By STEVE GILLMAN
‘Living labs’ refer to an experiment allowing farmers to set the terms of a research trial on their own land while also working with supply chain partners to ensure a new farming practice is economically viable.
“Farmers can see how a new approach compares with what they normally do and that’s a small, but very important step in becoming greener,” said Jerry Alford, an organic farmer and advisor from the Soil Association, a UK charity promoting sustainable agriculture.
Alford is running 22 living labs across the UK where farmers test out how to grow a mix of legumes and cereal on the same plot of land in a real-world setting. The farmer chooses the techniques and crops most relevant to their area, from the seed mix they plant to the techniques used to harvest and process grains. The subsequent results are then analysed by researchers to determine the potential benefits, such as higher yields, better soil health, and less agrochemical use.
“The results mean something more to the farmer,” said Alford, explaining that food producers can sometimes feel detached from conventional agriculture research that produces lengthy and complicated reports, but now they have ownership of the research.
“They also experiment on a small scale, which helps them decide whether it’s something they think works and that makes it easier to scale,” Alford explained.
The living labs are part of an European Union (EU) project called LEGUMINOSE, which is organising 180 similar trials across seven European countries, Egypt, and Pakistan. One of the UK’s living labs has already provided an insight into intercropping’s promise for growing wheat and beans together, reporting a 27% yield increase in the intercropped plot compared to the monoculture strips on the same farm.
“We also have anecdotal evidence that there are less weeds in the intercrop strip compared with the monocultural one next to it,” said Alford, adding that this would mean less need for agrochemicals, along with a decrease in their associated costs.
The environmental and economic benefits mean many farmers are eager to test out intercropping, but others are still put off by changing practices and the time needed to learn how to intercrop. Currently, only 2% of European farmers use a legume-cereal intercrop.
Click here to see more...