The European Diverfarming project ends in a month, after 5 years of experimenting with crop diversification in eight countries. In Spain, a team of universities, research centers, associations and farms tested different crop diversification strategies and sustainable management practices in crops such as traditional rainy olive grove, rainy almond, irrigated mandarin, horticultural such as melons or broccoli and cereals. Furthermore, a prototype of machinery was created to carry out the tasks deriving from the management of a field in which several crops coexist.
With the aim of disseminating the results, a virtual conference will be held on October 20, starting at 6 pm, in which the various teams will present the work done and the results obtained, with which farmers and other players in the sector will be able to discover the best alternatives to implement these sustainable practices.
The increase of organic matter in the soil and the greater carbon sequestration of diversified soils, together with the reduction of chemical fertilizations, are some of the main environmental and productive advantages that have been found in the different Spanish experiments. Although, in many cases, diversification does not turn into an extra direct economic contribution for farmers, it is through policies such as the new CAP and other types of public policy incentives aimed at encouraging sustainable agriculture that cares for the planet. .
This conference will also present the decision aid application designed with SUSdiver app project data, which will help technicians and farmers choose the most appropriate diversification and management practices for their crops, weather conditions and soil type.
Diverfarming is a project funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programas part of the challenge “Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, research and marine bioeconomy, offshore and in inland waters” under the agreement 728003 involving the Polytechnic Universities of Cartagena and Cordoba (Spain), Tuscia (Italy) , Exeter and Portsmouth (United Kingdom), Wageningen (Netherlands), Trier (Germany), Pcs (Hungary) and ETH Zurich (Switzerland), the Research Centers of the Council for Agricultural Research and Agricultural Economic Analysis (Italy) , the Higher Council for Scientific Research (Spain) and Natural Resources Institute LUKE (Finland), the agricultural organization ASAJA and the companies Casalasco and Barilla (Italy), Arento, LogsticaDFM and David Industries (Spain), Nieuw Bromo Van Tilburg and Lingehof Ecosystem (Netherlands), Weingut Dr. Frey (Germany), Nedel-Market KFT and Gere (Hungary) and Paavolan Kotijuustola and Polven Joostola (Finland).
