Variety and Sowing Date Affect Seed Yield and Chemical Composition of Linseed Grown under Organic Production System in a Semiarid Mediterranean Environment

The use of suitable species and varieties in organic cropping systems is essential for improving resource use efficiency, biodiversity, and agroecosystem resilience. Within the SIC-OLEAT project, a 2-year field trial was carried out in two contrasting environments of Central Italy, with the aim to hypothesize a production path for linseed inclusion within organic farming. The effects of location, genotype and sowing date on crop phenology, agronomic performances, and qualitative traits were evaluated. Generally, linseed showed good agronomic traits that make it suitable to be introduced in organic systems. Autumn sowing coupled with milder and wetter conditions seemed to be more favorable for linseed cultivation, allowing a higher seed yield (2.1 vs. 1.3 Mg ha-1) and oil content (47.2 vs. 45.2%). From multivariate analysis, the superior genotypes were Kaolin > Szafir > Galaad, and among these Kaolin had the highest production stability. On the contrary, Libra was the lowest performing one and the most unstable. These findings underline the importance of a site-specific approach for choosing the most suitable variety, since both sowing date and location are meteoclimatic-related factors. Definitively, our results demonstrated that linseed might be a valuable autumn alternative for organic cropping system diversification, contributing to the local production of vegetable oils and proteins.