Policy advice | Project news | Project report Policy advice: no-till is not our salvation, soil cover with live plants works, organic matter for better soil structure: management practices to restore and strengthen Flemish and European soils?

What can we learn from more than 10,000 scientific observations over the last 100 years: CLIMASOMA makes the analysis.

Throughout Europe, farmers struggle with dry summers, but also with excess water during peak rains. How do you reconcile these two extremes in a solution that helps the farmer, the climate and the citizen? Soil, and especially how we treat it, holds the key.

ILVO water expert Sarah Garré penned the conclusions of the CLIMASOMA project, which compiled thousands of scientific observations and saw three major trends, in a blog article for Eos.

It is important to keep the soil covered with living plants all year round.

No-till is not a holy grail.

Adding plant residue allows soil to better permeate and retain water.

Also an important conclusion: context is crucial (as it usually is). No single practice is ideal in every combination of conditions, climate, tillage, crop, etc. So generalizations are not appropriate.

The researchers compiled their recommendations into two policy briefs:

• The first policy advice clarifies the main conclusions of the project and calls on European policymakers to focus on green cover crops, adding organic matter and rewarding less tillage in general (as opposed to the big focus on less plowing). But they also point out the importance of context and the uniqueness of trays, regios, soils and farmers.
• The second policy advice zooms in on how policymakers now best approach and implement these measures. The importance of context is re-emphasized and advice is given on how policymakers can connect with farmers, and thus increase the likelihood of implementation.