Grow more crops at the same time

At Aarhus University scientists are currently trying to optimize the cultivation of organic vegetables - to the benefit of both vegetable producers and the environment. An example of this is the recently concluded CORE Organic project "InterVeg" where scientists from the Department of Food Science, together with international colleagues, examined the opportunities of reducing nitrogen loss by growing catch crops together with vegetables such as leek and cauliflower.

"Traditionally, catch crops are sown once the main crop has been harvested. Instead, we examined whether it was possible to grow the two crop types at the same time - in separated rows - and the results seem promising," says project participant Hanne Lakkenborg Kristensen, Science Leader at Department of Food Science at Aarhus University.

As part of the project seven field trials, each with a duration of two years, were carried out in Italy, Slovenia, Germany and Denmark. The Danish trials took place at AU Aarslev in Funen where scientists grew leek together with dyer's woad (Isatis tinctoria), which belong to the Brassicaceae family.

Specifically, every third field row was designated for this catch crop. The trial demonstrated that leek yield per row was the same as when only vegetables were grown.

Read more at phys.org