Agro-ecological service crops with roller crimper termination enhance ground-dwelling predator communities and pest regulation

Abstract

The dependence on tillage in organic agriculture has raised questions regarding soil management in organic systems. Recently, Agro-ecological Service Crops (ASC) and roller crimper (RC) technology have attracted attention in organic farming circles. ASC are sown before cash crops to provide benefits for agro-ecosystem services. RC permits the creation of a mulch on the soil surface consisting of ASC plant material with no need for tillage. Studies carried out in the USA, Canada and Latin America on RC reveal some of the potential benefits and drawbacks of this technology. However, only a few such studies have taken place in European agroecosystems. The objective of the SoilVeg project (ERA-Net CORE Organic Plus) is to study RC under European environmental and agronomic conditions. This paper shows how sowing ASC before autumn-winter cash crops and the termination strategy affect (i) the abundance of soil arthropods and (ii) the diversity of both pest and beneficial insects in Italy and Spain. Roller crimper, agro-ecological service crops, ground-dwelling arthropods, aphids, parasitoids, aphidophagous predators