Catch crops

Catch crops, grown between two main crops (i.e. cereals, sugar beets, maize, potatoes), improve quality and yield of the main crop, promote soil fertility and beneficial micro organisms, improve soil structure, humidity und erosion control. Therefore, Euro Grass offers white mustard, oil radish, phacelia and buckwheat.

Oil radish BRUTUS, SIXTUS and white mustard SIRTAKI are grown to reduce beet cyst nematodes (Heterodera schachtii), the most economically significant nematode in intensive beet cultivation in Europe. Absolutely new is the oil radish RESET which combines the highest possible nematode resistance against Heterodera schachtii with resistances against M.chitwoodi. Phacelia LISETTE, buckwheat LIFAGO or white mustard TANGO and POLKAfocus on green manuring.

Turnips like CIVASTO and MARCO, as well as winter forage rape MOLINO, NIKOS and LICAPO are interesting for forage crop production in summer.

TerraLife - The name stands for the concept

The newly developed TerraLife-mixtures are designed for improving soil structure and fertility in the crop rotation, espacially when just a few different crops are grown. All the mixtures are good at suppressing weeds due to a high content of fastgrowing species. The wide range of different species used in TerraLife mixtures increases biodiversity and use of the rooting horizon.

Compared to sowing of single species TerraLife mixtures have several advantages

• Increades biomass and roting yields
• More and varied root excrements and therefore increased microbial activities and humus production
• Better yield stability and quality
• Nutrient mobilisation, allocation of nutrients for the species in the mixtures and for the main crop
• More efficient use of light, water and nutrients
• Increased biodiversity
• Imporved diseases and pests resistance
• Compensation of biotic and abiotic stress factor
• Weed suppression
• Reduction of nutrient losses by soil erosion and leaching
• Decrease of lodging due to stabilising crops
• Attractive flowering in the landscape
• In some areas of Europe subsidies are paid for growing inter croops to save humus and nutrients