Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm. Organic farming excludes or strictly limits the use of manufactured fertilizers and pesticides, plant growth regulators such as hormones, livestock antibiotics, food additives, and genetically modified organisms. Organic agriculture is a production system that sustains the health of soils, ecosystems and people. It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity and cycles adapted to local conditions, rather than the use of inputs with adverse effects. Organic agriculture combines tradition, innovation and science to benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationships and a good quality of life for all involved. In 2010, we organised a bi-factorial trial at the Didactic Station in Timisoara in which we monitored maize yield with permanent vegetal cover technology compared to classical cultivation technology with mineral and organic fertilisation. Results show that there are no statistically ensured yield differences. There were significant differences between expenses and profit levels. Rezults show that in the Banat 's conditions, alternative technological variants are a solution from the point of new of enviromental – friendly agriculture. The technology of cultivation with permanent vegetal cover can be a solution for the cultivation of maize in Western Romania. The results of the present study are part of a research project PN II IDEI Contract nr. 1093/2009, topic code ID_863, financed by the Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sport, through the National Council of Scientific Research in Higher Education. The topic of the project is „ Research, fundamenting and elaborating of the technological variant of ecologically planted corn and sunflower”.

agricultural systems; permanent vegetal cover; organic fertilisation; mineral fertilisation; maize

Presentation: oral