Biodiversity
4Agriculture:
lessons from the Centre for Sustainable Cropping
Soil health dashboard and information
Improving soil health for ecosystem services including decomposition, nutrient cycling, pathogen suppression, more efficient uptake of resources by crops, plus lower rates of soil erosion and runoff.
Minimising soil disturbance by reduced tillage, including cover crops to keep living roots in the ground all year and adding organic matter all benefit soil structure (aggregate stability, water holding capacity, soil pore diversity, soil strength etc) and biology (providing resource and habitat diversity and stability for a wide range of soil organisms).
Healthy soils support regulation of pests and pathogens, nutrient cycling and retention and therefore reduce reliance on agrochemical inputs.
Integrated management
To reduce reliance on mineral fertiliser inputs and enhance soil health at the CSC, we combine:
Occasional tillage (ploughing one year in six)
Cover cropping
Organic matter amendments (green waste compost)
