Baseline information on agricultural practices in the EU ... - Europabio

6.3 Soil management & rotation
Crop rotation and soil ploughing to bury the crop residuals are very helpful to maintain the nutrient
status.These practices are recommended in many stewardship programmes to prevent or at least delay
the development of resistance to commonly used herbicides and to combat insect pests such as western
corn rootworm, wireworms and cutworms. In regions with high corn rootworm infestation such as
Hungary, these measures are mandatory.
The most common crop included in a rotation with maize is wheat (or barley) in a 2-year cycle. However,
a range of different rotations with 2–5 crops, including maize, wheat, alfalfa, sunflower, temporary
grassland, soybean, beets, oilseed rape, rice and potato is practiced in Europe.
Table 24 shows some examples of soil management and rotation practices.
Table 24: Post-harvest soil management & rotation in specific regions (NE: northeast, SW:
southwest) (Source: a Endure; b EuropaBio member companies)
Zone Member State Management of the soil Crop rotation
(% of cultivated maize area)
A
North
B
Centre
C
South
-: no data available
Denmark - 50% under rotation
Germany - 60% under rotation
Hungary Mandatory destruction of stubble
(ploughing or otherwise) a
40-80% under rotation
Max. 3 years continuous culture a
the Netherlands - 50% under rotation
Poland - 80% under rotation
France SW: grinding of crop residues SW: continuous
20-70% under rotation
Italy - 70% under rotation a
Portugal - 50% under rotation b
Spain NE: removal of crop residues NE: 83% under rotation a
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