Selecting indicator of soil properties to correlate with crop productivity in organic farming system

Organic farming has been awarded as an eco-friendly agricultural practice and soil properties are closely related to crop productivity in organic farming system. The main purpose of this study was to examine the physicochemical and biological properties of soil in organic farming and to find closely correlated soil parameters among varied soil properties. Result showed that physicochemical and biological properties of soil in organic farming was generally optimum range for crop production. When soil properties in organic farming was compared to conventional farming, lower bulk density and higher porosity, soil pH, organic matter contents, and cation exchange capacity were observed in organic farming system. Consequently, those soil properties are highly correlated to pepper yield in organic farming although, no biological soil properties are highly correlated to pepper production. This result may indicate that management of physicochemical properties of soil in organic farming system is more important than management of biological properties in soil. However, this study only used limited soil samples and more soil sample analysis in organic farming system should be conducted for comprehensive understanding between soil properties and crop productivity in organic farming system.Among varied soil properties, bulk density, porosity, soil pH, soil organic matter content, and cation exchange capacity are highly correlated to pepper yield in organic farming system.