Newsletter No.9 ONLINE: Enhancing biodiversity in crop production: Cost-benefit analyses of six measures in Finland / Luonnon monimuotoisuuden edistäminen kasvintuotannossa: toimenpiteiden kustannus hyötyanalyysit Suomessa
In introducing of new agroecological practices, it is important to have knowledge on the socio-economic impact such as crop yield, energy and economic balances in order to incorporate in the decision-making. The new issue of the newsletter is investigating how to determine the costs and benefits of several measures enhancing biodiversity. The objective is to identify whether the 5 main measures that were selected as representative of French crop production systems are economically viable for farmers, in terms of implementation costs and income benefits for the farmers. The study focused on 3 off-crop measures: hedges, flowering strips, grassy margins; and 2 in-crop measures: cultivar mixture and direct sowing.
EcoStack researchers need YOU! Please share your #ield monitor data to help us understand the effects of field boundary features and the services they provide to mitigte yield decline at the crop edge
The EcoStack project is investigating how landscape features such as hedgerows or wildflowers benefits on-farm biodiversity and crop yield.
We are asking farmers for yield monitor data from GPS-enabled combines. The data will help us to determine how landscape features found just beyond the field affects variation in crop yield, and whether yield decline towards the edge of fields can be reduced by the presence of certain types of field boundaries.
HOW TO SHARE YOUR DATA (click here)
GERMAN VERSION
Im Rahmen des EcoStack-Projekts wird untersucht, wie Landschaftselemente wie Hecken oder Wildblumen der biologischen Vielfalt und den Ernteerträgen in den Betrieben zugutekommen. Dafür bitten wir Landwirte und Landwirtinnen um die Daten der Ertragsüberwachung von GPS-fähigen Mähdreschern. Anhand dieser Daten können wir feststellen, wie Landschaftsmerkmale die Ernteerträge beeinflussen und ob der Ertragsrückgang am Feldrand durch das Vorhandensein bestimmter Arten verringert werden kann.
EcoStack, a 5-year Research and Innovation Action, under the EU Horizon 2020 programme, has started on September 10, 2018, and includes 24 partners with complementary expertise, covering all major pedoclimatic production zones and major agricultural production systems in Europe. The overall goal of the project is to develop and support ecologically, economically and socially sustainable crop production via stacking of biodiversity service providers and bio-inspired tools. EcoStack will use transdisciplinary research methods and will promote active participation of multi-actor groups across Europe in order to create new knowledge, transfer the know-how, co-design new cropping systems, and use stakeholder-guided development of new agricultural concepts for generating economic and ecological benefits for farmers, biodiversity and society.
