870/230 Sustainable Arable Farming (LINK)

Aim: To evaluate the most practical sustainable farming techniques and quantifying their impact on the environment, including insect and plant diversity and habitat requirements of farmland birds.

The UK government regards birds as a primary quality of life indicator and is committed to several Biodiversity Action Plan Targets. These include reversing the decline in a number of farmland bird species and increasing the area of field margins under conservation management.

Previous studies have established that integrated approaches can reduce inputs and maintain profitability. Although there is a wealth of information available from these studies, they have not been focused towards the combined objectives of profitable food production and a better understanding of biodiversity.

This project sought to fill this gap by evaluating the most practical techniques and quantifying their impact on the environment, including insect and plant diversity and habitat requirements of farmland birds.

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