The multiple benefits of strip cropping are highlighted in a recent report from Wageningen University & Research (WUR), which has been studying the approach for several years. This year more than 20 Dutch farmers, both conventional and organic, have begun or expanded strip cropping, which helps attract more beneficial insects into fields and slows disease spread.
WUR’s website explains that large fields sown with a single crop play host to few insects and birds. In contrast, WUR researchers have been working with farmers to conduct tests with a variety of crops in narrow strips to attract beneficials and slow the spread of disease. It notes that yields are similar to those found in monocultures and labour requirements are comparable too.
“Farmers need to see it to believe it,” crop diversity researcher Dirk van Apeldoorn told the website. “Strips of 6 metres wide attract more crawling insects and spiders, as well as flying insects such as ichneumon wasps and hoverflies. This combination is effective in fighting pest insects such as lice and caterpillars.”
Researchers have been mapping the presence of flowers, insects and small mammals in strip-cropped fields and have added birds to the list this year. They have discovered, for example, that birds are present even in fields hosting crops that they would not usually be found in.
WUR’s first extensive strip-cropping experiments took place in 2014 in a collaboration with organic arable specialist ERF BV. Initially, different potato varieties were grown next to each other, with flower strips combined with peas undergoing trials the following year.
WUR reports that strips are planned using a GPS system with which tractors are equipped. GPS systems record the exact location of each crop and this information is useful for crop management and administrative purposes.
WUR researchers use 3-metre strips for their own trials, but larger machinery makes it possible to work in strips of between 6 and 24 metres. “It turned out that strips of 6 metres wide are just as efficient as strips of 12 or 24 metres,” Dirk told the WUR website. “Studies by other scientists show that very narrow strips of 1 metre increase the yield by 25 per cent because the crop benefits from more light and improved soil life. With wider strips, only the outer plants benefit, which means the harvest is as large as it is in monocultures.”
WUR reports that strips of up to 6 metres curb the spread of disease (including blight in potato crops) and attacks from pests such as aphids and caterpillars are reduced due to the presence of beneficials.
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Last update: 24/05/2023 - ENDURE © 2009 - Contact ENDURE - Disclaimer