Impact of different agricultural practices on soil genotoxicity

The presence of genotoxic chemicals in soil can negatively affect crop yeld and human health. In this study Trifolium repens was used as bio-indicator to assess the impact of three different agriculture practices on soil genotoxicity. Three separate sites representative of three different agricultural management systems were selected inside Pavia Province, Italy. Two biomonitoring experiments were performed in autumn 2004, after plant harvest and in summer 2005, just after soil preparation. Genotoxicity was evaluated with AFLP molecular markers. Results showed that all the three soils induced DNA damage in the indicator-plants. Nevertheless, on the base of the present findings, biodynamic agricultural management system seeems the best farming approach to maintain soil quality with regard to genotoxicity.