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Vegetable intercropping systems can improve the productivity of organic vegetables through complementary resource use, but interspecific competition may decrease yields. Nutrient availability and yield response to different fertilization strategies strongly depended on the fertilizer properties, and soil improvers influenced results of productivity, nitrogen use efficiency and soil microbial activity compared to the fast releasing fertilizers alone. Plant-based fertilization can be an efficient alternative to animal manures.

The Sureveg project is a international consortium funded by CORE Organic Cofund devoted to foster biodiversity (above and below ground) by using new agricultural practices related to crop association in a strip-crop scheme, and applitying digital technologies (robotics, sensorics)for a organic sustainable production.

At the Organic World COngress 2021 (Rennes, France) a Workshop about the SUREVEG project was held to rise awareness about strip croppping, biodiversity and smart machines

Organic agriculture has an increasing demand, driving conventional farmers to change their businesses [1]. In some cases, the lack of attention for biodiversity and soil fertility of current practices may damage the credibility of organic products [2]. The SUREVEG project focuses on the implementation of strip-cropping in organic production to improve soil fertility and biodiversity throughout Europe. The aim is to enhance resilience, system sustainability, local nutrient recycling, and soil carbon storage [3]. However, husbandry crops grown and mixed in a strip design pose new challenges regarding mechanisation, which in many cases can only be overcome by increasing human tasks [4]. To counteract the additional labour of a multi-crop system, one of the main objectives of this project is the development of automated machinery for the management of stripcropping systems. A robotic tool is proposed, which will be operating upside down, attached to a wide-span mobile carriage similarto gantry systems used in Controlled Traffic Farming. Within the project framework, a modular proof-of-concept version is being produced, combining sensing technologies with actuation in the form of a robotic arm. Despite many robotic developments recently presented, which are designed for weed removal, this proof-of-concept will focus on providing precise organic fertilization. Fertiliser needs will be identified in real-time and carried out on a single-plant scale. Design guidelines of the proposed prototype have been detailed. The planning and control of the manipulator are being developed in two ways: using conventional algorithms and applying machine learning techniques. First results have been also obtained with the sensorics onboard the robotic platform, by using a combination of LiDAR systems and multispectral cameras to localize single plants, and to detect their status, according to fertilisation demands

Intercropping can provide ecological and yield benefits when selecting crops and management practices that balance the competition for resources. A field experiment was carried out under temperate conditions to study the effect of intercropping faba bean (Vicia faba L.) and pointed cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata f. conica) on yield and plant nitrogen (N) uptake. Both crops were grown in mono cropping (MC) and intercropping systems (IC). The yield of pointed cabbage per meter row was 28% higher under IC compared to MC. The ratio between marketable yield and total yield of pointed cabbage was also higher in IC. However, faba bean yield per meter row was reduced by 15% under IC. There was an indication of higher total N accumulation under IC followed by cabbage-MC and faba bean-MC. Soil mineral N at harvest (0-2.5 m depth) was lower in cabbage-MC, followed by IC and faba bean-MC. The intercropping system had a positive land equivalent ratio (LER) of 1.06, which points to the potential of using faba bean as an intercrop in sustainable organic vegetable production systems with higher N use efficiency. Results will be discussed in the wider perspective of several European trials on intercropping from the SureVeg-project (Strip-cropping and recycling for biodiverse and resource-efficient intensive vegetable production) and point to new knowledge for farmers wanting to implement intercropping.

Organic agriculture has an increasing demand, driving conventional farmers to change their businesses 1. In some cases, the lack of attention for biodiversity and soil fertility of current practices may damage the credibility of organic products 2. The SUREVEG project focuses on the implementation of strip-cropping in organic production to improve soil fertility and biodiversity throughout Europe. The aim is to enhance resilience, system sustainability, local nutrient recycling, and soil carbon storage 3. However, husbandry crops grown and mixed in a strip design pose new challenges regarding mechanisation, which in many cases can only be overcome by increasing human tasks 4. To counteract the additional labour of a multi-crop system, one of the main objectives of this project is the development of automated machinery for the management of strip-cropping systems. A robotic tool is proposed, which will be operating upside down, attached to a wide-span mobile carriage similar to gantry systems used in Controlled Traffic Farming. Within the project framework, a modular proof-of-concept version is being produced, combining sensing technologies with actuation in the form of a robotic arm. Despite many robotic developments recently presented, which are designed for weed removal, this proof-of-concept will focus on providing precise organic fertilization. Fertiliser needs will be identified in real-time and carried out on a single-plant scale. Design guidelines of the proposed prototype have been detailed. The planning and control of the manipulator are being developed in two ways: using conventional algorithms and applying machine learning techniques. First results have been also obtained with the sensorics onboard the robotic platform, by using a combination of LiDAR systems and multispectral cameras to localize single plants, and to detect their status, according to fertilisation demands.

Strokenteelt biedt mogelijkheden om de opbrengst en de weerbaarheid van gewassen te verbeteren. In 2018 legde Inagro samen met ILVO een eerste proef aan met biologische teelt van knolselder en prei. Ook het effect van alternatieve bemesting op basis van groene reststromen werd getest. De eerste bevindingen zijn positief. Er waren geen verschillen in gewasstand of ziekte- en plaagdruk. De opbrengst lag wel hoger in de strokenteelt.

The rise in demand for organically grown vegetables requires further optimization of the current organic cultivation systems, with even more attention for biodiversity and soil fertility. That is why this year the new, European partnership SUREVEG is starting. The focus is on strip-cropping and on the use of vegetable residual streams as soil improvers and as fertilizers.

Van 24 tot 26 september vond de tweede projectmeeting van het Core Organic project SUREVEG plaats. In dit project worden strokenteelt en gecomposteerde plantaardige reststromen onderzocht als nieuw teeltsysteem voor biologische volleveldsgroenten. Op 25 september bezocht de projectgroep de proef op het proefbedrijf van Inagro. Op 10 oktober werd een workshop georganiseerd op het biobedrijfsneterk.

Dit artikel is een aankondigingsartikel van twee nieuwe CORE organic projecten. Twee nieuwe Europese samenwerkingsprojecten gaan dit jaar van start: SUREVEG en GreenResilient. Beide projecten stellen een versterking van de agro-ecologische benadering binnen de biologische landbouw voorop, waarbij teelttechniek, bemesting en duurzaamheid onder de loep worden genomen.