When not only one sort of crop is grown on a subject, however completely different crops in strips three to 5 meters extensive, that is referred to as strip farming. Analysis into this has been happening within the Netherlands for round ten years. For 3 years, the ARGE Streifenanbau has been testing this method of arable and vegetable farming in an EU venture in Austria.
To this point, a number of benefits have already been confirmed, reminiscent of the truth that the unfold of fungi on crops is diminished, that extra animal and bug species reminiscent of ladybirds reside within the subject, or that the completely different development heights supply safety from wind and erosion. “We see that within the face of monotonous agricultural landscapes and a lack of biodiversity, the ecological measures taken to date haven’t been sufficient,” says Maike Krauss from the Swiss Analysis Institute of Natural Agriculture. The strain from society on farmers is rising, “the time is ripe for strip farming, however many farmers lack the information of the right way to do it in observe.”
Within the Netherlands, strip cultivation is already included in EU funding measures, says Krauss. Farmers there domesticate their fields of as much as 50 hectares on this method, however with strips of as much as 21 meters extensive. This doesn’t essentially imply extra work, however a minimum of extra intensive planning, says the knowledgeable. Many tractors are actually geared up with GPS to seek out the strips exactly.
Preliminary experiments with sugar beet resulted in 20 % extra yield. Farmers additionally earned extra regardless of among the greater prices. In Austria, Spar helps the initiative and is already promoting strip-cultivated merchandise.
- A convention on strip farming will happen on June nineteenth from 9 a.m. locally corridor in Hofkirchen. Registration at streifenanbau@morgentau.at
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Ulrike Rubasch
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Ulrike Rubasch
