Living Labs

Spain
Galicia (A Coruña)
Apple
Maria Rosa Mosqura Losada (mrosa.mosquera.losada@usc.es)

Ana Couso Viana (ana.couso.viana@usc.es)
Most used practices:
Mechanical Control - Herbicides - Grazing - Cover Crops - Mowing

Apple Living Lab

In the northwest of Spain, precisely in Galicia, we established two Living Labs to work on apple and grapevine crops. Managing adventitious vegetation in apple and grapevine cultivation is complex due to successive herbicide bans, which complicate the work of farmers. However, these bans also foster the development of alternative solutions that are sometimes more sustainable and appealing to consumers. The apple laboratory is in Curtis (A Coruña). The University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) conducts the scheduled work. Field trials began in October 2023, with the planting of different combinations of cover crops, including ryegrass, brassicas, and clovers. Soil samples have been taken to identify and subsequently isolate potentially beneficial microorganisms, which, after multiplication in the laboratory, will be used to inoculate the aforementioned cover crop seeds. The effect of planting inoculated cover crops on the proliferation of weeds will be evaluated next season.