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Conservation Agriculture and Sustainable Farming Practices Project

UK agriculture in the future will be directed towards a more sustainable farming system. However, there is a need to understand, identify and assess the potential benefits of conservation agriculture and challenges it poses for adoption to be successful. The project focuses on three different cultivation systems at field scale over a 5 year rotation, with sites in 5 European countries across different soil types. 8,400 data points will be generated across the two UK sites over 5 years in the UK, to understand different farming systems and impacts on: productivity, profitability, field operations, agronomy, sustainability. We are working alongside farmers, researchers and industry specialists to understand the complexity and riskiness of the systems to provide advice for sustainable farming adoption.

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Conservation Agriculture and Sustainable Farming Practices Project at Loddington

Operation Pollinator Green Headland Mix

Operation Pollinator Green Headland Mix acts as a buffer to protect soils and water, as well as a valuable additional food source and habitat for insects and other farm biodiversity. 

Syngenta Operation Pollinator research, in conjunction with ASDA, has demonstrated clear improvements in soil protection and structure on areas sown using a Green Headland seed mix alongside crops, along with the opportunity to reduce nutrient leaching. The cover crop can help to trap and retain soil movement in the field, whilst the rooting acts to stabilise the soil surface and protect from damage by tractors and irrigation equipment through the crop’s growing operations.

Potato and root vegetable growers could use the mix to better utilise unproductive field headlands to deliver significant environmental enhancements, as well as protect valuable soil and water resources. 

After two years of successful trials with ASDA potato and root vegetable suppliers, the Green Headland Mix is now available to all growers, as the special Syngenta Operation Pollinator Offer.

Operation Pollinator Greren Headland mix

25.04.2024Stewardship

Green cover proves headland attraction

Green cover headlands sown on potato and root vegetable crop headlands is proving a positive attraction for pollinators, and helping to conserve valuable soil resources.Belinda Bailey, Syngenta Sustainable Farming Manager (below), highlighted that potato and root vegetable headlands are typically left uncropped, to aid management and harvesting of the cropped field area. However, these bare soil areas are left dangerously exposed to soil erosion or damage by headland-turning of heavy machinery, can become a weed burden and have little or no ecological value. “The partnership with ASDA has worked with Kings to create a specific Syngenta Operation Pollinator Green Headland seed mix, designed to be easily established with the crop, protect the soil structure and provide a valuable feeding and habitat resource for invertebrates and other farmland biodiversity,” she reported.“Monitoring of the first year’s performance has revealed the great value of the flowering mixture for a wealth of insect life, along…

Operation Pollinator Growers Guidelines

Find out how to get the best success from sowing Operational Pollinator mixes and how multifunctional landscapes could help?