Zwischenfrüchte als wichtiges Puzzleteil für den pfluglosen ökologischen Landbau

Summary

The preservation of soil and soil fertility are two major concerns in order to sustain food productivity. An increasing number of studies performed in conventional farming systems indicate that reduced soil tillage can increase the quality of agricultural soils. However, until now it is unclear whether reduced soil tillage can be used to develop sustainable organic farming systems. A long-term experiment was set up in 2009 at the research station Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon (ART) to compare conventional and organic farming systems with and without ploughing, and to assess the contribution of cover crops in reduced tillage systems. First results show that the cultivation of cover crops has a positive impact on weed suppression and yield of winter wheat and maize, particularly under reduced tillage in organic farming system