CIPM3: Companion crop on arable and horticultural land

No substantive changes have been made to this action for SFI26 (compared with the SFI24 version). There have only been minor updates to standard wording which appears in all area-based SFI actions.

This action’s aim is that there’s companion crop growing with a main arable or horticultural crop.

The purpose of this is to do one or more of the following:

• support an integrated pest management (IPM) approach by acting as a trap crop for pests or by supressing weeds
• provide a habitat for birds and invertebrates, including pollinators and natural crop pest predators
• manage nutrient efficiency
• protect soil and improve its condition

What you must do

You must establish a companion crop on land entered into this action, so it’s growing with the main arable or horticultural crop.

The companion crop does not have to be present for the full growing period of the arable or horticultural crop, as long as it’s managed in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve the action’s aim and its intended purpose.

You can establish the companion crop by:

• trap cropping – sowing a trap crop to attract crop pests away from the main arable or horticultural crop
• inter-cropping – sowing the companion crop with the main arable or horticultural crop
• undersowing – sowing a companion crop to form a living mulch beneath the arable or horticultural crop

You must avoid growing deep rooted species of companion crop on any area within a land parcel with historic or archaeological features identified in your SFI HEFER. Read section 5.3 ‘Land with historic or archaeological features’ in the SFI scheme information for more details.

You can use an existing companion crop to get paid for this action if it meets this action’s requirements.

When to do it

You must do this action each year of its 3-year duration.

If this action’s start date means it’s too late for you to do this action, you must start doing it within 12 months of the action’s start date.

For example, if you’ve already sown the main arable and horticultural crop before this action starts, you can establish the companion crop within 12 months of this action’s start date.

Evidence to keep

You must keep evidence to show what you’ve done to complete this action, such as:

• field operations at a land parcel level and associated invoices
• photographs and other documentation

If it’s not clear that you’ve done this action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve its aim, we may ask for this evidence. You must supply the evidence if we ask for it.