Case Study 15
Use of catch crop in farmed potatoes fields. Boreal (Finland)
Which problem will be solved
Growing season for early potato cultivation is short. Thus is expected that practices conducted in fields after harvest would be important for soil community maintaining favorable soil conditions.
State of the art
Catch crops benefit soil quality especially after the harvest, as they take up nutrients through the summer and autumn, add carbon to soil, contribute to good soil structure, and promote microbial and faunal function and restrict erosion of soil.
Objective
The objective is to test how catch crops benefit soil biodiversity and biological soil fertility and related ecosystem functions.
The objective is to test how catch crops benefit soil biodiversity and biological soil fertility and related ecosystem functions.
Proposed management practices
Catch crops will be sown after the harvest.
Progress with the case study in relation with the state of the art
Finding out whether catch crops would improve soil structure and quality by decreasing nutrient and carbon loss that hypothetically affect soil biodiversity and biological soil fertility.
