Experimental sites

In five experimental sites (two in Mediterranean countries and three in Central and Northern countries), the cropping system will be redesigned to solve the main technical constraints of organic production in greenhouse in the area, improving its agronomic and environmental sustainability. Unheated or low-energy greenhouse conditions are used in the project.

At each experimental site, a “Business As Usual” (BAU) cropping system is compared to one or more “innovative” (INN) cropping systems. The BAU systems were designed based on common local cropping system for conventionalised organic production, with an input-substitution approach in greenhouse. The INN cropping systems are based on the introduction of a more diversified crop rotation and a set of agroecological practices. They were designed to guarantee an increase of functional biodiversity. The experiments will be repeated for two years (growing cycles). 

In all the experimental sites soil analyses, measurements of plant growth and yield as well as pest, disease, weed, climate and resource input monitoring will be performed according to common protocols.