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The Centre for Sustainable Cropping Platform was established in 2009 to test the long-term
impacts of an integrated cropping system on whole-system sustainability.
We are developing a production system that addresses the three major global challenges
facing agriculture today:
- Food Security and human health – by adopting more resource efficient production
systems, crop types, combinations and varieties, we aim to maintain yields and
improve product quality
- The Climate Emergency – by enhancing soil biophysical quality and reducing
dependence on mineral fertiliser inputs, we can minimise pollution and losses
through run-off, leaching, erosion and GHG emissions
- The Biodiversity Crisis – by conserving arable habitats, diversifying field margins
and beneficial in-field weed communities, and applying IPM strategies to reduce
reliance on crop protection chemicals, we will enhance biodiversity, improve system
resilience and promote the delivery of ecosystem services
The platform provides a whole systems framework for designing
and testing cropping systems to optimise yield and environmental health for long-term food
security.
It is the first of its scale in the UK and provides an open research facility to test and
demonstrate the economic, ecological and environmental trade-offs in sustainable land
management over many decades.
We welcome visitors and support collaborative projects through access to fields, datasets
and archived material. Please get in touch for more information.
Additional information at uksoils.org
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