This pesticide they do not always work to stop pests, and they also pose a danger to human health., as scientific studies have repeatedly demonstrated. But there are natural (and much cheaper) ways to combat pests, as shown by horticultural company Verdcamp Fruits, a farm in Cambrils (Tarragona). His technique is simply trade in pesticides for flowers. By interspersing various types of wild plants with watermelons and other crops, it is possible to attract bees, repel pests and thereby significantly increase production. Ecology at the service of agriculture. The technique is known as Floral Intercropping.
As the company’s manager, Ernest Mas, explains in Ae Magazine, “it all started in 2014 with watermelon farming”. “We couldn’t control the aphids, our persistent and intense treatments have damaged bees and wild pollinators. should pollinate this crop. The key moment in watermelon growing is precisely the setting that will determine the potential production and quality of our fruit. do treatments and harming bees is harming production potential,” he says.
Therefore, they sought an easy and effective solution to control aphids without having to apply phytosanitary products. Numerous native auxiliary fauna
Much of the area that can help control aphids is polyphagous and may feed on pollen in a certain way when there is not enough infestation. Therefore, they decided to plant flowering plants in their crops to try to create and promote a favorable habitat for their food and shelter.
Wild plants mixed in cultivation
“We did a survey and created a list. 27 flowering plants that might work. Among them was the officer of Borago.inalis, Fagopyrum sculetum, Calendula officinalis, Vicia sativa, Achillea millefolium, Lobularia maritima, etc. We plant it in unproductive areas, next to the watermelon, and we examine it. 5 important points”, explains More. These points are as follows:
1. Because bees are very picky, the flower of the shelter plant should not compete for the watermelon flower.
2. That the auxiliary fauna we need really appears in them.
3. Its flowering and presence of auxiliary fauna should be synchronized with the crop and the moment of need.
4. That they do not have a strong self-sowing so as not to create an invasive behavior on our farms and future crops.
5. That they are not susceptible to diseases and viruses that may affect our crops.
We found three possible candidates in this study but the real problem is that sewing them represents a great deal of complexity and hard work. “Then we realized we had to do something different: synchronize the whole process; This is the key to the technique. Instead of spending a lot of seed planting, plant seedlings.”.
“We tried with Lobularia Maritima because its flowering is very early and long-lasting. In the previous study, we also observed not many pollinator visits, but received great activity from mirids, cochinellids and flying flies. This allowed us transplanting the flowering plants with the watermelon plant and scattering or scattering them in turn as we likesynchronizes without losing fertile area and taking advantage of the irrigation possibilities of the same crop. In short, to simplify the whole process”. Only 600 plants per hectare lobular they can create a pretty floral print. By scattering them across the land, their effects are homogeneous and with a fair distribution can create a favorable environment for auxiliary fauna.
A process that reduces economic costs
The cost of the whole process is greatly reduced: There are thousands of seeds in a kilo of Lobularia and the price is not very high. The lobularia plant is made like lettuce. With this method, combining is done at the same time as the crop and costs are greatly reduced. And maintain 0. So, We can do it for less than 20 euros.
But then the best part of the process comes.
By equitable sharing of this reservoir, itThe presence of auxiliary fauna also increases. “All the visits we’ve received to our fields have delivered the same message: they’ve never seen so many helpful fauna”
“We won’t be at aphid 0 until we get into the really hot months, but we’ll make sure these outbreaks don’t progress. It’s not about eradicating the plague, it’s just about creating balance. We did not take any action against aphids on 95% of the crop.. The remaining 5% focuses on some authoritative organic transactions when we see that there is still no balance”, explains Ernest Mas.
The most incredible thing is that the watermelon flower opens early in the day and closes towards noon. From that moment on, bees begin to visit Lobularia and a symbiosis occurs in the system. The more “food” the bees have, the more they hatch, the more offspring, the more pollen they need, and the more and better they pollinate the watermelons.
“Like this, Our watermelon productions have improved in many cases and this has been a great improvement for us.”, he assures.
The company is currently working on new intermediates and the possibilities are huge.
This Lobularia maritima It is an excellent plant for planting flowers in many crops. gardening, as it is an unpretentious plant and has an extensive flowering season. Another example is when Tagettes patula is planted with cauliflower, cucurbits and arugula and much more.
Verdcamp Fruits carries out 40% of its production as organic certified and the remaining 60% as integrated production. It hopes to achieve 100% of its production with organic certification within five years. But Ernest Mas explains that his aim is not a label but something that goes beyond: “We must try to do things differently and with less impact, to create sustainable value.”
Reference article: https://revista-ae.es/intercropping-floral-verdcamp-fruits/
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Contact address of the environment department: [email protected]