Ecological seed mixes to offer greater agronomic benefit

Belinda Bailey, Syngenta sustainable farming manager, demonstrates green cover for soil enhancement.

Created in partnership with specialist seed supplier Kings, the mixtures have been specifically selected to achieve reliable establishment under farm conditions, as well as cost-effective management.

All Syngenta Operation Pollinator seed mixes are backed by years of research and studies of the ecological and biodiversity gains, including for pollinating insects and beneficial pest predators, along with agronomic features of nutrient capture and soil enhancement.

The mixes also fit in with SFI and Countryside Stewardship schemes, including pollen and nectar flower mix (CS AB1 & AB8) and provision of winter bird food (CS AB9), or as a watercourse buffer strip (CS SW4) – attracting payments now worth up to £732 per hectare.

What’s more, the mixtures may attract additional payments for growers through the advent of new and diverse funding opportunities coming in from the private sector.

Belinda Bailey, Syngenta sustainable farming manager, highlighted the mixes and recommended management techniques have been refined by 20 years of Syngenta investment in Operation Pollinator research and on-farm trials to ensure reliability and success for growers.

“Ecological payments for many are an increasingly important part of a farm’s overall income stream,” she said. “Ensuring habitats can be consistently created and managed effectively to meet the requirements of schemes is essential to achieve their objectives.

“The Operation Pollinator mixes that have proved so popular in past seasons continue to deliver on both ecological and economic fronts,” she continued. “New research is continuing to ensure they meet the changing legislative landscape and fit seamlessly with agronomic practices in a shift to regenerative agriculture systems.”

Syngenta Operation Pollinator seed mixes for the 2023 season

The new mixes available to farmers include:

Operation pollinator annual flower mix

A carefully selected mix of flowers designed to be easy to establish and manage, yet offering an incredibly rich diversity with impressive visual appeal when in flower. When sown in the autumn, it is one of the earliest flowering mixes in the season – before many of the perennial flower margins – to attract pollinating insects and provide habitats for beneficial pest predators.

The mix is also ideal to fill the hungry gap for insects after OSR flowering.

Seed supplier Kings describes the product as: “The mix that goes on giving, research has even shown it can be left in situ for two successive seasons with great results.”

Syngenta Green Headland Mix

A fast growing and strong rooting mix originally designed for sowing on uncropped areas surrounding potato and vegetable fields. The cover provided helps to protect soils from erosion and damage due to farm equipment, while also capturing and retaining high levels of valuable nutrients in the field.

According to Kings, growers who have used the Green Headland Mix have seen enhanced performance of the following crop compared to fields that had no cover.

Non-brassica Green Headland Mix

Designed for field vegetable growers or arable farms where brassica crops are a key part of the rotation, the non-brassica version of the Green Headland Mix provides the same benefits of soil protection and nutrient capture as the standard, while maintaining the rotational break clubroot and pests.

Moreover, research is currently looking at the benefits of planting these margins in the tramlines of vegetable fields.

Kings say the non-brassica mix may also provide benefits to farms that suffer from flea beetle infestations, which may compromise brassica establishment.

Bees and Seeds Mix

Finally, a mix that pioneered proactive multi-tier ecological habitat management. It is designed to provide vibrant flowering as a crucial source of pollen and nectar for insects through late summer and autumn, along with seed-bearing heads to give farmland birds an essential source of food through the winter months.

Kings added: “Sunflowers in the mix are a real stand-out for colour and attraction, as well as a long-lasting food source for farmland birds. The mix provides an ideal habitat for game birds and complements game cover.”