A lack of commercial interest from large breeders is limiting organic farmers’ access to suitable UK wheat varieties, but a new group is aiming to change that.
CLIVE BAILYE drilling clover as a living mulch foundation for a cash crop GROWING A living mulch under cash crops could eliminate the need for artificial fertilisers, cut costs and boost farm productivity. At least that is the principle behind ongoing trials of the technique, which utilises the ability of clover to fix nitrogen out of the atmosphere, and enrich the soils in which it grows without the need for applications of manufactured nitrates. Crucially, the use of clover could also greatly reduce the need to plough the soil, and this limit the release of soil carbon. A team of six farmers is now trialling crop production with a permanent cover of clover underneath – and the key question is whether this plant can cohabit under a crop without significantly affecting its yield. If successful, the technique could become the ‘holy grail’ for environmentally friendly arable farming.