Compatibility of Agricultural Management Practices and Types of Farming in the EU to enhance Climate Change Mitigation and Soil Health (Catch-C)

General introduction

The EU FP7 Catch-C project focuses on best agricultural management practices. These practices aim for better crop production, amelioration of soil quality and climate change mitigation. Besides identifying these best practices, the project investigates their compatibility within several farm types and agro ecological zones in the EU.

Research approach

The impact of agricultural practices on crop productivity, soil quality and climate change mitigation is determined using a large dataset from existing long term field experiments of the project partners. Out of these results and a literature review, we choose the best agricultural practices. The project also identifies the main barriers to adoption of these practices using a mixed approach of farmer interviews, a questionnaire and focus groups.

Relevance/Valorisation

The project results provide information for policymakers and advisors about how to stimulate adoption of best practices. Within this project, ILVO also develops a web-based decision support tool that helps farmers to select best practices for their specific farm situation.