The project aims to strengthen the professional skills of primary producers in Satakunta in promoting biodiversity in the agricultural environment and its sustainable use. Promoting diversity supports the conditions for the success of primary production and reduces the environmental impacts of agriculture.
The project aims to provide farmers with versatile, modern and low-threshold means to support biodiversity in the agricultural environment. Rich biodiversity produces ecosystem services that benefit people, such as climate regulation, pollination and maintaining soil arable land. There are many ecosystem services and their total economic value to people could be said to be immeasurable in money.
Agriculture, i.e. food production, is essential to maintaining today’s society and without the buffer provided by biodiversity against plant diseases and pests, crop losses can be significant. In addition, the diverse flora of the soil has been considered to benefit food production, for example by increasing competition against potential pathogens. Soil biota also plays an essential role in carbon sequestration in fields and in transferring nutrients to crops in a form that is suitable for them. With the right and diverse choices of plant species, soil well-being can be supported in crop rotation and the conditions for crops to thrive can be ensured.
In addition to the above, other ways to take care of biodiversity in agricultural environments include, for example, circular economy-based fertilization methods and green manure crops, grazing that maintains traditional biotopes, and of course biodiversity fields. Areas outside of cultivation, such as roadsides or ditch banks, are also important.
The project uses tools in cultivation, including biological nitrogen fixation, improved pollination, and mixed farming. The goal is that by increasing farmers’ means to diversify their cultivation, it is possible to simultaneously utilize the ecosystem services provided by biodiversity and take care of them on farms in Satakunta.