Nature-Friendly Farming Boosts Biodiversity, Crop Yields

According to the findings of a 10-year study from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, rewilding or nature-friendly farming can increase crop yields and biodiversity.

At Hillesden, scientists spent a decade carefully observing the effects of a sizable government-funded experiment.

Hillesden is a commercial arable farm located in Buckinghamshire, that spans an area of 1000 hectares.

Beginning in 2005, this involved establishing several wildlife habitats, including tussocky grass margins to support a variety of birds, insects, and small mammals, wildflowers for pollinators, and seed-bearing plants for birds.

10-Year Study

In the longest-running study of this kind, scientists were able to increase the populations of wildlife needed for agricultural production, including pollinators and crop pest predators.

Some butterfly species, like the gatekeeper and green-veined white, saw their populations double, and birds that typically eat insects, like the great tit and blue tit, benefitted greatly from the shelter provided by the grass margins and hedges.

They also discovered that even after the loss of agricultural land for habitat creation, overall yields at Hillesden were preserved, and even improved for some crops.

The areas that were removed from production were hard to farm and unproductive, while the other areas benefited from an increase in pollinators and pest-eating insects and birds.

An Expected Result

Jake Fiennes, the author of the book on nature-friendly farming, Land Healer, said that he was not at all surprised by the report's findings.

He outlined how historical English policies sought to increase food production worldwide.

However, it is now understood that it is possible to improve average yield by ceasing to grow food in nonproductive areas of land and converting these areas into natural habitats.

More natural elements on the farm have advantages. Farm biodiversity can be increased without lowering yields.

Fiennes continued by saying that if there is woodland on a field's southern edge, for instance, the first 15 to 20 meters from that edge will almost always yield less than the average yield-up to 50% of the average.

It is obvious to give it to nature by including all the species that might profit from that woodland edge.

The land here is the least productive for growing food, so when farmers don't concentrate there, their average yield increases throughout the rest of the field.

A biodiversity crisis and a climate crisis are both present, he continued. Since the two are related, there is a chance to both improve yields and support the environment.

Dr. John Redhead of the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology said that agri-environment options can help bird as well as butterfly populations in the long run by examining population changes over a long period and comparing these to other sites.

Redhead is the lead author of the published study.

Redhead explained that Hillesden is a typical, sizable arable farm using traditional agricultural methods, in a typical setting devoid of sizable areas of natural habitat.

As a result, the long-term study's findings likely show what can be accomplished on all other commercial farms with good agri-environment planning, implementation, and management, The Guardian reported.