ÖkoBoden4Resilienz

Dealing with increasing drought, which can cause total crop failures due to a lack of quality, was identified as one of the most pressing issues and a major challenge for the farms in the vegetable farming project group. Improving the water-holding capacity of the soil increases the resilience of agricultural crops, which can counteract extreme heat and drought and ensure more stable yields. In practice, increasing soil organic matter (SOM) improves soil water retention and thus water availability for crops. The central issues of the cultivation trials focus on the effects of using green waste compost and farmyard manure in combination with catch crops. The trials will be carried out on three farms and on the trial field of Hochschule Geisenheim University (HGU). In addition to the project’s overall objectives, farm-specific issues relating to the use of coal, various legume catch crops and soybean pellets are also being investigated.