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MATPROG-Matprogrammet: Norsk mat fra sjø og land

Repeated clover subcropping as a strategy for commercial organic grain production

Awarded: NOK 3.2 mill.

New EC regulations will exclude the use of conventionally grown fodder in organic animal husbandry from 2005. According to the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture, there is therefore an urgent need to increase the production and trade of grains. Shortage of organic grains on the trade marked will inflict the entire chain from farmers to consumers and cause a majo r set back for organic agriculture in Norway. Given the low trade of Norwegian organic grains today, our immediate actions must be to develop orga nic production systems which ensure high and stable grain yields. Commerical organic grain production is mainly a task for farms with few or no livestock, and the development of well functioning strategies for nutrient supply and weed control in commeric al organic grain production under such conditions is a considerablescientific challenge. The acreage withdrawn from sales production should be low, nutrient loss minimized and grain yields maintained at economically satisfactory levels over time. A promis ing strategy involves the subcropping of clover in grains where yi elds can be taken and nitrogen be supplied simultaneously. In the proposed project we aim at evaluating this strategy on a broad basis. Field nitrogen balance, phosphourous and potassium m obilization and weed infestation over time will be quantified through a combination of field trials and pot experiments. The proposed project will be run by the Norwegian Crop Research Institute in cooperation with the Norwegian Centre for Ecological Agr iculture. A Scandinavian reference group is established and the scientific work will be published internationally and in Norwegian magazines for farmers.

Funding scheme:

MATPROG-Matprogrammet: Norsk mat fra sjø og land

Thematic Areas and Topics

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