Summary
This meta-analysis of 193 studies examines temporal yield stability—the year-to-year reliability of production—across three major cropping systems. Organic agriculture exhibited significantly lower temporal stability (−15% per unit yield) relative to conventional agriculture, whereas no-tillage conservation agriculture showed no significant stability difference (−3%). The findings suggest that whilst organic farming offers environmental and biodiversity benefits, reducing yield variability through practices such as green manure and enhanced fertilisation represents an important area for future development.
Regional applicability
The global scope of this meta-analysis makes the findings broadly applicable to United Kingdom farming contexts, where both organic and conservation agriculture practices are actively promoted through policy and subsidy schemes. The quantified stability gap between organic and conventional systems is relevant to United Kingdom farm planning and resilience assessment, though UK-specific climate and soil conditions may modulate the magnitude of these effects.
Key measures
Temporal yield stability expressed as percentage difference relative to conventional agriculture; analysis based on 193 studies comprising 2896 comparisons across cropping systems
Outcomes reported
The study quantified temporal yield stability (year-to-year variability and reliability of production) across organic agriculture, conservation agriculture (no-tillage), and conventional agriculture systems. It assessed whether major alternative farming systems maintain consistent yields over time compared to conventional practices.
Topic tags
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