2016.12.19 | Agriculture and food
Far more solitary bees than social bumblebees and honeybees were caught in pan traps in apple trees in 2016. Virtually all the solitary bees were ground nesting bees. Solitary bees require nesting sites and the fruit growers can do something to increase the number of sites.
2016.12.05 | Agriculture and food
A long-term study in Kenya shows that maize yields and nutrient uptake in the organic farming systems are quite similar to conventional systems. Due to premium prices, organic systems are more profitable for farmers than conventional ones.
2016.11.14 | Agriculture and food
The Pre-announcement of the CORE Organic 2016 call is now available. CORE Organic will publish the final call for transnational research proposals in organic food and farming systems in the beginning of December 2016, including guidance for the applicants and the national rules and priorities.
2016.11.04 | Agriculture and food
Apples and pears grown under a narrow plastic roof or a plastic awning are less likely to be infected by scab and fruit rots. In fact, the results are so convincing that a profitable production of unsprayed fruit, at an acceptable price, is within reach.
2016.11.04 | Agriculture and food
Cover crops produce a post-harvest effect on weed control by moving nitrogen (N) to the topsoil. This enhances the N uptake of succeeding barley crop, especially at early stages, and limits the access of thistle to the subsoil N.
2016.10.13 | Agriculture and food
The RobustFish project is testing the selection of trout larvae according to their developmental rate in order to obtain fish that are naturally more robust against stress and disease for organic aquaculture.
2016.10.13 | Agriculture and food
Inclusion of competitive forb species – chicory, caraway or plantain – in commonly practiced grass-clover mixtures is a promising strategy in intensively managed European grasslands to achieve multiple ecosystem services, such as high and stable biomass production, sustainable bioenergy production, climate change mitigation as well as improved…
2016.10.07 | Conference
Submit your paper and join the conference November 1st 2016. Registration ends on 21 October 2016.
2016.10.06 | Agriculture and food
Plant diversity is often low in European grasslands with a major dominance of grass-clover mixtures. Recently there has been growing interest in multi-species grasslands for the purpose of increasing plant productivity and sustainability of grass-arable cropping system.
2016.10.03 | Agriculture and food
The complexity of organic farming requires farmers to have a very high level of knowledge and skills. But exchange on organic farming techniques remains limited. A new platform – OK-Net Arable – aimed at filling the gap in the exchange of information between farmers across Europe has been launched.