TOGETHER FOR A SUSTAINABLE EUROPE
More biodiversity
Planting flower strips on field edges
Wildflowers and plants like cornflowers, poppies, and white clover promote biodiversity.
Planted at the edge of potato fields, they promote the proliferation of beneficial insects such as ladybirds, hoverflies, and ground beetles. These insects are useful because they attack the larvae of harmful insects, known as “pests”, such as aphids, restricting the growth of their populations and naturally conserving the potato crop.
Planting hedges to reduce erosion
Many factors can cause soil erosion, including wind and storms. Soil degradation reduces soil fertility and its capacity to host the biodiversity essential to its fertility.
We can mitigate this problem by planting hedges around potato fields. Hedges also encourage the development of flora and fauna useful to potato production.
Promoting earthworm populations
Rather than leave the soil “bare” between two crops, farmers grow an intercrop, usually a mixture of plants that promote soil life and earthworm populations.
Earthworms naturally aerate the soil, helping it absorb rainwater. Plants are also better able to absorb nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium from organic matter digested by earthworms. This makes for a healthier crop.
Promoting biodiversity while curbing global warming
Potato professionals are actors in and observers of climate change. They innovate constantly to adapt to their environment.
