Farmers could stop using fertilisers and grow healthier produce from healthier soils if they mixed up their crops in a single field, according to leading ecologists. Cows would also grow larger and their meat would be more nutritious if they grazed in pastures of more than 20 types of plant, rather than monocultures of grass. “Diversity will replace fertiliser and will replace insecticide and fungicide and build soils much faster,” Christine Jones, an Australian ecologist, predicted at the Groundswell soil conference in Hertfordshire. British industrial farming relies on vast amounts of fertilisers, made of nitrogen and phosphorus, which are usually sprayed on pastures for grazing or arable fields of a single crop. Dr Jones said that the chemicals inhibited natural interactions between plants and microscopic
Fertilisers could become unnecessary if farmers combine different crops in a single field, according to ecologists. The move could improve soil health, produce larger dairy cattle providing more nutritious meat, and improve resilience to drought and pests. But the technology is still at an early stage of development, with only one commercial application so far. Industrial-scale farming in the UK currently depends on huge supplies of fertilisers produced from nitrogen and phosphorous.