DIVERIMPACTS - Diversifying organic crop rotation with legumes The Swiss trial in Fislisbach

Summary

The DiverIMPACTS project https://www.diverimpacts.net is all about crop diversification. To increase the diversity in space and time in arable but also in vegetable cropping. That means breaking up monocultures. And, if there are rotations, to increase the length of rotations or spacially to introduce, for example, intercropping. That means two crops at the same time in mixtures. Also undersown legumes. Or it can be multiplecropping. That means two crops in one year. These are all different kinds of measures that we apply in the project in two ways. There are case studies and there are scientific trials. In this video, Maike Krauss, FiBL Switzerland, presents a scientific field trial here in Fislisbach, Switzerland.
The aim is here to diversify in organic rotation with different legumes, as organic farmers want to introduce more and more legumes in their rotation to reduce fertilization and also stockless farmers who don't have animal fertilizes. They make use of legumes. But the problem is that if you have a high share of legumes in a rotation then soil pathogens come into place. In this trial we have two main goals: To test, whether with a high share of legumes in the rotation if soil pathogens increase over time. And if a high share of legumes can reduce fertilizer needs.