ECOSECANO Operational Group: Agroecological management of weeds in dryland herbaceous crops in the Community of Madrid
- Type Operational group
- Status Filled
- Execution 2019 -2022
- Assigned Budget 80.800,00 €
- Scope Autonómico
- Autonomous community Madrid, Comunidad de
- Main source of financing PEPAC 2014-2020
- Project website GO ECOSECANO
Dryland herbaceous crops in the Community of Madrid occupy 145,000 hectares, with only 1,000 hectares being organically managed. This organically cultivated area could be increased and become a source of added value for these crops. One of the limiting factors in the conversion process to organic farming is weed management.
Their presence is considered a problem, in part, due to the negative perception farmers have about the coexistence of weeds and crop plants. Part of the risk of weeds in crops is due to management practices focused on the application of herbicides, which have resulted in less diverse weed communities with more competitive species.
The project encompasses three lines of work.
- The first focused on the implementation of demonstration trials with different agricultural practices: rotations, tillage, and fertilization.
- The second line of research is aimed at gathering information on weed flora (composition and diversity of its communities) in herbaceous crops in the Community of Madrid.
- The third line aims to understand the needs of people who farm in dryland conditions and their perception of the risks posed by weeds to their crops. The goal is to generate useful information for implementing policies within the Community of Madrid that facilitate the agroecological conversion of this sector.
To demonstrate the feasibility of converting dryland herbaceous crops to organic management to achieve a balance between biodiversity conservation and acceptable yields.
- Evaluating the effects of different crop species on the weed community will provide information on the relationships between crops and weeds, which will be useful for developing weed management strategies that allow weeds and crop plants to coexist without yield loss.
- Evaluating the effects of organic fertilization and tillage on the weed community and crop yield will determine whether the community is able to stabilize by limiting the development of the most competitive species in a context of reduced nitrogen availability. This will also provide information on key elements of system productivity under conditions of organic fertilization and different types of tillage.
- The development of an inventory/map of weed vegetation in dryland herbaceous crops in the Community of Madrid will provide useful information for implementing policies aimed at conserving the biodiversity of Madrid's steppes.
- Assessing the functional diversity of weed communities in the Community of Madrid is a valuable information tool for determining the potential effects of management practices on biodiversity within dryland crop fields and their implications for other organisms such as birds.
- Farmer surveys will determine their perceptions of the risk of weeds in their fields and facilitate the transfer of knowledge toward agroecological farming practices.
- Coordinator/entity name: María Remedios Alarcón Víllora
- Postal address: Calle Leganitos, 47, 3ª, 28013, Madrid
- Coordinator/entity email: remedios.alarcon@madrid.org
- Telephone: 914383055
- María Remedios Alarcón Víllora
- Godín Fernández S.L. (godinfernandez@gmail.com)
- Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (ana.sanchez@urjc.es)
- María Remedios Alarcón Víllora