Background

Maize is a very productive crop that plays a very important role as animal feed in Germany, both as grain maize and as silage maize. Due to the wide row spacing, maize is well suited for sowing biodiversity-promoting plants in the spaces between rows. Mixed cultivation with climbing beans allows the addition of a legume. At the NGU, there are many years of previous experience with the cultivation of silage maize in mixtures with beans, and for some years now also with flowering undersown crops to increase biodiversity.

Aim to the subproject

The aim of the subproject is to develop biodiversity-enhancing cultivation methods for silage maize, grain maize and maize for human consumption and to investigate their effect on maize yield formation, soil cover and populations of flower-visiting insects. At the same time, key data for economic evaluation will be collected.

Procedure

On the Tachenhausen teaching and experimental farm of the NGU and on practical farms (selection of farms in cooperation with the State Farmers' Association and the Biodiversity Network of the State of Baden-Württemberg), methods that enable the integration of biodiversity-enhancing plants into maize fields are being tested in field trials and practical tests. On the one hand, the cultivation of maize in mixtures with legumes and biodiversity-enhancing plants is being tested and, on the other hand, the cultivation of biodiversity plants in strips within maize fields.

Here there are questions about the suitable flowering plants (species and seed density), the forms of establishment (simultaneous, staggered) and the necessary weed control measures (chemical-mechanical, partial areas), and in the case of maize varieties for human consumption also questions about their suitability for such cultivation systems.

Recurrent transfer takes place through regular exchange with the farmers involved and through dialog formats with breeders, food technologists, consumers and ecologists.