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The effects of various fungi, bacteria and different compost extracts on foliar infection of potato ( Solatium tuberosum) with Phytophthora infestans were tested in detached leaf bioassays in 2001–2003. Application of microorganism inocula and compost extracts as well as copper oxychloride to excised leaves resulted in different degrees of blight control. In general, suppression of blight lesion growth was not improved by applying the antagonists before the leaves were inoculated with Phytophthora spores. There was some evidence that extracts made from different compost feed stocks of different ages suppressed leaflet infection with blight. However, results were very limited and inconsistent. Moreover, the effects were much smaller than where copper oxychloride was used. Improved efficacy of acceptable alternatives to copper fungicides especially in organic farming is required. No promising effective alternative to the use of copper fungicides to reduce late blight infection in organic potato production systems was identified in the experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agronomic protocols (rotation, tillage, fertilization and crop protection) commonly used in organic and conventional crop production differ significantly and there is evidence that modern varieties developed for conventional high-input farming systems do not have the combination of traits required for optimum performance in organic farming systems. Specifically, there is evidence that prohibition on the use of water-soluble, mineral N, P and K fertilizers and synthetic pesticide inputs in organic farming results in a need to revise both breeding and selection protocols. For organic production systems, the focus needs to be on the following: (i) traits prioritized by organic farmers such as high nutrient use efficiency from organic fertilizer inputs, competitiveness against weeds, and pest and disease resistance, (ii) processing quality parameters defined by millers and bakers and (iii) nutritional quality parameters demanded by organic consumers. In this article, we review evidence from variety trials and factorial field experiments that (i) studied to what extent there is a need for organic farming focused breeding programs, (ii) investigated which traits/trait combinations should be targeted in these breeding programs and/or (iii) compared the performance of modern varieties developed for the conventional sector with traditional/older varieties favored by organic farmers and/or new varieties developed in organic farming focused breeding programs. Our review focuses on wheat because there have been organic and/or low-input farming focused wheat breeding programs for more than 20 years in Europe, which has allowed the performance of varieties/genotypes from organic/low-input and conventional farming focused breeding programs to be compared.