Search results for "COVER CROPS"

Sustainable Mixed Cropping Systems for the Boreal-Nemoral Region

2020

Mixed cropping, including intercropping, is the oldest form of systemized agricultural production and involves the growing of two or more species or cultivars of the same species simultaneously in the same field. However, mixed cropping has been little by little replaced by sole crop systems, especially in developed countries. Some of the advantages of mixed cropping are, for example, resource use efficiency and yield stability, but there are also several challenges, such as weed management and competition. The boreal-nemoral region lies within the region 55° to 70° N. In this area, for example in Finland, the length of the thermal growing season varies from less than 105 to over 185 days. …

Are Cover Crops Affecting the Quality and Sustainability of Fruit Production?

2021

The study of the interaction between fruit trees and cover crops has been addressed in numerous works over the last 50 years or more, evidencing the need to evolve from a productive orchard to an orchard that plays different ecosystem roles in terms of environmental sustainability rather than just productivity. This review, through an analysis of the scientific literature since the 1950s, highlights the development of sustainable soil management models in fruit tree orchards, mostly considering the relationship with fruit quality traits and with the ecosystem services that result from the adoption of cover crops, aiming at identifying and formulating technical recommendations in perennial o…

Evaluation of viticultural practices on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with grapevine

2021

Arbuscular mycorrhiza, a mutualistic symbiosis established between plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), provides many ecosystem services such as improved soil structure, increased plant growth and nutrition, and improved tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, intensive agricultural practices and the use of phytosanitary products as for example herbicide and fungicides, have a strong impact on communities of soil microorganisms, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, as well as on biological mechanisms within the ecosystem. This thesis wotk is part of the European Biovine project supported by the European Commission through the CORE Organic Cofund. The aim of this rese…

COVER CROPS E INNESTO ERBACEO: TECNICHE ECOCOMPATIBILI IN SISTEMI ORTICOLI INTENSIVI

2012

Modeling soil organic carbon stock after 10 years of cover crops in Mediterranean vineyards: improving ANN prediction by digital terrain analysis.

2018

Estimate changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stock after Agro Environment Measures adoption are strategically for national and regional scale. Uncertainty in estimates also represents a very important parameter in terms of evaluation of the exact costs and agro environment payments to farmers. In this study we modeled the variation of SOC stock after 10-year cover crop adoption in a vine growing area of South-Eastern Sicily. A paired-site approach was chosen to study the difference in SOC stocks. A total 100 paired sites (i.e. two adjacent plots) were chosen and three soil samples (Ap soil horizons, circa 0-30 cm depth) were collected in each plot to obtain a mean value of organic carbon c…

Soil Quality as Affected by Intensive Versus Conservative Agricultural Managements

2017

Soils, the earth’s skin, are at the intersection of the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. The persistence of life on our planet depends on the maintenance of soils as they constitute the biological engines of earth. Human population has increased exponentially in recent decades, along with the demand for food, materials, and energy, which have caused a shift from low-yield and subsistence agriculture to a more productive, high-cost, and intensive agriculture. However, soils are very fragile ecosystems and require centuries for their development, thus within the human timescale they are not renewable resources. Modern and intensive agriculture implies serious concern about…

Soil erosion assessment on tillage and alternative soil managements in a Sicilian vineyard

2011

Mediterranean crops favour high erosion rates. Vineyards use to reach the highest soil and water losses due to the lack of vegetation cover. A topographical approach by means of the use of vineyards poles as fixed reference point as erosion markers allowed to quantify high and non-sustainable soil erosion rates on the Sicilian vineyards during 9 years. In order to develop strategies to control the soil losses, seven land management were selected and applied in a typical blanc wine grape vineyard located in southwestern Sicily. Comparable plots were managed traditionally using conventional tillage and alternatively using various cover crops: 1) Vicia faba; 2) Vicia faba and Vicia sativa; 3) …

Retour d’expériences sur le semis-direct sous couvert sans glyphosate

2019

Cet article présente les travaux menés dans le cadre du projet ENGAGED. Ce projet a été initié en 2016 à la demande d'agriculteurs normands qui pratiquent le Semis Direct sous Couvert Permanent de légumineuses pérenne (luzerne, trèfle) dans des rotations avec colza, blé, orge. Il vise à construire des systèmes de cultures basés sur la couverture permanente avec des Indicateurs de Fréquence de Traitements (IFT) herbicide inférieur à 1 sans avoir recours à l’utilisation du glyphosate. La faisabilité technique et les performances économiques des systèmes de cultures seront évaluées. La première phase de ce projet consiste à identifier les leviers existants pour gérer les adventices sous un cou…

Exploit biodiversity in viticultural systems to reduce pest damage and pesticide use, and increase ecosystem services provision: the Biovine project

2019

International audience; Organic vineyards still rely on large external inputs to control harmful organisms (i.e., pests). The BIOVINE project aims to develop natural solutions based on plant diversity to control pests and reduce pesticide dependence. The capability of plants of increasing the ecosystem resistance to pests and invasive species is a well-known ecosystem service. However, monocultures (including vineyards) do not exploit the potential of plant diversity. BIOVINE aims to develop new viticultural systems based on increased plant diversity within (e.g., cover crops) and/or around (e.g., hedges, vegetation spots) vineyards by planting selected plant species for the control of arth…

Exploit biodiversity in viticultural systems to reduce pest damage and pesticide use, and increase ecosystem services provision – BIOVINE

2019

International audience; Organic vineyards still rely on large external inputs to control harmful organisms (i. e., pests). The BIOVINE project is developing natural solutions based on plant diversity to control pests and reduce pesticide dependence. The capability of plants of increasing the ecosystem resistance to pests and invasive species is a well-known ecosystem service. However, monocultures (including vineyards) do not exploit the potential of plant diversity. BIOVINE aims to develop new viticultural systems based on increased plant diversity within (e. g., cover crops) and/or around (e. g., hedges, vegetation spots, edgings) vineyards by planting selected plant species for the contr…