Winter oilseed rape

Project managers: Göran Bergkvist, Department of Crop Production Ecology, SLU and Desireé Börjesdotter,  SW Seed.

The aim is to contribute knowledge to the development of an organic cropping system where winter oilseed rape can be grown successfully and where the need for specific green manure crops is lower than in common organic cropping systems.

• We aim to test whether winter oilseed rape produces higher yields and takes up more nitrogen when a preceding white clover-dominated ley crop is only partly killed before sowing of the rape.
• We will also test different methods of establishment of winter rape and the effect of reducing grass/clover and weed biomass mechanically in the rape on biomass production and nitrogen uptake of the rape and a succeeding winter wheat crop.