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'Stimulating biodiversity is a learning process'
Paul Munsterman drives his quad through the trail in his wheat plot, which is located in PARK21. This is a 1.000 hectare area that has been designated as a recreation park by the municipality of Haarlemmermeer. He investigates the possibilities of connecting city and countryside through activities. The walkway is one of them.
Munsterman from the municipality of Nieuw-Vennep is 1 of the 6 participating arable farmers in GreenBASE† He sees the project primarily as a learning process, in which biodiversity and natural values are more integrated into conventional agriculture. However, he warns against expectations that are too great: "I have been working on field margins for 3 years now and that involves trial and error."
Pursuing Biodiversity
"Don't ask me which shrub species are here, because I don't know. I'm a farmer, not a biologist," he says when he walks in a strip of young shrubs at the back of his yard. He planted them a few months ago as part of GreenBASE, which aims to increase biodiversity in rural areas. "I love nature and I actually thought it was a bit bare in my yard. That's why such a strip with butts fits here."
The fact that the shrubs still do something good in the context of biodiversity (and can also harbor beneficial insects that can clean up harmful insects in the crops) is a bonus in his view. "I think that as an arable farmer I can do something to preserve and stimulate the natural values. However, it must remain practical and feasible."
field edge.
Erratic and unpredictable
For the time being, the arable farmer sees the promotion of biodiversity on the farm as a learning process, which is sometimes quite erratic and unpredictable. As an example he gives the field margins that he has around one of his plots. "About 2 years ago, that rim failed miserably due to a wrong mixture, where last year it was top and the rim bloomed exuberantly. This year it is disappointing again and the edge consists for a large part of meld, cockspaw and loosestrife ."
Munsterman continues: "As a practicing farmer, this does not make me happy, but by sharing experiences we get one step further every time; that motivates me to continue anyway. This way we know that we are moving towards multi-year instead of 1-year We have to close the flower edges and that we have to mow the field edges and dispose of it. This gives flowers and herbs a chance to develop (again), although at the same time it also proves difficult to keep grassy weeds under control."
By way of illustration, he points to a field edge near a plot with sugar beets; this one is not only sparse (mainly because of drought), but also contains a lot of loosestrife. It creeps into the plot from the edge. A lot of black bean aphid was also found in the first meters of the beet plot. These can cause considerable (suction) damage in large numbers.
Glasses from a farmer
Munsterman acknowledges that he still mainly sees many things through the eyes of an arable farmer. He does not dare to pass judgment on the natural value. "To what extent does this field margin add something to the biodiversity in the area? And are there enough natural enemies in the margin that clean up the harmful insects in crops in a natural way? These are important questions to which I unfortunately do not yet have a clear answer. And that hurts a bit."
In order to 'persist' and continue to see perspective, Munsterman believes it is important that other landowners such as the municipalities, provinces, water boards and Prorail stick out their necks within the project. "They also have many hectares of verges and corners that can be managed perfectly as field margins. It would be nice if they took more of the lead. Ensuring more biodiversity is not only a task for farmers, but for all land managers."
