An open day on how green manures are set to play an important role in the future of soil fertility will be led by the UK’s leading organic growing charity, Garden Organic, this summer at Duchy College.
The event, themed ‘Managing the future of your soil - the role of green manures’, on August 5, will explore the findings of a project, led by Garden Organic and funded by DEFRA, on soil fertility management in organic vegetable production.
As fertiliser costs rise and legislation over nitrate pollution is toughened, more organic and conventional farms will have to look to green manures for managing soil fertility. The day event will explore green manure use while also filling in knowledge gaps on this under-utilised method.
Event organiser, Garden Organic researcher Anton Rosenfeld, said: “Most organic farmers are already familiar with using green manures for building and maintaining soil fertility, but their full potential has not been realised by most farmers in the UK. Although many species are available, only a narrow range (mainly red or white clover) is used and the main reason for this is a lack of information on their agronomic performance and nitrogen-fixing potential under UK conditions.
“It is also likely that they will play a more important role in sound soil management plans to prevent nutrient loss from farming systems. It is therefore essential that growers become more familiar with the different types and how they can be used in farming systems.”
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