Biodiverse planting on vegetable farms
This project aims to manipulate the abundance of beneficial insects on vegetable farms to reduce pests in crops by adopting existing knowledge as proof-of-concept trials in NZ vegetable cropping situations.
The objective is to demonstrate how increasing biodiversity on vegetable farms can result in more beneficial insects, fewer insect pests in crops, and less insecticides required. This is achieved through planting of beneficial native perennials and annual flower species to provide a continuous source of shelter, nectar, alternative food and pollen to attract and maintain beneficial insect populations.
Read project updates:
Grower Resources
An A Lighter Touch educational forum focusing on Biodiversity in a cropping farm environment was held at the demonstration farm in March 2024. Recordings of the five presenters at this event are available here.
- Dr Charles (Merf) Merfield – Why a biodiverse landscape is important
- James Gardiner – Implementing biodiversity projects on NZ farms
- Dr Brad Howlett – Native plantings that support beneficial insect biodiversity
- Olivia Prouse – Boosting beneficials using biodiverse planting on vegetable farms
- Michael Arnold – “A Lighter Touch,” the LeaderBrand story
A plant species list is available sharing knowledge gained from the A Lighter Touch, Vegetables New Zealand and Onions New Zealand biodiversity project at the demonstration farm in Cronin Road, Pukekohe. It provides details of the species used in native permanent planting, moveable pods of natives, annual flower strip planting and cover crops. It also includes the vegetable crops grown alongside the beneficial planting. This is the first version of the resource, which will continue to be updated as new knowledge is gathered from this five-year project.
Download a printable form here.
