Horticultural farms are faced with the problem of disposing of huge amounts of agricultural by-products whose management requires sustainable solutions. Composting means to recycle organic waste to make compost—a high agronomic value product—able to positively affect soil quality: A good occasion to switch definitively from a conventional agriculture to an organic one. Nevertheless, composting can have negative direct/indirect environmental impacts. The aim of this research was to assess the sustainability of a windrow composting system, able to treat agricultural green waste of different typology (“light” and “heavy” with dry matter below or above 10%, respectively). Environmental impacts, energy consumptions, and production costs of all composting stages were evaluated by Life Cycle Assessment. Results show that the production of 1 ton of compost caused CO₂eq emissions ranging from 199 to 250 kg and required between 1500 and 2000 MJ of energy; costs ranged between 98 and 162 euro, nevertheless lesser than the commercial green compost. The raw material typology affected significantly the composting process making compost based on “heavy” materials the most sustainable. These findings underline the need to spread this low technology process, easy to apply, especially in organic farms, and to promote the agronomic use of compost.

Olive oil is a widely used consumer product, so producers and consumers are increasingly looking for sustainable productions. The olive-oil production chain requires continuous improvements to gradually replace the most environmentally impactful practices with others that are more sustainable. This research aimed to evaluate the environmental impacts of the production of olive oil in the Campania region by comparing six olive oil production systems (two organic certified, two integrated, and two organic—hobbyists). The environmental impacts for the production of one liter of oil—from field cultivation to oil distribution—were quantified by applying the life cycle assessment methodology. Impact categories were calculated according to the CML method, with particular attention paid to global warming potential. The production of one liter of oil caused CO₂eq emissions ranging from 0.22 to 3.39 kg. The least impacting cultivation method was the hobby one, which did not use pesticides and carried out organic fertilization. On average, packaging accounted for 60% of total impacts; consequently, the materials and formats choice by farms had strong effects on the environmental sustainability of oil production. This research highlights the problem of expressing sustainability judgments in agriculture, since there are no reference standards/targets that set limits beyond which agricultural productions are no longer sustainable.

The livestock sector plays a fundamental role in human beings’ livelihood all over the world. However, significant changes have occurred in the last decades, transforming the livestock sector into a highly intensive economic activity with negative impacts on human health and the environment. Such a reality requires the identification of easy methods to apply to sustainable manure management. Composting is a clever approach to transform manure into a resource. Very limited scientific literature is available on techniques for composting in small and medium livestock farms. This paper describes, in detail, some on-farm composting plants made in Southern Italy within different rural contexts. A depth analysis of farm starting situation and nearby territory (resources/services) was performed to identify the least expensive/impactful composting logistics (reduction of ex novo farm investments and transport costs, etc.), making the action economically sustainable for farmers. This approach appears to be successful in guiding farmers towards the best composting technological option, based on pre-existent on-farm resources. These small-scale composting plants, reproducible in other similar contexts, allow one to turn manure into a product with a profitable placement on the market. For this reason, these manure management options should be widespread, especially under organic farming systems.

The aim of the present study was to characterize the physical-chemical and microbiological features of aerated compost teas (CTs) extracted with dechlorinated tap water and with two different additives, molasses and whey, in increasing doses. Plant pathogen suppression properties of CTs were also taken into account. Total nitrogen in CTs increased with rising doses of the additives used. In spite of this, nitrogen and mineral element contributions were limited but complementary for plant mineral nutrition. Although total heavy metal contents in CTs were low, an increase of their bioavailable forms (ionic and chelated forms, presence in microorganisms) should be taken into account. In addition, the distribution on soil of acid and/or chelating products by CTs could increase the bioavailability of heavy metals, especially in the case of several annual distribution cycles and of medium–long term treatments. Additives modulated the structure and composition of microbial communities and CTs, exhibiting a broad spectrum of suppressive properties against plant pathogens, especially when they were used in a raw form.

This paper aims to provide an evaluation of the environmental and economic aspects of strawberry cultivation in the Campania and Basilicata regions of Southern Italy, and to consider the effects on strawberry productivity following compost tea (CT) application. Eight strawberry-growing systems were tested. To this end, compost tea production and characterization were described; a quantitative analysis of the strawberries’ yield was performed, and environmental impact per ha and per kg of strawberries was estimated using the life cycle assessment methodology. To compare the profitability of the systems analyzed, the gross profit of the farmers was calculated, also considering the social cost of pollution. One of the two organic systems analyzed, using solarization for soil disinfestation, biological fight for pest control, and corrugated boxes as packaging recycled at the end-of-life, was the most sustainable system with carbon credits. At the same time, organic crops are not always the most sustainable and profitable systems if significant irrigation and fertigation interventions are carried out, as in another organic system analyzed. Plastic materials and zinc structures were the most impacting items in almost all analyzed systems. The use of a CT with an elevated number of beneficial microorganisms with a high suppressive action allowed to obtain a good increase of the yield, in both systems that used it, and to have a higher gross profit. On the other hand, the validity of this technique was strongly linked to the finding of high-quality green compost.

This work was designed to investigate the effect of mechanical tillage on glomalin content, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) abundance and diversity, and the concentration of water stable aggregates (WSA), in two adjacent olive groves located in Basilicata (Italy) that were managed over the course of 11 years in accordance with different horticultural models (conventional and sustainable). Soil sampling was performed at four depths between the trees within a row and between rows. In the end, WSA was found to be a highly sensitive indicator (especially in the “macro” fraction) of the effect of management on soil structure, showing the highest statistically significant values within the sustainable system. In the same regard, the diversity of the AM fungal community was negatively affected by conventional practices; on the other hand, a higher concentration of glomalin in the first 20 cm layer of the conventional system is here reported for the first time, as a likely result of disruption of the mycelium provoked by the mechanical tillage.