Project: Crop diversification and weeds

PRODIVA will produce the information required for a better utilization of crop diversification for weed management in North European organic arable cropping systems. The goal is not to eradicate weed problems, which is unlikely to happen in any arable farming system, but to maintain a diversified and manageable weed flora that can support beneficial organisms. The partners in PRODIVA will focus on synthesizing knowledge from terminated and running research projects including new experiments on crop rotation, cover crop growing, and variety and crop mixtures. This will provide a coherent picture and help closing important knowledge gaps. PRODIVA hypothesises that: a) detrimental weed communities can be disrupted through strategic diversification of crop rotations without compromising species diversity and over-all crop production; b) perennial weeds can be suppressed in the post-harvest period by improved cover crop establishment and pertinent selection of cover crop species; c) crop mixtures and variety mixtures have greater suppressive abilities against weeds than the sole crop or variety; d) on-farm practices of crop diversification are related to weed pressure and species composition. PRODIVA will interact with partners from farming practice and extension services in organic agriculture. Regional fields will be surveyed for weeds to safeguard the relevance of the experimental research. Current cropping practices and their influence on weed pressure and diversity will be identified together with the on-farm implementation and future potential for further diversification of the cropping systems. In addition, the project will involve relevant stakeholders from the participating countries throughout the project period to ensure the relevance of the research undertaken. Scientific and applied papers will be produced to support further development and research into sustainable and diversified North European organic crop production systems.

Acronym	PRODIVA (Reference Number: 1381)
Duration	01/03/2015 - 01/03/2018
Project Topic	2. Functional biodiversity to improve management of diseases, weeds and pests
Website	visit project website
Network	CORE Organic Plus
Call	Transnational Research in Organic Food and Farming Systems (2014)

Project partner

Number	Name	Role	Country
1	n/a	Coordinator	Denmark
2	n/a	Partner	Sweden
3	Crop Health	Partner	Germany
4	Institute of Plant Protection - NRI	Partner	Poland
5	Institute of Plant Protection - NRI	Partner	Poland
7	State Priekuli Plant Breeding Institute	Partner	Latvia
8	Agrifood Research Finland	Partner	Finland