Diversification with cover crops - Sustainability in potato production

The European Union is committed to transforming its agri-food systems to be more environmentally sustainable, climate-friendly, and resilient. A key strategy for achieving these goals is the use of crop diversification, specifically the incorporation of winter cover crops into potato rotations. However, the benefits of cover crops for potato cultivation are not fully recognized or exploited in some countries, particularly in the major production areas of northwest Europe.

This project aims to address this gap by determining effective cover crop strategies for potato production in northwestern countries (EE, SE, NO, NL and DE) and providing evidence-based communication for their use. To achieve this, field experiments will be conducted across different locations and climate conditions in research farms and through farmer-led field trials (living labs). These experiments will evaluate both established cover crops and novel plants suitable as cover crops, assessing their impact on soil functions (including pathogen load), disease incidence, the integration of microbial biocontrol agents, plant performance, soil microbial community diversity, and potato yield.
This project is funded under the first call of the AGROECOLOGY partnership.