Last Thursday, 3 July, the annual BioVelddag took place in Lelystad. Also a regular feature is the tour of the trials at WUR Open Field Crops, including our system experiments with strip cropping.

The thematic tour about crop diversity with Maria van Boxtel and Rosemarie Slobbe (Hemus) had a special focus on the question: how do you build a resilient and future-proof cultivation system? Hilde Faber shared the first findings about yield data comparing strip cropping and full-field cropping. Esther Moinat talked about arable flora and Anna de Rooij and Luuk Croijmans discussed biodiversity.

First results

There seem to be greater differences in arable flora and biodiversity between conventional strip cropping and conventional full-field cropping than between organic strip cropping and organic full-field cropping. One of the participating farmers suggested, ‘Maybe because in organic cultivation there are more natural enemies anyway?’ Another surmised, ‘Maybe it's not because of the strips, but because you include leguminous plants, such as faba beans, in your rotation?’

Yield data and biodiversity data are still under investigation. One of the participating farmers does see a difference: higher yields in organic strip cropping over three years across all crops. "Some crops have lower yields, others higher. Our goal is mainly a more stable yield. We seem to be achieving that."

In short: a good discussion at the Agroecology and Technology Field Lab. To be continued!

In conversation with farmers

To find out how farmers make the choice of crop-diverse cropping systems, such as strip cropping, PhD candidate Chiara Boeri of the Business Economics Group of Wageningen University was also present. She examines under what circumstances farmers choose a crop-diverse cultivation system and when precisely not, and how policy can support this.

Are you an arable farmer in the Netherlands and would you like to help Chiara? You can do so by filling in the questionnaire. Or share the questionnaire with arable farmers in your network.

The questionnaire takes about 20 minutes.
Every 10th participant receives a VVV cheque of 25 euros!
👉 To the questionnaire

Pictures: Dick Boschloo