Farming systems, integrated crop management and winter oilseed rape production

Abstract

Farming systems for arable cropping, should, in the future, combine sustainability with environmental acceptability, be high-yielding yet energy efficient, providing a good net return. Integrated crop management aims to achieve a sustainable farming system by using natural resources and regulating mechanisms to replace polluting inputs. In oilseed rape production, nitrogen inputs to the crop and machinery use are greater than for many other crops and a system that reduces these inputs is desirable. The crop is attacked by more pests than most other arable crops and consequently pesticide inputs are also high; increased use of natural control provided by parasitoids, predators and pathogens would improve sustainability and environmental acceptability. An Integrated Crop Management (ICM) System can be designed to be more sustainable and resource-efficient and to enhance biological control of pests, by reduced tillage with no ploughing, use of a seed mix to provide an internal trap crop to reduce pest damage, plant density to increase parasitisation, and insecticide application using control thresholds. This IPM strategy is exemplified by the EU project MASTER (QLK5-CT-2001-01447). © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.