todos os compostos apresentaram resultados satisfatórios e de acordo com padrões existentes em literatura e legislação brasileira relacionada. A metodologia se mostrou eficiente. / [en] Solid waste is a problem, some consequences and negative environmental impacts of its generation and wrong disposal are inappropriate treatment; waste dumps disposal; emissions; air, soil and water pollution; a threat to marine biodiversity; incorporated hazardous substances. In Brazil in 2017, circa 42,3 million tons of MSW collected, equivalent of 59,1 percent, was disposed in sanitary landfill. The rest, 40,9 percent, more than 29 million tons, was disposed in inappropriate places, such as waste dumps and controlled landfills (ABRELPE, 2018). In the country, more than the half of the MSW, 51,4 percent, consists in organic matter (Brasil, 2012). This material is often disposed together with other types of waste. It influences the production of methane from landfills and reduces its lifespan. A very good management, separate collection systems, searching alternatives to give this material a better destination and treatment is necessary. An alternative of treatment to organic waste is composting, a simple and good technology. It is a biological process that occurs mainly by microorganisms action, decomposition of organic matter, such as food scraps, fruits, leaves and manure. The product of the process is the compost, a stable material that is dark brown or black and has an earthy smell, rich in nutrients, able to improve physical, chemical and biological qualities of the soil and may be used in agriculture (Souza et al., 2001; Nunes, 2009). Composting is a useful technique for organic waste management in urban and industrial areas, agricultural use and sustainable development, a satisfactory process for waste treatment (Oliveira et al., 2008; Inácio and Miller, 2009). The high generation of organic waste shows the potential of material able to be treated. According to Leal (2014), the use of these materials is fundamental to cause sustainability of national agriculture and environmental conservation. Thus, avoiding materials from accumulating in a certain location, which can cause environmental problems, taking them to other places for agricultural and plant production. There is in Brazil a specific law for solid waste, it is the law number 12.305 of 2010, that institutes the National Policy on Solid Waste (Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos – PNRS, in Portuguese). It defines terms and sets goals. The law mentions composting as a final environmentally adequate destination and that it should be implemented a composting system for organic waste (Brasil, 2010).