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Researchers from the Management, Use and Recovery of Soil and Water group at the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT) have managed to increase melon production by 30 to 50% by planting it together with beans and thus reducing soil contamination.
This is one of the first results of the AsociaHortus project, which investigates the association of crops in horticulture to increase agricultural productivity and ecosystem services.
This work, led by the UPCT, is evaluating the effect of combining typical horticultural crops of the Mediterranean basin, such as broccoli in winter and melon in summer, with simultaneous plantings of legume species.
AsociaHortus aims to increase nutrients, improve soil structure and retain carbon.
Researchers will evaluate the effect of different combinations and patterns of simultaneous crops associated between typical horticultural crops of the Mediterranean basin, according to the researcher responsible is Raúl Zornoza, from the area of ​​Edaphology and Agricultural Chemistry of the UPCT and secretary of the Spanish Society of Science ground.
Researchers from the School of Agronomists have announced the first results of the project coinciding with the World Soil Day, which is celebrated this December 5th.
According to Zornoza "the association of intensive crops with legumes is an example of the policies of prevention of degradation and edaphic contamination that the Spanish Society of Soil Science asks to promote to conserve the quality and health of the agricultural lands".
The combination (crops associated at the same time in the same field) or the rotation of intensive crops with legumes are some of the proposals that this group of researchers from the Polytechnic has been carrying out in recent years to stop the degradation of agricultural soils, in line with the proposals of the manifesto that the Spanish Society for Soil Science has published on the occasion of World Soil Day.
Experts recall in their public statement that soil "plays a crucial role in the Biosphere, providing energy, water and nutrients" and that it does not have unlimited capacity to house and purify pollutants.
The text highlights the high economic costs of soil pollution, which "can severely limit our survival and that of other organisms on this planet" and demand policies for the prevention and recovery of degraded soils, as well as changes in habits of consumption.
AsociaHortus has a financing of 150,000 euros from the state program of Research, Development and Innovation oriented to the challenges of society (AGL2017-83975-R).
The tests are being carried out at the Tomás Ferro Farm, of the UPCT.
The project began on January 1 and will end in March 2021.
Source: UPCT
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