{"id":25796,"date":"2019-08-23T08:00:01","date_gmt":"2019-08-23T06:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ecobnb.com\/blog\/?p=25796"},"modified":"2020-05-22T14:39:24","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T12:39:24","slug":"flowers-sustainable-agriculture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecobnb.com\/blog\/2019\/08\/flowers-sustainable-agriculture\/","title":{"rendered":"More flowers and less pesticide spray, for a sustainable agriculture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boosting biodiversity to reduce pesticide spray, Science tells us it is possible.\u00a0Recent studies show the beneficial effect of flowers for organic farming. Poppies, daisies, cornflowers attract predatory insects and parasites, acting as true ‘natural pesticides’<\/h2>\n

Coriander, cornflower, buckwheat, poppy, and dill are being planted in long stripes<\/strong> across the fields<\/strong> to attract insects that usually attack pests<\/strong>. These flowers are natural herbicides that favour a balance<\/strong> between agriculture and nature.<\/p>\n

Grow flowers and increase profitability<\/h2>\n
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Photo on Unsplash<\/div><\/div>\n

This technique has been studied in French, Switzerland, and England<\/strong>. The aim was to find a solution to the increasing environmental impact<\/strong> of agriculture on nature. Moreover, according to French research <\/a>(2017), an agricultural enterprise using this method is not just environmentally-friendly<\/strong>, but it also improves its productivity<\/strong> and profitability<\/strong> in 38.8% of cases.\u00a0Another investigation <\/a>from Switzerland<\/strong> has been tracking this alternative agriculture. The scientists have discovered that a specific type of larva<\/strong> has been decreased by 40%. This insect was the reason for huge damages in corn<\/strong> harvests<\/strong>. A great result has been achieved, in the \u201cflowers fields\u201d damages have decreased by 60%.<\/p>\n

Flowers research is always updated<\/h2>\n

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\nThis innovation is still monitoring<\/strong> by scientists in order to improve it. Indeed, a disadvantage of this technique is that the flower stripes are situated on each side of the land. So, some pests<\/strong> can reach the internal part of the field. Therefore, pesticide sprays are still necessary for some portions.\u00a0Nevertheless, in England, there is a program called ASSET<\/a> that is useful to monitor the flower strips fields. It is a research about the true efficiency of flowers, for instance, daisies, clovers, dark cornflower and carrots<\/strong>. They do not collocate these flowers only on the sides, but also in the centre<\/strong> of the fields.<\/p>\n