Team-up crop diversification and weed management: PRODIVA. Better utilization of crop diversification for weed management in North European organic arable cropping systems.

Summary

The research-network PRODIVA focuses on a better utilization of crop diversification for weed management in North European arable cropping systems. The goal is to maintain diverse arable weed vegetation that is manageable in the long-term and could fulfil other necessary system-functions including support of beneficial organisms. The partners in PRODIVA will synthesize knowledge from terminated and running research projects and set-up selected new experiments on cover crops and variety resp. crop mixtures. Moreover, we will interact with partners from farming practice and extension services in organic agriculture. Regional fields will be surveyed for weeds to safeguard the relevance of the experimental research. Current cropping practices and their influence on weed pressure and weed diversity will be identified. The project will involve relevant stakeholders from the participating countries to assist in targeting the undertaken research. Project structure, aims and research methods will be presented.
Though PRODIVA has a primary focus on arable cropping systems in Organic Farming we are convinced that within the EU-legislative framework of IPM all arable farming systems can profit from the results. Neither are crop diversification methods restricted to Organic Farming, nor can IWM (Integrated Weed Management) be successfully implemented without respecting the role of weeds in agro-ecosystems.
The project “PRODIVA - Crop diversification and weeds“ is supported within the ERA-net CORE Organic Plus transnational programmes (Project ID 1381).